Patwoman Reviews GenCon

You know it was a good one when it takes me half a week to get over it! Ha!

But seriously, folks, I love GenCon. I look forward to it all year and when it’s over, I grieve a little. It literally is The Best Four Days of Gaming (I feel like I need to capitalize and boldface that, if not add a trademark logo to the end).

One of the best things, of course, is the Exhibit Hall. I spent less time than usual there this year, but I still spent a lot of time there. Demo’d some games, checked out the Entrepreneur Alley, which seemed to me to be mostly crafty-type items. Of course, we all know there is a pretty solid relationship between gamers and crafters, but this was nice to see.

As we were looking at the D20 and Nintendo Controller-shaped soaps at one of these booths, a couple of guys came up.

Gamers: What are these?
Booth Person: Soap
Gamers: What are they?
Booth Person: They’re soap.
Gamers: (Blank stare)
Booth Person: For washing. Soap. You know.
Gamers: What are they?

Such a stereotype.

The XHall had a lot of cool stuff going on this year, like the Vampire Bar. They actually did serve alcohol here. I think it would’ve been cool if they only served red drinks—Bloody Mary’s and such, maybe even some True Blood with some sort of vodka kick. I don’t know. Maybe that’s what they did. I didn’t visit the Vampire Bar, because they were playing loud techno and really, there is only so much ngsst-ngsst-ngsst I can take.


One of the first things I saw in the XHall was the Tardis. And it actually is bigger on the inside! JK. I don’t know that. I don’t even think it’s a real Tardis. I mean, what would the Tardis be doing at Gencon?

He said he was from GenCon security and asked if I’d seen anything out of the ordinary. No reason. Just asking.



T found a friend at our friend Skirmisher Publishing’s booth. And I had to
mug a little with this guy at the Yu-Gi-Oh! booth. (Although, after I saw how my arms looked in the photo—Grandma! What are you doing at GenCon?!—I decided not to appear in any other photos. You’re welcome.)


I was also delighted to find this Beholder guarding the upper floor of the Convention Center. You know how I love beholders. WOTC always has some great stuff. The Serra Angel from last year was back, in the TCG room, and there was also a great dragon that I just never got around to taking a picture of. (Slacker.)


I did do some seminars, including a glass frit workshop, where we made these cool Tree of Life pendants. Glass frit, in case you didn’t know, is crushed glass. I had never worked in that kind of medium, so it was a learning experience. M and I worked side by side. Curiously, even though everyone was making a Tree of Life pendant, using the same instruction, M and I made very different Trees. The ladies who ran the workshop said that they would fire the glass and get them into the mail by Wednesday (today), so I should have the finished product soon. Excited!

Know what else was weird? I didn’t go to any of the knitting things. Of course you know that one knitting seminar person last year left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn’t even go to the open crafting room this year. I was really pretty busy the whole time and didn’t even knit at all except one night, playing Magic the Gathering.

It was late and I wasn’t playing right at that moment, so I whipped out the yarn and needles I’d been carrying all Con with the intent of making some sort of hat. I remember casting on and I must have knit about a round and a half… before falling asleep at the game table!