GenCon 2006

Were you wondering where I was? Me, neither.

In case you were, however, I was on holiday with Hedda. Ostensibly the Great Midwest Family Tour of 2006, the only part anybody beyond my immediate family might care about was GenCon 2006. Like previous years, we crashed the homes of various friends who live in Indianapolis. Extra-double thanks to Nate & Kathie for putting up with all of us!

So, what were the highlights?

• Apples to Apples was a huge hit with me, and everybody else. I bought the party box and the second expansion, to add some currently-relevant cards like “Gas Prices” and “Iraq.”
• Once again, we hung out with Jeff, the creator of Killer Bunnies, and the Quest for the Magic Carrot. Of course, I also came home with the Perfectly Pink and Wacky Khaki expansions, as well as the sub-game Kinder Bunnies, which can be mixed in with the original game. Also, we got to playtest Jeff’s newest super-secret game. I can’t say much more than that.
• The big surprise was Gloom. In this game, you control a family of five misfits, and the point is to make them as unhappy as possible and then kill them. Whoever’s family is most depressed wins the game. Of course, you also spend plenty of time trying to make your opponents’ families as happy as possible. The game is cleverly printed on transparent playing cards, and although there are some issues with the ink sticking and ripping off onto other cards, it really is cool to be able to play bonuses on top of other cards and just have them show through appropriately.
• To my dismay, the latest expansion to Munchkin sold out before I could buy it. I’ll be ordering The Need for Steed online, I guess.
• There were some really great costumes this year. My favorite without a doubt, though, was the Ghostbuster. His proton pack looked so awesome, and he even had a trap! The Star Wars slave costume was a close second, though.
• We took a little side-trip to the Ratskeller for some beer and live music. Nate and I drank a lot of Poorter.
• I played Evil Stevie’s Pirate Game for the first time. There were too many people playing, but with a smaller group it would be an awesome game.

If you’d like, feel free to browse all of the photos in my GenCon 2006 Flickr set. Also, here are some highlights in case you’d rather not wade through them all.

The rest of the trip was spent with Hedda’s family in Mishawaka, and with my Mom at her vacation spot in Michigan.