Conventions - The Thoughtful Gamer https://thethoughtfulgamer.com Board Game Reviews, Analysis, and Strategy Sat, 15 Apr 2023 00:49:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/cropped-TTGlogoWHITELETTERS-5-32x32.png Conventions - The Thoughtful Gamer https://thethoughtfulgamer.com 32 32 124167274 A Tale of Two PAXes https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2023/04/14/a-tale-of-two-paxes/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2023/04/14/a-tale-of-two-paxes/#comments Fri, 14 Apr 2023 07:45:10 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3887 It was the best of times, it was the PAX of times. No no no. Sorry, that was bad. Delete! I suppose such an atrocious joke might be some sort of consolation that I didn’t use an AI to write this. I suspect that language models might have some difficulty with humor, particularly intentionally bad …

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The post A Tale of Two PAXes appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2023/04/14/a-tale-of-two-paxes/feed/ 1 3887 Granite Game Summit 2022 Recap https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/03/22/granite-game-summit-2022-recap/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/03/22/granite-game-summit-2022-recap/#respond Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:25:41 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3434 One of the last pre-pandemic board game events I participated in was an epic play of Dune at the Granite Games Summit. The new edition had recently come out and I’d always heard stories of how epic and incredible it is. It lived up to the reputation: a game of scheming, betrayal, and thrills that …

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The post Granite Game Summit 2022 Recap appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2022/03/22/granite-game-summit-2022-recap/feed/ 0 3434 PAX U 2021 Recap (part 3) https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/23/pax-u-2021-recap-part-3/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/23/pax-u-2021-recap-part-3/#respond Fri, 24 Dec 2021 04:17:16 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3282 Am I about to become obsessed with Netrunner again? I’d sort of packed it away as a great memory after it stopped getting support from Fantasy Flight. I knew there were people dedicated to keeping it going but I wasn’t sure how effective that was going to be so I decided on a clean break. …

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The post PAX U 2021 Recap (part 3) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/23/pax-u-2021-recap-part-3/feed/ 0 3282 PAX U 2021 Recap (part 2) https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/20/pax-u-2021-recap-part-2/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/20/pax-u-2021-recap-part-2/#respond Tue, 21 Dec 2021 04:35:13 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3274 I admit I get a bit of a rush during convention days where I’m learning and playing games back to back for 12 hours straight. I’ve gotten pretty good at teaching games quickly straight from the rulebook (500+ games in an you rarely see anything truly new), and I adore the discovery process of playing …

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The post PAX U 2021 Recap (part 2) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/20/pax-u-2021-recap-part-2/feed/ 0 3274 PAX U 2021 Recap (Part 1) https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/17/pax-u-2021-recap-part-1/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/17/pax-u-2021-recap-part-1/#respond Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:03:57 +0000 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=3264 The first thing I discovered at PAX U is that I’d forgotten how to speak to people. Not that I was ever good at it to begin with, but I feel sorry for the first few people I met on Friday as I must have seemed both a mess and a bore. No matter, we …

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The post PAX U 2021 Recap (Part 1) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2021/12/17/pax-u-2021-recap-part-1/feed/ 0 3264 PAX Unplugged Recap Part 5: Sniper Elite, AEG, and Weave+ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/16/pax-unplugged-recap-part-5-sniper-elite-aeg-and-weave/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/16/pax-unplugged-recap-part-5-sniper-elite-aeg-and-weave/#respond Thu, 16 Jan 2020 05:21:21 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2511 At last we arrive at the end of the journey. In many ways PAX Unplugged is the central event of my boardgaming year. It’s my favorite con, the one I do the most work at, and the con where I’ve had the most success “networking”, for what that’s worth. Honestly, I spend most of the …

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The post PAX Unplugged Recap Part 5: Sniper Elite, AEG, and Weave+ appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/16/pax-unplugged-recap-part-5-sniper-elite-aeg-and-weave/feed/ 0 2511 PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 4: Divinity, Calliope, and More https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/08/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-4-divinity-calliope-and-more/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/08/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-4-divinity-calliope-and-more/#respond Thu, 09 Jan 2020 02:31:04 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2502 Hindsight is 2019. I’m sorry. I dreamt that joke and literally woke up giggling. Blame my subconscious. Anyways, if you’ve ever had the illusion that The Thoughtful Gamer is a news-breaking, fast-paced information source, let this shatter it: PAX Unplugged ended over a month ago and we’re still talking about it. Maybe this makes me …

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The post PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 4: Divinity, Calliope, and More appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2020/01/08/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-4-divinity-calliope-and-more/feed/ 0 2502 PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 3: Games I Played, Games I Looked At, and Sea of Legends https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/30/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-3-games-i-played-games-i-looked-at-and-sea-of-legends/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/30/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-3-games-i-played-games-i-looked-at-and-sea-of-legends/#respond Mon, 30 Dec 2019 21:38:51 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2495 PAX Unplugged is overflowing with games. Everywhere you look there’s a game you haven’t seen before, calling you. How does one overcome the paradox of choice and actually play things? As someone covering the event, how do I not overwhelm myself with too many games to see and meetings to take? I think some see …

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The post PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 3: Games I Played, Games I Looked At, and Sea of Legends appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/30/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-3-games-i-played-games-i-looked-at-and-sea-of-legends/feed/ 0 2495 Podcast Episode 62: PAX Unplugged 2019 https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/23/podcast-episode-62-pax-unplugged-2019/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/23/podcast-episode-62-pax-unplugged-2019/#respond Mon, 23 Dec 2019 08:53:22 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2490 It’s that magical time of the year when we go to PAX Unplugged and revel in beautiful wonderful games, both new and old! We talk about a lot of them here, and we barely cover half of what we saw. But don’t worry, there’s time to scrutinize Matt’s odd perspectives on Magic drafting and bask …

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The post Podcast Episode 62: PAX Unplugged 2019 appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/23/podcast-episode-62-pax-unplugged-2019/feed/ 0 2490 PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 2: Reiner Knizia and Scorpion Masqué https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/21/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-2-reiner-knizia-and-scorpion-masque/ https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/21/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-2-reiner-knizia-and-scorpion-masque/#respond Sat, 21 Dec 2019 06:46:36 +0000 http://thethoughtfulgamer.com/?p=2485 Friday night at PAX I had a rendezvous with an exclusive class of board game people. Eschewing the proletariat banality of the convention center, we met at a hotel lobby across the street–a finer setting for a finer class of game. We were going to play some Reiner Knizia. Sadly, the guy who was going …

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The post PAX Unplugged 2019 Recap Part 2: Reiner Knizia and Scorpion Masqué appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer.]]> https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2019/12/21/pax-unplugged-2019-recap-part-2-reiner-knizia-and-scorpion-masque/feed/ 0 2485