2006-08-20: What I played at GenCon 06
by Meguey
I loved playing games at GenCon, and this year I got in on a ton of goodness. I can't for the life of me remember clearly which day was which, or what game was when, so here's the list.
I played a Bacchanal demo with Ron and two other men while Tovey was asleep on my back. I was the woman commiting adultery, and they were the soldier and the dancing girl. It was cool watching Ron coach the dancing girl's player in taking small steps in upping the erotic levels - and he got it, too. I was glad to play a demo that had lots of the god-dice active, because it really clicked along. I loved that Paul took the time to make up dice sets for this game, and we had perfect (plastic) wine glasses to use to tumble and spill our dice, too. Later, I made someone (Dro?) take a picture of Ron demoing for a woman in a very short leather jacket top, matching hot pants, fishnets, and killer heals. I *really* hope I get to see the picture.
SAH-Roach with Jason and two non-Forge folks: I got to be the lecherous Math proff with designs on the pretty co-ed. I'm so glad I played this demo, because now I get it! This is a wicked funny game. I can see how it would be very dark humor in certain groups. It reminds me of Edward Gorey illustrations.
carry. Whew, what an intense demo! I'm the soldier with "I love my country, but I hate this war", the other player ( I think Jason Morningstar?) is the "I don't want to die and I'll do anything to avoid it" guy. We're clearing a village, and a woman runs out at us. If I win, it's a baby and we're all safe; if he wins, he shoots her and it's a grenade. I utterly love this game, and I want to play more. The kicker was the way Nathan ended the demo, with the woman safe and holding the baby, but another soldier coming up behind her with a bayonnet. He really had us totally engaged, and it was an awesome example of how to demo compellingly, not wrapping it up too neatly. We would have given up a meal to keep playing.
It was a mutual decision - I jumped in when Ron needed another woman for a demo. We (the other woman and I) came up with a surfer guy, 28, laid back, and Ron and the other man came up with a hippy-chick 7 years older. It was a beautiful thing, until she lost hr job. We tried, man. We even put up posters offering surfing lessons to try and help with the money and make it work, but she wasn't going for it. This game surprised me with how fun it was, and I wound up buying it. I'd read about it, but there's nothing like a demo to make you say "Oh, I get it! Cool!"
I got to play Contenders! Now, I know very little about boxing, but this game was about so much more. My character was trying to get his friend Chuck off the streets, and this was very nearly his last shot at it. The game uses a really neat card mechanic to declare what sort of action you're taking, and to determine outcome - PTA has some influence here, I suspect. I got to play wth Malcom, who is a man who knows his boxing! He won the narration, which was great, 'cause he could do the game justice. I'm looking forward to playing this again.
Death's Door delivers in spades. I mean, a game where you say out loud what it is you personally want before you die, and then you get to watch your character try to achieve that goal? I'm even more blown away than when I was looking at it as an awesome coda on other campain games.
I played Primitive on a night I was tired already, so a game where I could be minimally talkative was cool. The surprise here is how strongly GM-full the game is; Kevin was in total controll of the story, and kept us firmly on track, while giving us room to grunt and point. It's also surprizing how inhibited the group felt - I'd like to play again with a smaller group in a place without chairs. I think the setting, at a rectangle table in the 'hall' by the Embassy Suits gaming area, was too public, and we didn't get fully into the preverbal side of the game.
I also played The Prince's Kingdom, Tiny Triangles (Clinton's mouse game-in-progress), and 1001 Nights with another ton of folks. But those will have to be for tomorrow.