This was written way back during Origins 2024, but I evidently forgot to hit publish. Enjoy!
Back after years away
This year, Erin and I (David) went back to Origins. It had been years since we had last gone. The last time we went, our youngest decided to trim her eyelashes, not eyebrows, eyelashes. This year, she’s a sophomore in college and gaming with us. How time flies.
Here at the Lair, we like to go to conventions. They are a way to get to see old friends, meet new ones, play lots of games, and try to resist the urge to buy more games.
When we last went, Origins felt like a local con that grew up. A decent amount of people, lots of games, but not with the press and frenetic nature of Gen Con. This year I was curious as to what over a decade away had done to the cozy Origins Game Fair. I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
Big Con, Cozy Atmo
It still has that cozy local con feel, in spite of growing since the time I’ve been away. It’s spread out into the connected spaces of the convention center, and parts of the hallways are now populated by food vendors and demo areas. Despite all of that, there isn’t the sheer mass of people that Gen Con has. It feels more relaxed. I haven’t seen a single person running to a game or having a rough time due to the distances and crowds. The distances are much shorter than Gen Con, and as I mentioned, the crowds aren’t really a thing.
I’ve been able to talk with game designers (Jon Hook, writer of more than a few Cthulhu adventures), chat with vendors at booths to get deep dives into their offerings. (I’m definitely picking up Fallout Wasteland Warfare after talking with a demo booth and seeing their Red Rocket game board.) In that, I’ve also found time to write each morning, have a relaxing cup of coffee, and just chill out before the day of gaming starts.
Five Days of Gaming
This year started on Juneteenth and goes through Sunday June 23rd. We arrived on the 19th, and were able to game with our favorite Sparks crew. (Sparks is a Star Wars campaign that has been running at conventions since 1996. It’s based on the West End Games d6 system and the people in it are some of the best.) Having the game fair go on for five days I think lends to the chill I feel attending. It’s just now Friday and yesterday it felt like Sunday and was a relief when I realized I still had three more days of con to be had. With four day and weekend cons, the games seem to go by so fast and the time is over too soon. That may still happen as the con here comes to a close, but in the present moment I can relax and experience the con with no stress at all.
Okay, maybe just a tiny bit of stress. The vendor hall opens at 10am and there’s a crowd outside. I want to get some Fallout dice and there’s some FOMO going on in my chest as I worry about the crowd. Honestly, it’s not going to be a big deal. I just looked over and the crowd is already inside and gone. Less than five minutes of watching them wait.
Origins Game Fair, highly recommended if you’re into chill conventions and live within a decent distance of Columbus, Ohio. I’m off to buy some dice.