Origins wrap up

[mikekn]

Games/stuff I bought
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The Dresden File RPG - Book 1 (I picked up Book 2 a while back at a going out of business Borders). I love the books and I've only heard good things about the game, plus it picked up an Origins Award this year.

Thurn and Taxis - Power and Glory - I hadn't planned on getting this, but now that I've played it more on-line I figured I would pick it up. Plus it allowed me to spend over $10 at the dealer who had the Dominion promo cards (only available with purchase :/ ).

Lunch Money - Sticks and Stones - Picked up a used copy. I've not played the base game yet, but it still appeals to me (just not enough to pay full price for...)

Fealty - Got one of the last few copies of Eric's game. Hoping to introduce it to the strategy fans at Philly Gamers and Seize Your Turn.

Megamat - Got a factory second of the double sided (1" hex / 1" squares) mat for a good price.

Box Bands - Yep, a bag of large box rubberbands. My old ones have mostly died so I needed new ones.

Dice - I was at a gaming con; it felt wrong to go home without new dice... Replaced my missing d5, got a hexadecimal d16, and two 7-die sets.


Games I was given
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Chicago Express Expansion This was my free game from the Board Room. By far the worst of the games they were giving out, if only because it requires you to own the original (which no one in the dealer's room was selling). Still, they gave out over 1000 games. Next time I'll take a better look at the selection before getting mine - had I waited until the end of the week I could have picked up a new Z-Man game.

Walled Village Carcassonne inspired Dominion card. Free with purchase.

Aquarius Dragon Free card for Aquarius, acts as a wild card in the game. From the new Aquarius based 7 Dragons

Sturgeon This showed up with the snacks in the Board Room one day, since I'd just eaten I opted for the game over a snack.


Games I saw but wasn't allowed to buy
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Small World Underground (They were playing a copy at the Dice Tower booth. Failed to get a picture.)
Order of the Stick - The Shortening, 7 Wonders: Leaders, Ankh-Morpork, Quarriors


Of the five only 7 Wonders: Leaders was being sold, but all the copies were pre-orders with none available to the general public.


Other cool stuff
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Saw a Giant Catan game and a Giant Agricola game


Plus a very large Power Grid game, with light up pieces for city markers



Final thoughts and notes
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Overall I had a great time at my first Origins. There are some things I'll do differently next time, and there will definitely be a next time. Next year they are moving to the end of May, right after Memorial Day. Given the drive length (not that bad at 7-8 hours), and how little of the con is running on the end days, I figure I can cut the trip by two days. Take off work for the four days following Memorial Day, drive out Tuesday or Wednesday and drive home Sunday afternoon.

I stayed in the Hyatt, which is not the closest hotel to the board games, but is connected to the convention center - didn't need to go outside unless I wanted to. Parking was expensive ($14 a day) as was the hotel, but the cheaper places were a good distance away. I'll look at what other hotels are available next year, but won't mind going back to the Hyatt.

Origins was the first con I've been to where the scheduled games were an additional cost. I know this is normal for the big cons, and it isn't a big deal - it just means I need to plan things better. I'll sign up for any must-play games I spot, but none before 11 am (paid for and missed two early session games). I will try again for some interesting sounding RPGs, but won't hold my breath for anything. (I love RPGs, but I'm not that good at them, so unless it is a system I really want to try/learn, I'm better off playing at home).

The Board Room ribbon was definitely worth the cost. Combined open gaming with a huge game library. Nearly all of the games I played were in the Board Room. I could have easily spent more time in there. (I played 29 games total, 18 that I'd never played before - and that was without trying to cram in as many games as possible).

The After Dark ribbon was a waste. Very few activities scheduled, and none that appealed to me. The so-called Beer Haus was a convention center vendor with $6 bottles of boring beer. I'll skip this next time. The Big Bar on 2 over in the Hyatt was a much better spot (cheaper and better selection) - and had more gaming going on every evening I passed it.

I had gotten a good deal of Generic $2 tokens, but only used two of them (Mayfair room one evening). I'll still get some next time (since they can be refunded...if you remember and can find all of them in your backpack...came home with a few I missed...), but not as many and don't expect to use them.

I didn't play any of the games I brought with me, nor did I bring that many. Next time I want to bring some of the historic stuff just for a change of pace. Mostly I want to play new games, so I don't need to bring my own games (unless it is a game I own but haven't played yet...)

The dealers room was ok, some very cool stuff there, but nothing for which I was looking. They had a good mix of dealers (board games, ccgs, rpgs, minis, etc), and you could get some deals if you looked for them. I did search for a few Queen Games titles, like Fresco, but no one was carrying them.

I do wish I had made it to the auctions, but I didn't note when they would be happening early enough and missed them.

In an effort to get some exercise, I walked everywhere and took the stairs instead of the escalators. I also wound up eating only one meal most days (didn't plan it, just happened). There are a lot of great places to eat in the area. One lunch I hit the North Market (sort of like a smaller Reading Terminal Market) and had a Reuben crepe, Liege waffle, and cherry lambic ice cream. Twice I went to Barley's Brewery for some craft beer and a sandwich and I've already posted my pictures from the buffet at Schmidt's Sausage Haus (and such a deal too!).

While I did hang out with Justin and Eric some, it would have been great to attend with a larger group. All but one of my meals were on my own (usually a signal for me to eat something quick and junky). It is much easier to get people for a game if you have more then one person to start with. So I'll spend the time between now and next year trying to talk more folks into joining me :)