I was asked once if there is any sense for me to go to small conventions. Ignacy you go to Essen, Gen con, BGG con, Lucca, you visit all those big shows, you meet thousands of players, sign boxes and promote your games. Why the hell are you still going to small cons. It doesn’t make sense anymore. Focus on big cons, man.
This weekend I spent in Lublin at Boardmania con. Smallest convention ever. There was like 30 people there. It was basically board games hangout. Makes no sense to go there, huh?
Well, actually it makes a lot of sense to me.
Big cons are big. I meet so many gamers, so many fans, but I have like only 2 or 3 minutes to chat with them, just few sentences and that’s it, new people come and want ask me question, sign game or take a photo. It’s always rush, it’s always in hurry, it’s shaking hands with hundreds of people per day.
Totally different story is a small con. I can sit with few guys for an hour drinking tea and talking about games. I can run demo of my game and tell jokes and stories at the same time because we are not in a hurry – we have two hours to enjoy the moment. I can meet and get to know people. You guys can meet me and get to know me better.
That is why I go to small conventions as often as I go to big conventions. I believe our hobby is all about people. Games are social experience. Games are about hanging out with people. Convention where I can spend a weekend with 50 gamers and hang out with them is a great choice.
My advice for you? Go, meet people.
I strongly believe that good board game is the one that tells a good story. You play it and suddenly you are sucked into it, you feel chills on the skin. Emotions grow. In a moment you defend castle. You hear roar of warriors. You smell boiling oil. You are into it.
That's how I design my games. I always want to tell a good story. I want players to be into it. As deep as possible.
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