by W. Eric Martin

Among my hundreds of images of games seen at Gen Con 2025 are images of...other things. I've been adding some of these as extras on game wrap-up posts, but let's dive through a bunch at once:

▪️ I'm always impressed by the energy at Gen Con each year, especially for the larger booths that have so many people and displays to organize. This is not a skill I could ever claim to have, but the hours pass, people solve problems, and booths arise from parts and plans, stable enough to hold together for four days before going into hibernation — or disappearing forever.

I talked with one publisher about giant game displays and oversized versions used for demo games, and they said that such items are often sold at auction later once the game has left the market. Outcomes like this seem preferable to a one-of-a-kind item ending up in a dump when it could find a new home with a game fan.


▪️ Each year at Gen Con, I visit the Kingdom Death: Monster booth to find one miniature suitable for photographic capturing and this year it was the Spidicule. I guess I'm just trying to keep up on which body parts most convey the feeling of "horror". Eyes and teeth, sure, that's old hat, but what else have you got?


▪️ For the past few years, "Stery Boxb" have been a feature at Gen Con, with each containing games originally priced at hundreds of US$, but discounted to (in most cases) US$50. I'm always surprised that these sell so well, but I should get over that surprise since those sales always happen.

Indie Boards & Cards had mystery boxes of its own, presumably clearing merchandise from its warehouse.


▪️ Given the surroundings of the Hyatt Regency, where the BGG Hot Games Room was located, and my frequent exposure to same, I was inspired to start a series:

"Sidewalk #12"
▪️ Are you looking for saucy geek undies? Gen Con might be the place for you...although anyone advertising "saucy geek undies" should probably come up with another arrangement of words to make them sound more appealing. Images hidden since some might object to the material presented:

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▪️ For the past several years, Catalyst Game Labs has had a giant inflatable mech standing outside the Indiana Convention Center, and while it's a favorite photo spot for attendees, I'm more interested on catching an unusual view than posing with it. For 2025, I caught it limbering up before the big show:


▪️ And here we have:

"Sidewalk #14"
▪️ After spotting this booth during set-up day, I meant to circle back to discover what Turbo Dork is selling, but since I didn't do that, I'll choose to believe that it's marketing the concept of color: "Have you heard of hues? I can get you a nice orange for a low, low price and you can wear it right off the lot."


▪️ While attending a media demo event for Mathias Wigge's Sanctuary — game preview for this SPIEL Essen 25 title here — near the Indiana State Museum, I spotted Mondrian, a 2014 sculpture by Don Gummer. Thankfully I was early for my appointment, so I had time to walk around Mondrian, sit on the ground to see the sun shining through, etc.

It's good to have moments like these during a game convention...