This story starts few months ago in Modena. We are there at PLAY Festival, running demos of Robinson, Zombiaki and Neuroshima Hex. We have support from local gaming club – 3 geeks help us present our games with us.

We need about 3 minutes to got to know each other. It’s a moment and I feel like I know these guys for ages. Toy says joke after joke and literally changes our booth into stand up comedy center. Alan complains about everything and he is damn good at this. Igor talks too much with me wife, hmm…

We are from Poland, they are from Italy. In Poland weather always sucks, in Italy it is always shiny. In Poland my childhood was watching our football team sucks. In Italy their childhood was winning World Championship. I grew up in small city with no history behind. They grew up in a city with Palazzo Ducale – first military Academy in the world.

We have nothing in common. And yet, in a moment we have this positive connection and we feel like old buddies…

***

Few weeks later I am in France. I sit with Fabien, Emanuele and Yann. We play Kemet. 

Fabien? I’ve just met the guy.
Emanuele? I played with him once in my life, two years before.
Yann? I talk with him on Skype quite often. In person I see him for the first time in my life.

The game didn’t even begin when the first very nasty comments start to pop up. We need 10 seconds and we already talk like oldest friends with history of hundreds of games played together. Nasty jokes fill the air. I am in the middle of great game with my old buddies.

Game plays amazing, we have a great time and after the game is finished, we talk – we are all surprised how it is possible that 4 guys from 4 different parts of the world see each other for the first time in life and feels like old buddies and immediately gets positive connection…

***

Few weeks later I am in Ukraine. OK, Ukraine is close to Poland, we have very close history behind… So I am not surprised when it happens again but…

***

Then I go to Gen Con. Saturday evening I am invited to play game with Rob and his friends. I am there, I sit and immediately I feel like I spent years in school with all these guys and we were playing as kids in the kindergarten. Jokes, laughs, nasty comments, smiles. Pure fun. Boardgamers who love football – just like me! Amazing time!

When Rob was a child he lived in a free country called America, At that time I lived in Poland oppressed by USSR. Rob watched Donald Duck as a kid, I watched Reksio. Rob listened to… I mean, there is a huge cultural gap here. We lived in two different worlds. Not only different countries, these were two different worlds those days, at 70′ and 80’…

And yet, we are there at Gen Con, we sit and we have amazing time and we feel like we’ve been playing that game together for ages…

***

How is it possible than in spite of living in totally different environments, we have so much in common? Is reading Tolkien and Howard, watching Willow and Alien, playing D&D and Warhammer the factor that was above communism, above different cartoons in TV, above everything else? Had our passion and love to our hobby had stronger influence on us than politics, cold war…

I don’t entirely understand it. But I have to say it – I go to convention in different parts of world and I meet gamers from different cultures (greetings to 'You suck!’ team from Bremen, Germany! ) and story repeats every single time – in a one second I get connection with them and we play games like we knew each other for years.

I don’t understand how it works. But this is amazing!

The Legacy is ready. We sent all files to print. Adventure that started last autumn has finished. Our office is literally covered with dozen of versions of prototypes of the game. We were printing and cutting those damn 240 cards countless times for the past months. Yesterday my kids cut last version of prototype (we take it to Polcon this weekend). And that’s it. Never ever again. Next time I have The Legacy in my hands, I will have final product. Can’t wait.

***

The game was refused by dozen of game companies. Michiel was looking for publisher for a long time before he met me. I saw a potential in his prototype. I believed in it. So I spend nearly one year working on the game and then I put my money into the game. I make it real.

In a few weeks we will know who was right. Me or other publishers…

***

Today we posted final cover, tomorrow we post cards, on Monday we post rulebook and on Wednesday I hope to start pre-orders. Pre-orders with goodies, with extras, pre-orders that will satisfy true geeks. We put a good effort to make this product as awesome as possible.

In a few weeks you will get The Legacy into your hands. You’ll open the box and start play.

It’s time to call my bluff. Is this game really so cool as I was telling you for the past few weeks…?

***

Ah, one more thing! I have to say it. Sorry Michiel, but right now I am kinda sick of your game. I need a break… And Walec needs a break too… 

I will NOT take part in 'Intro to Melt and Pour Soapmaking’
When I saw this 'Spouse activities’ section for the first time it was this 'woow moment’. Activities for geek’s wives?! Really?!

243 records in this section – from dance class, to joga exercises. Never seen something like that before. No con in Poland has such offer. Yes, I am amazed.

If I was non-playing geek’s wife I think I would prefer to stay away from Gen Con anyway. I think I’d have fun just being alone at home, free from my geeky husband for couple of days but well… it turns out that some geeks don’t let their wives stay at home alone, right?

Anyway, my Die Hard Merry strongly refused to go for joga at Gen Con.

I will NOT take part in True Dungeon
This is a pity. I read about it many years ago, before I even got into boardgaming hobby. Back then I was a young RPG player and bought some issues of Dungeon magazine and read about True Dungeon event and dreamed about taking part in it. It looked super super cool.

But I will not have time for this at Gen Con 2013. Too many other errants on my Gen Con schedule.

Perhaps next year… Or next next year. Or next next next year… or at least when I am retired. I will be great wizard then!

I will NOT defend (although I can Aikido!)
I know that many of my rulebooks pissed you guys off. You were reading them and did grind curses under your nose. I am sorry for all of those hours you spent trying to decipher my poorly written ideas.

I am going to US with my head up. I am ready to listen all fu&@&€@ you want to throw into my face. I know I deserve it. Time to pay for my sins, right? Feel free to smash me down.

I will bear it with humility.

I will NOT see too much of US
This is my first trip to US. When I am back my friends will ask me thousands of questions about America. They will ask about my impressions, about differences between Europe and US, about funny details…

Well, I assume that ony thing I will be able to tell them is that publisher’s booths looks just like in Essen. I will spend 4 days at ZMAN’s stand. I will not see to much of US…

My knowledge about US will probably remain such as it was before – cool explosions on every other corner, car chases, alien invasion every couple of months…

Cool place to live…

I will NOT have demo copies of The Legacy and Theseus
At Gen Con I am guest of ZMAN GAMES. For the most of time I will be hanging around their booth and running demo games of Robinson Crusoe, Convoy and Neuroshima Hex 3.0. I will be happy to chat with you about Portal Games releases but I will not be running demo games of these titles.

I may, however, have some interesting prototypes for you – expansion for Robinson or new army for Neuroshima Hex… If you are interested, I can put them into my backpack.

I will NOT be 100% awoken
There is 6 hours time difference between Poland and Indianapolis. And since I arrive to US only one day before Gen Con, I will not have much time to adopt for new time table.

Funny thing? If you look at my Gen Con schedule (listed below) you will find out that Zev set 'Ignacy’s challange’ event for 8-10 PM. 8-10 PM in Indianapois is… 2-4 AM my time. I will be totally dazed. If I win even one game during this event I will consider it as The Success!

On the other hand, if you want to play with me games in the hotel lobby at 3AM Indianapolis time, I am totay fine with this idea – it will be 9AM my time! Just send me a twitt that you are in the hotel lobby and I go downstairs with game in my hands. 

I will NOT use 'no’ word
If you see me busy and not entirely awoken (see above) don’t hesitate to catch me anyway. Don’t hesitate to make me super busy. I am going to Gen Con to meet you guys, to talk with you, play, sign boxes, basicay have fun with you!

You know, I will spend 13 hours in plane. I hate planes. I am afraid of flying. This is gonna be 13 hour of torture for me. But I am going to Gen Con. I am going to US and I want to meet as many of you as possible. So…

Even if I look deadly tired, don’t hesitate – I am there to talk/play/laugh with you.

I will NOT hesitate to leave my clothes
My luggage is limited. One suitcase, max weigh 29 kg. If in the final day, in the final hour, when packing home I find out that I have too much stuff to pack into suitcase, if I find out that I lost control at Gen Con and bought too many games, I will not think twice. I will leave clothes behind.

Games go to Poland with me. For my t-shirts it may be one way trip…

I will NOT…

Ok. That’s it.

It’s high time to tell you what I will do!

Thursday:
0PM-2PM ZMAN booth [I will run demo games of Robinson/Convoy/NS HEX. Please, drop by!]2PM-4PM Dice Tower Designer Forum! [there is plenty of tickets left, so sign up and see me pretending to be smart ass!]4PM-6PM Ignacy’s Challange [I will play Neuroshima Hex and you will try to kick my ass. Good luck ]

Friday:
0PM – 1PM ZMAN booth [as above]1PM – 3PM Ignacy’s Challange [as above]3PM – 6PM ZMAN booth [as above]8PM – 10PM Ignacy’s Challange [as above]

Saturday
0PM – 6PM ZMAN booth [as above]8PM – 10PM Ignacy’s Challange [as above]

For the rest of the time I will be here and there and I will try to make some spontaneous hangouts every day, probably at 6PM, when publishers space closes and we move to boardgames area. I don’t know this location, I am at Gen con for the first time. I don’t know where and when we will be able to hangout – will it be hotel lobby or some pub or just boardgames area…?

I don’t know. I will improvise.

Here is my twitter: @trzewik

Follow me and I will try to twitt where I am so you can join us!

This is my first Gen Con. Wish me luck. And meet me there!