Just Been Playing Around
Jun. 30th, 2002 08:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
major_clangerSpent the weekend at Stabcon, a small twice-yearly games convention held in a student hall at Manchester uni. We'd not been before, but found out recently that several of our friends were regulars and so thought we'd give it a go (the alternative being more gardening, and I've already done one entry about that).
For someone used to sf cons, Stabcon was a mix of the familiar and odd. There is almost no programme, save what members organise themselves through sign-up sheets for RPG sessions. Most of the members spend their time in the dining hall, set up with long rows of tables and benches for board and card gaming. This actually works surprisingly well, as it is convenient for anything from two-person games to massive eight-player extravaganzas with huge boards or maps. Using the dining hall also means that at meal times members can just grab some food and, if they wish, just carry on playing - although in practice, all but the most avid gamers took a break for nosh. The bar did the usual thriving convention business, and even had in a good range of bottled beer at prices you would only dream of in a hotel bar.
Stabcon is definitely a con for those who like gaming. Even the bar was full of active gamers, with very little of the idle chatting over a beer you usually see at a con. Of course, most of the members were there for gaming as a form of socialising in itself, so this is hardly a surprise. Oh, and it is not a good place to have a bad back, thanks to the bench seating. One of the concom told us that one year they had been sandwiched between two weddings and the site had left proper chairs in the dining hall rather than bring them in twice... but such luck had never been repeated. There were a few proper chairs, for which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bugshaw was grateful, but even so her back was a limiting factor for us, alas.
We didn't end up on any RPGs in the end, having arrived on Saturday lunchtime after most of the interesting-sounding onces had been signed up for. Instead we spent most of our time board and card gaming, sometimes with old favourites (including ones we'd bought along) and sometimes with new ones.
Lord Of The Fries It's a hard life as a zombie waiter in Friedays, the Fast Food Restaurant of the Damned. You try making up a Chikabunga Conga when your fingers are prone to fall off... We played the de-luxe edition, with colour cards (a shocking departure for Cheapass Games) and new menus.
RoboRally Try to navigate your robot around a factory floor filled with hazards and traps... but programming its moves five steps in advance. This game is fun but takes a long time to play - our game with seven players was only half-complete when we stopped after four hours - and at times it feels like you're playing the game system rather than each other. Probably needs more experience to determine how to set the game up to keep it to reasonable length.
Munchkin Beautifully simulates fantasy role-playing whilst removing all the tedious and boring bits like, er, role-playing, leaving the fun stuff such as killing monsters (or anything else that moves), nicking treasure and backstabbing your fellow players. Screamingly funny and fast becoming a classic favourite.
Junta Support El Presidente! Oppose Coups! Start Coups! Assassinate your fellow Junta members! Stash as much money as possible in your family Swiss bank account! A board game rather than an RPG, but it's amazing how much people start playing into their roles in this game. Memo: do not makebugshaw Internal Security Minister at the start of the game...
Fluxx has one rule. Deal one card and play one card. Except that that one card will probably change the rules, or the goal of the game. Which is undetermined until someone plays a goal card... Takes about thirty seconds to learn and is instantly addictive thereafter.
Driving three hours each way to spend a weekend gaming sounded a bit of a suspect way to have fun, but it worked. We'll be back for Winter Stabcon 2003.
MC
For someone used to sf cons, Stabcon was a mix of the familiar and odd. There is almost no programme, save what members organise themselves through sign-up sheets for RPG sessions. Most of the members spend their time in the dining hall, set up with long rows of tables and benches for board and card gaming. This actually works surprisingly well, as it is convenient for anything from two-person games to massive eight-player extravaganzas with huge boards or maps. Using the dining hall also means that at meal times members can just grab some food and, if they wish, just carry on playing - although in practice, all but the most avid gamers took a break for nosh. The bar did the usual thriving convention business, and even had in a good range of bottled beer at prices you would only dream of in a hotel bar.
Stabcon is definitely a con for those who like gaming. Even the bar was full of active gamers, with very little of the idle chatting over a beer you usually see at a con. Of course, most of the members were there for gaming as a form of socialising in itself, so this is hardly a surprise. Oh, and it is not a good place to have a bad back, thanks to the bench seating. One of the concom told us that one year they had been sandwiched between two weddings and the site had left proper chairs in the dining hall rather than bring them in twice... but such luck had never been repeated. There were a few proper chairs, for which
bugshaw was grateful, but even so her back was a limiting factor for us, alas.We didn't end up on any RPGs in the end, having arrived on Saturday lunchtime after most of the interesting-sounding onces had been signed up for. Instead we spent most of our time board and card gaming, sometimes with old favourites (including ones we'd bought along) and sometimes with new ones.
Lord Of The Fries It's a hard life as a zombie waiter in Friedays, the Fast Food Restaurant of the Damned. You try making up a Chikabunga Conga when your fingers are prone to fall off... We played the de-luxe edition, with colour cards (a shocking departure for Cheapass Games) and new menus.
RoboRally Try to navigate your robot around a factory floor filled with hazards and traps... but programming its moves five steps in advance. This game is fun but takes a long time to play - our game with seven players was only half-complete when we stopped after four hours - and at times it feels like you're playing the game system rather than each other. Probably needs more experience to determine how to set the game up to keep it to reasonable length.
Munchkin Beautifully simulates fantasy role-playing whilst removing all the tedious and boring bits like, er, role-playing, leaving the fun stuff such as killing monsters (or anything else that moves), nicking treasure and backstabbing your fellow players. Screamingly funny and fast becoming a classic favourite.
Junta Support El Presidente! Oppose Coups! Start Coups! Assassinate your fellow Junta members! Stash as much money as possible in your family Swiss bank account! A board game rather than an RPG, but it's amazing how much people start playing into their roles in this game. Memo: do not make
bugshaw Internal Security Minister at the start of the game...Fluxx has one rule. Deal one card and play one card. Except that that one card will probably change the rules, or the goal of the game. Which is undetermined until someone plays a goal card... Takes about thirty seconds to learn and is instantly addictive thereafter.
Driving three hours each way to spend a weekend gaming sounded a bit of a suspect way to have fun, but it worked. We'll be back for Winter Stabcon 2003.
MC
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Before you go back
Date: 2002-06-30 02:27 pm (UTC)Re: Before you go back
Date: 2002-06-30 10:30 pm (UTC)If the back things are the ones which I saw...
Re: Before you go back
Date: 2002-07-01 11:10 am (UTC)Re: Before you go back
Date: 2002-07-07 11:30 am (UTC)MC
Re: Before you go back
Date: 2002-07-08 03:40 pm (UTC)I remember Stabcon
Date: 2002-07-01 08:00 am (UTC)Re: I remember Stabcon
Date: 2002-07-01 10:25 am (UTC)Agreed about the environment, but gamers don't seem to mind; as a gamer, as long as you're out of the rain and have beer and a table available, you're generally happy...
MC