To describe what ConCentric is I was going to head over to the website (http://con-centric.com.au/), steal their blurb, and paste it here. Instead, in a fit of inspiration, I decided to describe what ConCentric means to me, in my own words.
ConCentric is a two day game-fest spanning a weekend in early-mid September. There are five major components of the convention: playing board games, playing RPGs, buying from the Bring and Buy table, checking out the major sponsors display (Board Game Master), and catching up with various players in the local gaming scene to remind them you exist.
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| The board gaming room |
On the board gaming front it's a simple proposition. Roll up solo or with friends, find a game to play (from a large selection generously loaned by various attendees), elbow yourself some space at a table and give it a crack. In years gone by I've attended with three other people and we've tackled some heavy games (Scythe, Dominant Species etc) and slogged through the manual in an attempt to get a game off the ground. This year it was harder to procure a ticket and only two of us made it, perfect for digging into something lighter. After some deliberation, and arguing (I suck at picking smaller games), we emerged with a hit list. 5 Minute Dungeon was popular and probably suited our situation best. We came back to it at the end of the day, determined to knock over a second boss monster (which we did). This might be something I pick up in the future. Forbidden Desert was fun but super lightweight and we knocked it over in about 40 minutes (including reading and setup). The third game we tried was about picking mushrooms and cooking them, not my favorite setting and the game-play was only "okay". I've also forgotten what it was called. Overall, the gaming portion of our day was a complete success.
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| 5 Minute Dungeon |
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| This game was more difficult than it looked on the box |
The RPGs had a room of their own (as befits their generally more boisterous nature) and for a third year running I didn't have time to join in. To get on-board with an RPG you pre-register (this year via Warhorn) and then roll up to your allotted game time. On the day, a group may be short on players so you can squeeze in (totally unprepared), but I wouldn't count on it. I'm planning to a get in on an RPG next year, looks like a lot of fun.
The bring and buy table was out of control. I would say partly due to the smaller venue, but mostly because every attendee had packed between one and several hundred games to offload - this included me (but unluckily no-one wanted my cast-outs which meant less buying power this year). There was a LOT of desirable stuff on offer but, due to the afore mentioned lack of funds, I only picked up two books (a Traveller book and something from Palladium). On one of the tables sat an entire box of Battletech books I would have grabbed if only I had the means.
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| Forbidden Desert (I'd just like to note that this is not me in any of these pics) |
This years major sponsor was Board Game Master, and they came along with a great selection of games from their library. As above however, I didn't have the money to buy anything, ah well - bring on 2020.
On the socialising front I chatted with a few people I've not had the time to catch up with much in 2019. Matthew Lee (numero uno at The Campaigner Magazine, and organiser of local game testing days) was a busy man and I only caught him briefly to chat about The Campaigner Magazine (and my desire to contribute if possible). Ben Nelson, the man in charge of ConCentric, made me a coffee and found a minute or two to chat about the future of ConCentric (tickets for 2020 may be on sale much sooner than you think, and there was a hint of other surprises to be announced). Thanks for the drinkable coffee, Ben. Last but not least, it was great to catch up with with Heath again - champion of the local gaming scene, lover of all things Lone Wolf, maker (or orderer) of cool knick-knacks, and all round nice guy. Check out his Facebook page, The Antipodean D20, for much discussion on all of the above and more.
So that was a wrap for ConCentric 2019, so glad I could make it after the initial panic of missing out on a ticket. If it wasn't for a slight case of "being under the weather" on Sunday, I would have backed up this year with a second visit. Possibly next year.
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| The face of a winner |
Thanks for the kind words! :)
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