GenCon Indy 2024
The name GenCon probably does not mean much to the uninitiated, but to the devout, it induces great excitement and fond memories of good times with both friends and strangers. To begin with, GenCon is a game convention. Board games and card games make up the lion’s share of the content, but the balance is made up of dice, role-playing, strategy games, and computer games. First held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the initial gathering was called the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention and was organized by a gaming legend, Gary Gygax, founder of Dungeons and Dragons.
The location of the convention has moved around Wisconsin, and the name has been used for other conventions in the US and internationally, but the main event is now held annually at the convention center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The popularity of this meeting of the nerds (and we mean that endearingly) is beyond question. The first, rather informal, meeting had around 100 attendees, and in the first years of its occurrence in Indianapolis it was attended by over 20,000. The most recent iteration counted over 70,000 people, and was sold out faster than any previous year. It was certainly packed to the brim, and delightfully so. For such a large gathering of people it is a surprisingly happy place to be.
Tickets for the event can be purchased ahead of time for one or more of the four days of the convention, at varying prices for each day. You will need a color coded badge to attend, and they can be shipped to you or picked up at Will Call on the day you arrive. While many attend for the entire duration, we have so far been satisfied with a single day as we have not stayed to play the games on offer. If you are an avid enjoyer of games you may want to attend longer, as a lot of your time will likely be spent playing both new and old titles.
For variety, there are also sections of the convention center given over to art and to books. The authors of the books are often running their own booths to promote their work, and the same is true of the artists. Subject matter, understandably for the environment, is focused on fantasy and science fiction. Many artists featured on Magic the Gathering cards attend, and you can purchase signed artwork directly from the artists, as we have in the past.
Speaking of MtG, a game convention would be downright negligent without, you know, games! There are entire halls, conference rooms, booths, and ballrooms dedicated entirely to game play. Old favorites like Magic, Pokemon, and Warhammer are played all day every day, and new game developers hawk their wares trying to become the next big thing. Games in development are being tested and marketed all over the place, making this the Mecca of game based entertainment. Many of the games you can find at each GenCon are in testing phases, or are not in production yet., or only have limited runs.
Tournaments are also organized by the larger companies, and at one point or another the largest MtG tournament in the world at the time was held at GenCon. Most people come just for fun though, and there are plenty of tables and chairs set out for specific games or blank tables for whatever game you being with you. Newer games will have staff present to demonstrate the rules and sell their wares to the masses.
In addition to the simply enormous amount of games on offer, vendors also procure booths to sell every conceivable type of item you could think of to augment those games. You need dice for Dungeons and Dragons, so obviously there are dice. There are normal resin dice, but there are also metal, wooden, or rubber dice! Hollow, filled with liquid, obsidian, and adorned with all manner of decoration. There are bags for dice, towers for dice, boxes for dice, and dice with as many or as few sides as you could practically use. And that’s just the dice.
There are plenty of other items for sale, ranging from clothing to stuffed animals to jewelry. Anything and everything remotely related to games or gaming can be found at GenCon.
Another fun aspect of the convention is the costume. This is a party for nerds, and nerds love to dress up as their favorite characters. They do not need to make sense every time, or apply to the convention’s main theme as the largest tabletop game convention in North America; they simply have to be fun. Dress up to your heart’s desire, you’ll probably see someone else attending in the same outfit. This is a family friendly event, so there are rules, but we have yet to see someone cross a line. The climax of the costume mania is the parade of costumes on the Saturday of the convention weekend, when everyone who cares to joins in a march through the main hall to display their lordly raiment and elegant garb.
If you’re not into all of the gaming, there are also plenty of events to attend, with topics ranging from writer’s symposiums, lectures on travel, arts and crafts, to discussions on various games, activities, and even sports. You can sign up for these events ahead of time, and many of them charge a fee, but some are free to attend. They vary greatly and in 2024 there were thousands. We attended a talk on international travel to Europe and a writer’s panel on the structure of stories in today’s fiction and fantasy genres, and we thought they were highlights of the day.
You’re not going to want to leave, at least not for long, and the event planners have thought of that. There is food for sale inside the convention center at the built-in concession stands, but what really steals hits the spot are the rows of food trucks that take advantage of the large crowds. This year they were parked right in front of Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, which let off some of the crowd pressure by getting hundreds of attendees at a time outside. Most meals cost between $15-$20, so if you want to save some money, pack a lunch and bring it with you.
While there is security present, it is pretty easy to move around and bring in whatever you need. Bags, food, water, you name it. Packing a lunch is a great way to save some money and bringing water is a good idea. Lines tend to be long with so many people attending. You are in downtown Indianapolis if you do want to leave, so there are plenty of options to choose from. There is a lot of parking available, for varying prices, and anything within walking distance is going to have GenCon themed items, and probably prices to match. We suggest using the SpotHero app to find the best deal.
Whether this kind of convention is your thing, or you just love to play some games, or if you’ve never been to anything like this before, we suggest you check it out. We certainly enjoyed it, and we plan on enjoying it again.
