FallCon Blog

Play! A Video Game Symphony

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:32:00 GMT

For those of you who attended FallCon last year, you may recall that we held a draw for a pair tickets to the CPO's Play! A Video Game Symphony. Well, the three shows are this weekend: May 18 – 8pm & May 19 – 2pm & 8pm at the EPCOR Centre's Jack Singer Concert Hall. We'll be there with a booth showcasing a few boardgames during the pre-show festival and intermissions. If you're there, come by and say hi!

Here's the list of orchestral arrangements the CPO will be performing:

Super Mario Bros. 25th Anniversary
Chrono Trigger / Chrono Cross
Metroid 25th Anniversary
Castlevania 25th Anniversary
Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary
Kingdom Hearts
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Guild Wars
HALO Reach
World of Warcraft

Hope you have a great long weekend!

Jasen

A Look Back at the 2012 Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo

Thu, 10 May 2012 03:50:00 GMT

The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo was a terrific success with respect to the Boardgaming Area this year. I would like to start by giving a huge thank you to all the volunteers that showed up to help out at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo: Rande Farrel, Shana Froom, Robert Birtwistle, Pete McCarntey, Nikolas Hornbruch, Dave Young, Tim OConnor, Nate Thomas, Dennis Shmorong, Steven Sweeney, Jack Hernandez, and Darren Bezzant for helping to organize it all.

Thanks to our volunteers, the FallCon open gaming area was set up and ready for the general public as the doors opened, and within the first hour we had games of Dixit, Quarriors and Star Trek: Fleet Captains being played! Throughout all of Sunday our little area was bursting at the seams filled with all sorts of people coming in to sit in a game, ask questions about gaming and FallCon. Our set up was a bit constrained on Sunday we ended up sharing table space with Underground Con and Club N3rd, but it was still a lot better than the three tables we had last year. Saturday started off early with some of our volunteers showing up an hour early to help move tables and rearrange our area to be more conducive to more boardgaming! A good thing too, with over 50,000 people coming through in 10 hours we were busy! From ages as low as six to.... well it's impolite to talk about age.... we kept a steady stream of games on tables.

The most popular was 7 Wonders, but in a close second was Quarriors. Other big names were Pandemic, King of Tokyo, Kingdom Builder, Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and of course Star Trek: Fleet Captains which our volunteers had running the whole Expo through. We ended up breaking our seams on Saturday and Sunday and had to over flow into both the miniature and CCG gaming areas to be able to keep up with the number of people we had interested in games. Local published designers Roberta Taylor and Matt Tolman both showed up to help demo their games. Paul Saxberg and Orin Bishop were also in attendance demoing their prototypes for people to see. Shana Froom spent most of the Expo challenging passer-by's to games of Win Lose Banana. She ended up giving over 100 copies away to anyone who stop for a game.

Over all the event went very well. The FallCon banners were placed at the front entrance and back walls giving us excellent exposure. We had a lot of people asking what FallCon was, when it was, and how they could get involved. We are all looking forward to a great year as we lead up to our 25th Anniversary in September.

Let us know about your favorite moments from the Expo, gaming or otherwise, in the comments below!

Pete

Semi-Finalists Chosen for 2012 CGDA

Sat, 05 May 2012 03:21:00 GMT

It's been a while since our last blog post. With the summer nearly upon us, we thought we'd best get our act together and start posting some content! We should have a steady stream of content coming your way from now until Convention Weekend in September.

In today's post, we want to congratulate all of our Canadian designers who submitted 29 designs for the 2012 CGDA competition. We know we might sound like a broken record on with respect to the quality of submissions improving with every passing year, but once again this statement rang true. We had several publishable games that were submitted this year. These include all those who made the semi-finals cut, as well as several others who didn't make the Top 8 cut. Canada truly had some game design talent and I'm confident that we'll see that talent being recognized more and more over the next few years.

Without any more ado, here are the 8 semi-finalists who will be providing prototypes for playtesting. Congrats and best of luck in the next round!

SuperVillans - Orin Bishop

Orc Tribes - Michael Xuereb

Famous Fairways - Rob Bartel

For Greed or Glory - Marcel Perro

Coven - Paul Saxberg

Quarantine - Mark Klassen

What's What - Gord Hamilton

Iron Horse Bandits - Graeme Jahns

Brent & Jasen

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:48:00 GMT

I'm just putting the final touches on my FallCon 24 to-do items before moving on to next year's business and one of those to-dos is announcing winners of a couple promotions we were running.

First off, I'm happy to announce the winner of our 2011 survey draw: Julie Imbach. Julie's won a $100 gift certificate at the retailer of her choice. Julie we'd love to hear what you ended up buying with your gift certificates! Thanks to everyone who sent in their feedback. We'll be combing your responses with a fine toothed comb this month to figure out how to make FallCon 25 something truly worth celebrating.

Next up are the winners of the RPG-to-Boardgames cross-over promotion. In early August, I invited folks to email me if they were into RPGs and boardgames. Those that did stood a chance of winning one of several new D&D books and game add-ons. Without further ado, here are the winners:

Send me an email to claim your winnings!

Jasen

2012 CGDA Winner and Octopus' Garden Advance Copies

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:30:00 GMT

For those of you who weren't at our awards ceremony on Saturday, let me share with you the 2012 Canadian Game Design Award winner: Matt Tolman for his design, Undermining.

Matt got an early birthday present and seemed to be floating on air for the rest of the con. He's now in Essen proudly demoing Undermining at the Z-Man booth while sporting the CGDA logo on a t-shirt. Congrats Matt - best of luck in Essen and we look forward to hearing how things went in Germany.

While we're on the topic of the CGDA, Valley Games flew in an advance copy of Octopus' Garden just for FallCon and I saw it played a number of times at the convention. The production is truly top notch and the game play is just as I remembered it last year when we played it during the final eval. It's a great family game that I would heartily recommend.

We have now received 50 advance copies in Calgary which we're making available for $35. These advance copies will come with the Diver expansion, 4 extra tokens that you can mix in with the other tiles. When you buy them from the market they clean up the garbage in your garden but also pocket the relics (those greedy divers!). If you're interested in picking up a copy 1 or 2 months in advance of your local retailers, send me an email. I'll have them ready for pickup at my place in the Calgary NW or downtown as of Friday this week.

I know I'll be picking up a couple copies myself. These are the perfect family holiday gift!

Jasen

Transit Tip

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:21:00 GMT

Well today's the day: FallCon officially starts at 5:30pm this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing all of you.

For those of you commuting to Commonwealth Hall via transit, I just wanted to highlight the fact that we're only a few minute walk away from the Westwinds-McKnight C-Train Station. If you've got a transit pass, simply get off at Westwinds, walk a few minutes to catch the 95 southbound on 40th St. NE, then get off when the bus makes its turn onto 52th Ave NE. You can map out your route below.

View Larger Map

See you in a few hours!

Jasen

Special Guests: Codito & Sage Board Games

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:14:00 GMT

Part of the momentum seen in the expanding boardgame market has been through the delivery of boardgames via iOS devices. Apple’s iPad has proven to be the first mobile device that can truly provide a real board gaming experience. The screen is large enough, and the picture is crisp enough, to be viewed by groups of people sitting around a table. The iPad also improves gameplay by managing the minutiae of piece management and rule application, freeing the players to focus on strategies, interactions and the joy of the game. In short, gamers can play what they want, when they want, and finish an entire game in the time they might otherwise spend trying to find that missing card or pawn!

Unbeknown to many in town, we have our own development and iOS publishing house right here in Calgary. I invited Chris and Graham from Codito and Sage Board Games to attend this year so they could showcase some of their iPad games in the Open Gaming area. Sage Board Games has licensed and is publishing an upcoming “who’s who” of board games being developed for iPad, iPhone, and iTouch by Codito Development Inc. To date, they have published Reiner Knizia's "Medici" and "Ra", as well as Wolfgang Kramer's "Tikal". All of these are currently on sale at the time of this blogpost. They also developed Andreas Seyfarth's "Puerto Rico" for Ravensburger Digital. Next up on the development list: Tigris & Euphrates, Le Havre, Through the Ages. I know I can't wait for those to come out!

So come by and learn some new games from Chris and Graham on Friday night. Put that iPad to good use!

PS. To keep tabs on Sage Board Games developments, you can like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, or subscribe to their email newsletter.

Jasen

Your First Day at the Con: Words from the Registration Desk

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:33:00 GMT

All of us on the FallCon Team are eagerly counting down the days until FallCon 24, especially those of us who get to greet you first thing upon arrival. It's such a thrill seeing so many grinning faces anxiously waiting to receive their con badges. So when you arrive at the convention those of us at the registration desk will be happy to help you, whether it is your first time or your 24th time!!!

First Stop: Registration Desk

Our hope is to serve you as quickly and efficiently as possible. Everyone is eager to set-up or find their scheduled tournament game, check out the open game library and submit auction games. Our attendance numbers are steadily increasing each day, so make sure to arrive early. Normally at least 150 attendees walk through our door on the first night, so your patience is much appreciated!

Some attendees pre-register and other attendees register upon arrival. Select the pre-registrant or walk-in line-up accordingly and before long you'll receive your name badge. Remember that your badge is your admittance into the con for the weekend, and also allows you to sign out games from open game library. Please wear it at all times throughout the weekend.

After 7:00 pm on Friday, you can swing by the desk to see the selection of games up for raffle. Draws will be made during scheduled tournament times, a total of 5 times over the weekend. Tickets can be purchased with Steve “Long Arm” Lloyd or at the registration desk. The winning tickets will be posted, so you can swing by when your game is done. Make sure to claim your prize before the end of the weekend!

Remember: Doors open at 5:30 pm, Friday 14 October 2011. See you there!

Sarah Stevenson

Over 600 Games to Enjoy at FallCon

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:34:00 GMT

We don't like to brag, but imagine a mountain of games in the southwest corner of the hall, blotting out a good deal of the natural light. That, my friends, is the FallCon Game Library.

Don't be shy, now - it's OK. Go over and take a peek. It won't bite you. IF it *collapsed* on you, it'd probably sting a bit, but we've got specially trained search & rescue dogs in the wings for just such an emergency.

Believe it or not, we've got over 600 games in that sucker - hopefully enough to satisfy any gaming itch you may have. Don't believe me? Well here's our current list. And as is the case every year, Darren and Jasen seem to get into a bit of a games order competition so who knows what else they might add within the next couple days.

So what do you want to do?

You want a quick filler to kill some time before the next tournament? Covered.

Want to sit down with a friend and chew on some 2-p action for a spell? Covered.

Just have to paw through the bits of something New and Shiny? Covered.

Can't believe the new friend you just made hasn't ever played Classic Game X and You've Just Got To Remedy That Situation Right Now?

Yep, you guessed it: covered.

So go ahead - pick that game up...that's it. Now...see that friendly person sitting over there by the computer,

barcode scanner swaying hypnotically from their hands? Go say hi.

*BWEEP!* goes the barcode on the game.

*BWEEP!* goes the barcode on your badge.

That's it - you're done. Go play! When you're done, just bring it back and you can take out another. And if you're not sure what to take out, talk to those library folk - they've got opinions out the ying-yang and are more than happy to share.

Signed,

Agent Code Monkey (aka Jordan)

Reminders and Quick Updates

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 18:43:00 GMT

I try not to publish blog posts on weekends as our traffic tends to fall off and I suspect the long weekend will see many folks (other than myself) taking time away from the computer. But for those technophiles like me, here are some quick reminders worth passing along.

Online Registrations will close at midnight on Monday October 10th. You'll save yourself time in the lineup if we can print your badges before the convention by letting us know your intentions and signing up online.
Deadline for altering your submitted auction items is Tuesday October 11th
We tentatively have a short spotlight on Breakfast TV on Thursday morning.

Also wanted to let you know that your feedback regarding the menu was passed along to Commonwealth. They've agreed to alter the menu accordingly. I haven't seen the new menu but I trust it'll be a step in the right direction. Furthermore, if you have food allergies or sensitivities, they will certainly accommodate outside food. Their intent isn't to be draconian about outside food. Put simply if you intend on eating purchased food at the convention, on an honor system basis, it would be preferable to eat food from the concession. Hope that addresses some of the concerns that were raised.

Jasen

Update on Games Workshop Events

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:51:00 GMT

Our dedicated Games Workshop events moderator, Robert Kuster, emailed us a few days ago and suggested that we may have to drop our Warhammer events due to lack of sign-ups. I've emailed the 3 folks who had registered to date and received responses from two of them that they were okay with a change to the schedule so we're going to go ahead with the event cancellations.

While the events are no longer on the schedule, we will accomodate casual drop-in games of Warhammer in open gaming. If you've got room in your car, feel free to bring your armies with you. Rob has also offered to bring in and demo the new Games Workshop game Dreadfleet.

Jasen

Finally, a Good Use for Twitter & Hashtags

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 04:25:00 GMT

Want to play a game but all your friends are already rolling dice, placing meeples, or trading resources? Maybe you’ve looked through our massive open gaming library and want to crack open last year’s Canadian Game Design Award (CGDA) winner? Whatever the situation, we know you want to find a table of gamers as quickly as possible! This year at FallCon, find those gamers faster by using Twitter to broadcast your gaming desires.

Tweet the name of the game you’re looking to play, the number of players you’re seeking and the time you’d like to start playing, along with the #FallConOG hashtag. Your tweets will automatically be reposted to our @FallConYYC twitter account. This is the best way to keep in touch with FallCon’s activity (open gaming or otherwise) during the whole convention. Here’s the recommended format:

Game Name / # of players seeking / time #hashtag

Dominion / seeking 2-3 players / ASAP #FallConOG

Die Macher / seeking 4 players / 10am Sun #FallConOG

Not familiar with Twitter or don’t have an account? Not a problem. We’ll have whiteboards set up around the open gaming area so you can search for gaming partners that way!

Sweet, sweet technology.

Ian Blizzard

The Hall Concession Menu

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:47:00 GMT

For those of you who read the newsletter I sent out this weekend, I mentioned that Commonwealth Hall would be providing a concession. Here's a quick list of their current menu items:

Commonwealth Burger - $4.50

Lamb & Pork Burger - $5.50

Butter Chicken with Rice - $7.00

Cheese Enchiladas - $5.00

Beef Dip - $5.00

Chicken Fingers and Fries - $7.00

Nachos - $7.00

Veggie Spring Rolls (3) - $2.50

Veggie & Dip Plate - $4.50

Fruit & Cheese Plate - $6.00

Chips/Popcorn - $1.00

Chocolate Bar - $1.75

Water / Juice / Pop - $2.00

Coffee / Tea - $1.00

Team Platter Combo (Spring Rolls + Nachos + Chicken Fingers + Fresh Veggies) - $19.50

It's important to note that the Hall has asked FallCon staff and attendees to self-regulate with respect to outside food. If you happen to see folks walking in with snacks, pop, food (particularly branded items like fast food) that is clearly not purchased at the concession, please remind them that this puts our contract for next year in jeapordy. Nothing stops you from eating elsewhere or packing a lunch and eating it outside, but the Hall is staffing the concession for us and they don't want to do so at a loss. In the same way we encourage you to support our sponsors before and after the con, we hope you'll support the concession during the con.

I know I've got my meals all planned out!

Jasen

The Best Game You Can Name...

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:51:00 GMT

Thanks to Stompin' Tom Connors for the blog title today.

What better place than Flames Central to learn this hockey-themed party game and who better to learn it from than by none other than by Columbia Games' Grant Dalgliesh himself!

I just got off the phone with Grant and he's hoping he can round up 36 players for a fun, quick tournament. If we can fill all the slots up for the Sunday event, he tells me that he'll bring a copy of Slapshot for the winner and a generous $100 gift certificate off anything from the Columbia Games website. How's that for an incentive? The plan is to have an initial round robin and then a final table seeded by the winners of the round robin tables. Everything should be done within 2 hrs.

Now while there may be a lot on the line, keep in mind this is a relatively lighthearted cardgame where players assume the role of team general managers. The object is to skillfully manage your team into the playoffs and then win the championship. During the regular season (round robin), you will be able to improve your team with trades and drafts. Injuries and luck will play a part as in the real good ol' hockey game, so sportsmanlike conduct should prevail. Grant tells me he won't hesitate to throw someone in the box for a 5 minute whining major. He considers himself a ref's ref. :)

Jasen

It's Not About the Game: Family Gaming

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:16:00 GMT

I love games. Let me tell you why…

My life began as a pretty average kid growing up in a pretty average Canadian city. I played hockey in the winter, hide-and-seek and tag in the summer, and rode my bike for hours around the neighborhood. I went to school, made friends, got into a few scraps, and got grounded by my parents more than a few times. And like most other kids, I was exposed to board and card games.

One of my earliest memories of gaming was Sunday afternoons at my Grandparents’ house. It was a ritual; every Sunday afternoon neighbors, friends and family would gather at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, set up card tables, open a few (well more than a few) Labatt’s 50 “stubbies”, and play Euchre for hours on end. It was socializing and entertainment all rolled into one. There was never a schedule, and no one ever RSVP’ed; people just dropped in whenever they could. Oh ya, and there was a black-and-white TV in the corner with a rabbit ears antenna, but I don’t ever remember it being on.

Fast forward 35 years (wow, am I that old?) and I look at how the world of entertainment and communication has changed. Today my kids (who are now 16, 14 and 13 years old) and I can spend Sunday afternoons watching one of over 300 televisions channels, download almost any movie or TV series ‘on demand’, or play one of thousands of online, console, or computer games. In our home we have multiple TVs and PVRs, cell phones, iPhones, an iPad and several computers. Each of these devices has the potential to entertain and connect us.

Don’t get me wrong, my family is not constantly ‘wired’. My wife and I received some very good guidance when our children were young about how to manage the ‘screen-time’, and we set limits from the start. Further, the purpose of this article is not to evaluate whether being ‘wired’ is good or bad; social scientists have been looking at this question for years (see Steven Johnson’s book, “Everything Bad Is Good For You” versus Teresa Tomeo’s “Noise” for the two ends of that debate).

Rather for me the more important question is, with all these electronic entertainment options what’s the attraction to a board or card game? Why would I choose non-electronic entertainment over electronic?

My answer is based on a personal observation. I find when I face any type of screen, I lose touch with the things and people around me. When I’m engaged by an online game, or a great movie or TV show, I’m not interacting with others in the room. Even at work I find myself zeroing in on the content of my work, and zoning out everything and everyone else around me.

I see this with my family too. When one of my kids is in front of the Wii or World of Warcraft, I can see it on their faces; they are totally engaged in the plot and the activity of the game, and oblivious to what’s going on around them.

“So what?” you may ask, “What’s wrong with immersive entertainment?”

There is nothing wrong with immersive entertainment as long as it doesn’t replace healthy, active ‘human’ interaction. If family night is always about being in front of a screen, then I think we’re missing something.

In the 70s when people gathered to play Euchre at my grandparents’ house, it wasn’t about the Euchre. It was the conversation about how their job was going, how their parent’s health was, how proud they were about something one of their kids did last week, and what their plans were for the future. It was about their lives.

There is just something different about the way people interact when they are around a table, versus sitting side-by-side facing a screen. The interaction is richer, the communication stronger. We hear each other with our ears and our eyes (i.e. non-verbal communication). When I play even a one-hour board or card game across the table from someone new, I feel I really get to know them. I can’t say the same when I’m sharing an electronic experience.

This happens in my home too. If I get my family around the table for a game of Fresco, Dixit or Zooloretto, it’s not about the game. It’s the conversation about what is going on in their lives, what their plans are, how they’re feeling. And for those of you who are or have been parents of teenagers, you’ll know how rare it is to have times and conversations like these. Like the Mastercard commercial…. “priceless”.

So why do I love board and card games, and why do I play them with my family? The answer is, “It’s not about the game…”

Stay young – keep playing games!

Tim O'Connor