Despite living in Indiana all my life, I had never really thought about attending Gen Con Indy until about two years ago in 2010. Only then did I realize how large this convention actually is. Gen Con Indy 2013 took place in the Indianapolis Convention Center during the weekend, August 15-18. The first Gen Con took place in famed Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax's home in 1967 and has since grown to have a turnstile attendance of 159,364 and unique attendance of 49,058 as of 2013.
Gen Con 2013 featured all things geeky, with a huge emphasis on gaming, more specifically role-playing. From tabletop board gaming to live action role-playing, Gen Con pretty much had everything covered. They even had a section dedicated to Japanese animation (anime), although it was somewhat paltry in comparison to the bigger areas in the convention center. Like many other conventions, Gen Con had no shortage of cosplayers. Themes of costumes range from fantasy to anime. There were a lot more people strutting around in regular medieval armor and clothing similar to that found in Dungeon and Dragons campaigns. Gen Con also held a costume contest and costume parade on Saturday for cosplayers to show off their costumes.
The vendor's area of Gen Con 2013 is comparable to any of the larger conventions in the United States, such as Anime Expo. There were a lot of exhibitor booths with demos of games, making the vendor's area an enjoyable area to go to during down time. Several of the booths also had more kid friendly areas that children could enjoy. There were different vendors that sold dice, figures and even a small selection of anime themed merchandise often found at anime conventions. Familiar Japanese companies like card company Bushiroad were also present during Gen Con weekend.
One large drawback to Gen Con is that many of its events cost money to attend. While tickets are fairly affordable (two dollars for a generic ticket), the costs can rack up if you're planning on attending many events. On the other hand, the amount of events hosted during Gen Con is crazy. I personally paid about sixteen dollars to attend a one hour LARP-ing dungeon crawl ran by a company called Nero. It was a lot of fun being able to hit "monsters" with foam swords. You could've been a spellcaster, but throwing seed packets aren't nearly as fun as hitting people with swords. I also paid for a general ticket that allowed me to play a game of mammoth Settlers of Catan by Mayfair Games. Unlike the regular Settlers of Catan board game, I played against strangers on a "huge carpet" version complete with large dice, cards, roads and settlements. Mayfair Games had a whole area to themselves for huge games of Catan and also gained a Guinness World Record for "The Most People Playing Settlers of Catan Simultaneously" (1,012 players). Prominent sponsors like Mayfair Games and Paizo Publishing received huge areas in the convention hall for marketing purposes.
Perhaps another draw of Gen Con is that the events not only are restricted to the convention center and surrounding hotel's, but also spread to local eateries such as Scotty's Brewhouse and the Colt's Bar and Grille where special menus themed around Gen Con were prepared for that weekend. Individuals who ate at Scotty's Brewhouse from their Gen Con menu would obtain a limited edition dice and could also enjoy decorations themed after Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder franchise. Sun King Brewery also participated by having a special beer called Flagon Slayer.
Overall Gen Con 2013 was fantastic, as a third time attendee I was pleased with the amount of tie-ins the convention had with local food joints and the game areas were fantastic. If you are into games of any kind, Gen Con is definitely for you. I look forward to attending the growing event next year.