Boardgame News

Convention Report: GAMECON-1 - December 2 and 3, 2005 (Travel Day and Day One)

By Tom Vasel
December 13, 2005

When I first received word that I was able to go to Game Con 1, I was ecstatic. Usually, it’s Rick Thornquist who is off, gallivanting all over the globe, hitting every board game conference in existence, while I languish in Korea, wishing that I could be there and salivating over the pictures. But now I had the opportunity to visit Asia’s first big game conference, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Game Con 1 (www.gamecon1.com), was a conference brought by PanGlobal, an insurance company that used the conference as advertising, but also as a way to spread the word of board gaming. The conference had support from both the gamers in Malaysia, as well as a very large contingent of gamers from Singapore. The Singapore gamers were a combination of a board game Meetup group (http://boardgames.meetup.com/21/), run by Andy Wein , and Settlers Café (www.settlerscafe.com), run by Collin Lim. It was exciting to see the two countries (Malaysia and Singapore) working together on the conference, and hopefully in the coming years we’ll see more Asian countries (Korea, Japan, etc.) get on board.

Travel Day
I flew to Kuala Lumpur on Friday, taking a direct flight from Seoul, and arrived at the KL airport around 5 PM. After a fierce struggle in line with some very eager people, I finally made it through customs, and managed to find my driver who was going to take me to the Mid Valley Exhibition Center, a humungous mall in the heart of KL. Also being picked up by my driver was Dale Walton, a designer for Pin International, a Thailand-based abstract board game company. Dale is probably best known for designing Octiles, and he had both that game and several others from their line with him to demonstrate at a “Mensa Challenge�? at the convention. Dale and I had a good long talk on the forty-five minute drive to our hotel (which was conveniently located next to the mall), and it was fascinating to hear so much about abstract strategy games. Pin International has produced dozens of these games – most of which I’ve never heard of (although Fire and Ice and Octiles have a decent following.) Upon arriving at our hotel, we quickly stashed our stuff, and headed up to the convention, which was on the fourth floor of the giant mall.

On the way up, I saw a Toys ‘R Us, and couldn’t resist going in, so I dragged Dale over and went immediately to the board game section. It was almost identical to that found in America, but with fewer party games, and a decent Avalon Hill selection. The prices were a little high (very high when compared to most stuff found in Malaysia), but I was glad to see that at least a copy of Cosmic Encounter was there. I made note of some children’s games that I thought my daughters might be interested in, and then we hurried up to the convention.

Arriving in the great hall of the convention, we found that most of it was empty, with tables still being set up everywhere. Edwin Wong, the man most responsible for putting Game Con 1 together, and for getting me there - met us and was one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. He was in the middle of a Ricochet Robot game with some other Malaysian gamers, and I immediately joined in. Of course, I use the word “joined�? loosely, as Edwin was simply wiping the floor with everyone else. He was finding the best possible route for the robots much more quickly than everyone else – so the game ended almost before I got started!

Dale had brought a couple games with him, including the new game Outfox, designed by Maureen Hiron and Andrea Mainini. The game itself is quite simple, with each player having nine pieces (three colors each of three shapes). On a player’s turn, they place any of their pieces on the board next to another piece, and then slide one adjacent piece in a straight line. That’s pretty much the only rules, with players attempting to line up three pieces of the same color (but different shapes) or the same shape (but different colors). It’s a very simple, very quick game – but had quite a bit of depth. Dale destroyed me in the first game he taught me, and then I immediately started playing the game with everyone there. Five times, with three victories! I had to stop playing to keep my winning percentage alive. At this point, the Singapore group of gamers showed up, and Edwin took us all over to the PanGlobal headquarters, where we met in a lounge, playing games and eating food.

Dale taught me Columns, another Pin International game, designed by David Ward. In Columns, each of two players attempts to stack different shaped blocks up – attempting to get round blocks of their color on the fifth level. It’s much more strategic than it sounds, and Dale utterly destroyed me in two games, yet the game was fun enough that I wanted more. I then saw an empty table so I grabbed Ticket to Ride and set it up, hoping for players. And indeed four Singapore gamers showed up, including Andy Wein, and we proceeded to play. I have to go on record and say that I’m normally quite good at Ticket to Ride, and while I don’t win too much, I usually have a good score. Well, in this game I got the worst score I think I’ve ever gotten, all due to the fact that I kept drawing tickets that I couldn’t complete. I came in dead last – but still had a fun time, as we all watched Andy win the game convincingly.

Dale came over and watched the game, and wanted to learn how to play, but we were a little Ticketed out, so Andy brought out Can’t Stop instead. Now, I’ve always considered Can’t Stop an abstract game, but the way Andy explained it, with mountain climbers and all, was very thematic and I thought quite well done. It was a close game, with a lot of yelling and laughing, but finally resulted in yet another win for Andy. At this point, we realized that it was close to 2 AM, so Dale and I excused ourselves and headed back to the hotel, trying to get some sleep before the next day.

Day One
Around 7:30 AM, I headed over to the convention, and watched as the different folk came in. There was a huge $10,000 Vs. collectible card game tournament, and Magic the Gathering and Pokemon had a large presence also. The CCG folk came in with computers and all sorts of equipment, and from what I can gather, ran a very professional tournament. I didn’t head over to the CCG area often, but it was always crowded for the entire convention. Boxes upon boxes of terrain showed up, as the miniature players set up historical miniature tables, as well as a giant Last Defense of Humanity display, for Warhammer 40K. All of this was very fascinating, but I wanted to see my true love – board games.

The Singapore crew had set up a large area – just inside the main doors, of many different designer games, ranging from Niagara, the recent Spiel des Jahres winner, to Bohnanza. Right next to this area was a Malaysian crew who demonstrated how to use board games in education. Most of the games in this whole section overlapped, and I was pleased to see many of my favorite games there. On one side of the section another group of gamers got a pile of science fiction games together (from World of Warcraft to Cosmic Encounter) and on the other side Avalon Hill had many of their new games on display.

As I arrived, Andy and his crew were setting up Palazzo Paletti, the giant-sized version of Villa Paletti. As much as Villa is a treat to the eyes, Palazzo is that much cooler. I don’t think there was a moment in the convention that the game wasn’t being played or stared at. And when the Singapore gamers started playing it, I had to laugh. They were vicious players, always trying to get the entire structure to stand on two or only one column! Very rarely did they make it past the third level. Also being set up was the giant version of Chicken Cha Cha Cha, in which players actually dressed up as chickens and moved around on giant eggs.

At 10:00 AM the doors to the convention opened, and people started pouring through the doors. One gentleman, Richard Mek, came up and showed me his game Zeroes to Heroes – which was an educational Malaysian game used to show children the hazards and risks of starting up businesses. It looked like a typical roll-and-move game, but I agreed to try it out later in the conference. Also, I was able to stop by Jimmy Yeoh’s table, where he was displaying Color Magic, Math Magic, and Math Magic 2. Jimmy and I played a two player game of Math Magic 2 – which is basically like a numerical version of Scrabble. I wouldn’t recommend the game to everyone – but I really had a good time doing all the math in my head and think that the game will make a fine tool for teaching arithmetic in the classroom.

Speaking of classrooms, I was there to give a presentation – Practical gaming in the classroom. There was another conference going on at the same time as Game Con 1 – a college recruitment conference – so many of the people milling around those booths came out to hear me, as well as several gamers. I’m not used to so many people listening to me, and it was a little daunting, but after a quick warm-up, I started giving reasons to use games in the classroom, examples, etc. The hour lecture and some question and answer time went well – and I had a good time talking to teachers and gamers alike about our hobby and how it can be used in the classroom.

Back into the convention center, I stopped by Dale’s booth to play a few of his games with him. We played Outfox again, in which I beat him – ha!, and then he taught me Octiles, in which I was soundly defeated. Both games have gone onto my want list, as they are very beautiful and offer some good strategy. I then grabbed some interested passersby and played a game of Carcassonne with them. They had a good time (I think), and even though I haven’t played “vanilla�? (no expansions) Carcassonne in a long time, I still find it an excellent game to show people who’ve never played games before. Richard Mek came over and we played a “Zeroes to Heroes�? game with four others. I concede that the game has some educational merit, but it was a bit too lucky for me. There are choices in the game, including some ethical ones that may have consequences later, but a very lucky person isn’t impacted by any poor decisions they make – simply because they are so rich. It’s an okay game, but nothing that I would buy.

After an excellent lunch (or supper – I’m not sure, as time became distorted for me), Andy asked if I wanted to play 6 Nimmt! When I told him that I had never played it, he was appalled that I had never played what was “the greatest filler ever�? (his words). We immediately sat down with five others and he taught the game. It was indeed a good filler, and very mathematical, and I proceeded to win easily. I liked the game so much that I went out and picked up my own copy. I wouldn’t call it “the greatest filler ever�?, but it was good enough for several plays – and I’ve played it several times since I’ve been back in Korea.

Edwin had designed a game himself – which was being demonstrated near the back of the room. The game is called the Hottest Race in the World, with each player racing a car around a track for three laps. Each player has a deck of cards (similar to Ave Caesar), and must use them, as well as some other cards that they draw in the begin when customizing their car, to safely navigate around the track. The game plays almost as if it were a cross between Ave Caesar and Formula De, but I rather liked it! It was simple, easy, and rewarded strategic play. The only part of it that I didn’t really care for were powerful event cards that seemed rather chaotic and random – but if these were eliminated, I think the Hottest Race could easily be one of the best race games I’ve ever played. (And oh yeah, I won the race!)

As the day drew to a close, I went back over to Dale’s area (these abstract games kept drawing me in!) and played Creeper with him – a game designed by Graham Lipscomb. Creeper has elements of Checkers, Othello, and a connection game in it – but the mix is amazing, and it’s easily one of my favorite abstract games I’ve ever played – rewarding strategic and tactical play. Of course, I lost, but I had a great time playing! The convention closed up at 10, and while I was a bit tired, the Singapore gamers wanted to go get some coffee, so we headed to a café and had some lively discussions, like “Is it okay to make your own copies of games�?, etc. Finally, I excused myself and headed for bed. Halfway done already! I was enjoying Malaysia so much, I didn’t want to go back to cold Korea.

Tom Vasel
“Real men play board games�?
www.tomvasel.com

Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version
	Andy Wein schools me in Can’t Stop. I don’t think I’ve ever won this game.
	Edwin Wong, the person who managed to put Game Con 1 together. Here he’s a little sad, having just lost the Acquire tournament.
	The entrance to the hall, before everything opened up.
	Here’s the view from where I was speaking. They added a few more chairs.
	The Mall that the convention hall in was really beautiful…
	...I was able to spend a little time shopping there. I couldn’t believe the selection, and how inexpensive everything was.
	Registration tables. Giving out T-shirts and more, this was a busy place.
	Terrain on one of the many tables for the huge Warhammer 40K tournament.
	Andy Wien, head of the Singapore Board Game Meetup group, tries on the Chicken gear from the gian Chicken Cha Cha Cha game.
	Here’s the layout for the Chicken Cha Cha Cha game. It was quite busy during the conference.
	Here’s some of the Singapore Crew, ready for a day of gaming!
	The lineup of games that Dale brought from Pin International.
	Outfoxed
	Octiles
	I don’t play Star Wars Miniatures, but I was SO tempted to pick up this AT AT - it was an incredible model.
	The huge Pallazo Paletti set was in constant play throughout the entire convention. It was attractive, fun, and honestly the most popular draw for the board game section.
	I enjoyed Hamster Rolle so much that I picked up my own copy.
	I saw Hybrid, but never got a chance to play it. Should I, or is it just another miniatures game?
	Zeroes to Heroes
	Ticket to Ride - in constant use almost the whole convention.
	Edwin introduces me to the folks before my Effective Board Games in the classroom speech.
	I blather on.
	Shockingly, there are questions when I’m done.
	Math Magic
	Here I am, winning Math Magic!
	I teach Carcassonne to some new players.
	Board games in full swing.
	Hey, I see myself on the ticket. I’m famous for two days!
	Apparently, when I repeat Rick’s line “Those crazy LARPers”, they are not always amused.
	I never saw World of Warcraft not in play the whole time. There was always someone fiddling or playing with the game. Very popular, although initial reactions were mixed.