Hello (Origins), it’s me (Scott). I was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meet, to go over everything (or at least cool, new stuff). Adele makes everything good, but I’ll take it from here, haha. Hey, guess what? I finally got to go to Origins!

It was a roughly 8-hour trip to get from Virginia to Columbus, with rain the majority of the way (thankfully our return trip had nicer weather). We headed out Monday as we were staying with Sarah’s cousin, and her family, and wanted time to relax after the trip and hang out with them. Aside from the weather, the drive went well.

Tuesday we picked up Katie, from Katie’s Game Corner, who was switching hotels after also arriving Monday, and we spent most of the day driving around or hanging out at the hotel with her and some other people. It was a good intro to getting ready for the convention which I was thankful for as I am rather introverted. The more people I know at a place, the less anxious I get.

Wednesday was technically the first day of the convention, but it was also the most empty as the vendor hall wouldn’t open until Thursday so just the “gaming” halls (which has some publishers in them) were open. We had early access to the vendor hall as we had press badges, and it was cool to see things while they were still getting set up, and without the throngs of people everywhere. Getting the lay of the land also helped with easing my anxiety as I could check out where everything from bathrooms to the media room to certain booths were to be found.

Thursday is when the real shebang started. We got in an hour early due to our press badges and I’m glad we did because we were already partway into a demo of Century: Eastern Wonders when the doors opened to the public and the masses of people flooded in. It was nice to not have to worry about getting where we wanted to go or getting in line for the must-have games (I didn’t buy all that much at the convention, and the stuff I did was mostly stuff that had already been out for awhile or was on sale).

Friday through Sunday went much the same way as Thursday. OSG had 2 meetings with publishers each day Thursday to Saturday, and it was fun to meet and talk board games with the passionate people behind some of our favorite companies. We’re not allowed to talk about some of it (yay sneak peeks, haha) but I came away from pretty much every meeting excited about what the various companies and publishers are doing and what’s coming over the next year or so.

Origins is not the biggest board gaming convention there is, but it was the biggest one I’ve ever been to. Marti and Sarah went last year and did their best to prepare me for what to expect, but there’s still nothing like being there and experiencing things yourself.

There were a lot of people, but the space they had never made it seem crowded (except maybe for brief periods Thursday morning when everyone was rushing around). Even with my anxiety and being uncomfortable in crowds, I still was able to enjoy the convention and have a ton of fun playing new stuff (and some older stuff), seeing what’s to come, and meeting awesome people from Punchboard Media, publishers, and even small companies.

Overall I had a good time, though I don’t think I’d want to go any bigger (as far as attendance/convention-size), haha. Have you been to Origins? What was your most or least favorite thing about it? Have you been to anything bigger than Origins? Let me know in the comments here or on social media!

Game on!
Scott – The Solitary Meeple