Dice Tower West Con Report

Setup

Lori and I attend and volunteer at a few gaming conventions each year; usually local ones, but occasionally one of the bigger, national cons. Earlier this month (March 6-10, 2019) we were able to go to the inaugural Dice Tower West gaming convention in Las Vegas and I am finally reporting on our experience. First, a bit about what we look for in a con, so you know whether my perspective is compatible with yours. Our attraction to cons is playing games, alternating between D&D and boardgames; that’s just the two of us sometimes or with friends we didn’t know we had until the bits are dumped from the box. So, the more general geekdom cons (Gen Con, Comic Con, etc.) don’t pique our interests and I wouldn’t know how to compare DTW to that type of experience.

Round 1: The Inaugural DTW

Although technically this was the fifth annual Meeple Con, it was the first year as Dice Tower West. As such, the con was generally well-attended and well-run. It suffered a few, minor issues that could be first-time jitters with the new management but could also be growing pains – the addition of the Dice Tower brand certainly resulted in considerable growth.

The location, the Westgate Las Vegas, was great whether you are a fan of Las Vegas or not (for the record, we are in camp “not”). Having attended NAB Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center next door to the Westgate many times over the last 16 years, I had my reservations about the Westgate. Foregoing subtlety, the hotel had been a pit for most of that time and we were prepared to stay elsewhere. Ultimately, we opted to stay there since it was so much more convenient and our first day called for convenience (a 12-hour drive followed by a 7-11 pm shift followed by a 7-11 am shift). However, the hotel renovation appeared to be complete, so the room was clean and recently refinished. Although the room layout reminds one of the building’s age and the amenities are of the quality commonly known as “landlord specials,” it suited the purpose – a clean, quiet crash space. The general quality of the venues and public spaces within are comparable to the middle-grade strip hotel and casino, complete with vanity stores and their annoying barkers between the elevators and the conference rooms or parking lot. As a Las Vegas hotel of its size routinely hosts multiple large conventions, the hotel staff are pros at maintaining a clean, organized space and DTW has room to grow without relocating.

That is, if they grow. Absurd, I know, but I can’t help but speculate in this little aside. With the increasing popularity tabletop gaming and gaming conventions have enjoyed the last decade, it only seems natural that Dice Tower West and other cons like it will grow in attendance, and I expect that they will – for a time. The mass appeal and attendance of the big cons continue to grow, so it would seem obvious that all cons would be experiencing similar growth. But these big cons are not focused on table top gaming like DTW and many small to mid-sized cons, and they draw from a much larger fan base. The number of conventions has also been increasing, which appears to be already impacting the attendance at our local cons. We are seeing a con-solidation (sorry) at the local level as individual cons have needed to rejoin their attendees who simply can’t or won’t attend four or five very similar cons each year. Hopefully, DTW and other gaming-focused cons continue to grow for a long time. The immediate future looks good, with BGG Con outselling previous years’ attendance significantly (anecdotally, >15%), but their prolonged limit to growth due to their hotel agreement probably contributed to this surge.

Anyway, back to DTW 2019… To their credit, the Dice Tower personalities and other content creators were in obvious attendance and were highly accessible. Save one or two, that obvious presence shone a good light on the Dice Tower. Having completed a career in media and entertainment, I am not a “fanboy” but acknowledge the importance of connecting with “celebrities” to many. Also, as I am not a regular consumer of the Dice Tower, I was unfamiliar with some of the newer contributors. To be fair; I watch some of the annual reviews shows with Tom, Zee, and Sam, I watch the occasional new game review, and I listen to Ludology, Board Games Insider, and The Game Pit (primarily to test my knowledge of English). I did thank Tom for bringing the Dice Tower “West” as their gravitas can help grow the con and chatted with him a few times as he perused the library. Note: If you want to play a game with Tom, simply get to the gaming hall before 7:30 am. He was there at the library every morning around 7 to check out a game and was gregarious and personable to everyone.

Round 2: Volunteering

Volunteering for a gaming convention or a publisher at a convention is usually a rewarding experience and this was no exception. Lori and I volunteered four shifts in the game library, which is our typical requested gig. Since the game library is a major draw for us to a con, we figure it is a great place for us to volunteer; we are excited and thankful for library, we get to recommend games, and we get a chance to hear about other people’s experiences with the games – fresh reviews.

As is typical of gaming cons and volunteering in general. The truly great part of volunteering at DTW was the people we met. The other volunteers, in particular, were fantastic, kind, fun people that we hope to see again at DTW or BGG Con (or, possibly Salt Con, if we can swing it). These are a few of the fantastic people we met (in no particular order): Jaime, Lance, Jack and Autumn, Sophia and Zach, Jeff, Jason and Jordan, Tom and Mandi (yes, that Tom and Mandi), and many others.

Round 3: Playing Games

As I said in the setup, we go to cons to play games, particularly ones that we don’t have available to us at home or in our game group(s). We also try to tackle one new, big game each day and sprinkle in some middle-weight hotness and top off with a few light nightcaps. At last, here is a bit about the games we played (in alphabetical order):

• Architects of the West Kingdom. This is a basic worker placement game, so may not be outstanding if it weren’t for two factors: The mechanic to capture opponent workers and send them to jail added a fun twist (a little more involved than in Istanbul). It is very fast-paced.
• Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra. We own and enjoy the original Azul, so this one was no surprise. I don’t see a need for owning both, but if I had played both before buying one, I probably would have bought this one.
• Biblios: We own this game so wouldn’t normally play it at a con, but we needed a quick, light game for three players that I could teach in 5 minutes.
• Century: Spice Road. Although different from Splendor, it was close enough that, having played lots of Splendor, I felt like our two plays of this were enough to satisfy my curiosity.
• Coimbra. A clever, middle-weight, dice drafting, set collection game that was really interesting and fun to play even though I got pasted. I added this one to my Love to Have list.
• Gingerbread House. This pattern-building, recipe-filler was a light diversion with a new friend and his 10ish son. Although, not something I would play at home, it was entertaining for all of us.
• Gùgōng. This was my favorite game of the con and was great at four players. I am hoping that the scaled down map keeps the game tight for two players since it is a Must Have.
• The Quacks of Quedlinburg. I have a few press-your-luck games (and many that have a press-your-luck aspect) but could find room for this one in my collection. In the hot games area, this game was on my must-play list.
• Raiders of the North Sea. A medium-light worker placement game that I could easily play regularly except that I have Champions of Midgard already filling this niche.
• Reef. Another light, quick game to sneak in “just one more,” this game fit the bill. I liked the dual-purpose cards (acquire components and fulfill a goal), but don’t see a place for this in our regular gaming.
• Samurai. I played this Knizia classic with someone we met who loved it. Knowing I hadn’t played it before and wanting to gain a convert, he went easy on me. I don’t think I’ll pick this up but will gladly play it when the opportunity arises.
• Space Base. This game never sat in the library for long, so we had to give it a go. Definitely an improvement on Machi Koro, it still didn’t capture my passion.
• Spirit Island. I would say that this was the big disappointment of the con, but having researched it when it was on Kickstarter, I didn’t have high expectations for it. Since it has been steadily climbing the BGG ranks, I thought I’d give it a try. Keeping things positive here, I’ll only say that I am bewildered by this game’s popularity. Note: Robinson Crusoe is one of only six games I have rated a 10 (in over 500 ratings), so a punishing co-op has a good chance to satisfy me. This one did not.
• Villainous. Since we thought our daughter might like this for the theme, we played this asynchronous card game. It didn’t hurt that I got to portray Prince John and recite lines from one of my favorite Disney classics (only it wasn’t a classic when I saw it in the theater in 1973). The game had a beautiful production quality and the character powers and goals were perfect, but there was more take-that than I would normally play, so I don’t see me playing this again.
• Wingspan. Last on this list only because of that darned alphabet, this beautiful set collection, dice pool game was in the hot games area, and for good reason. I played it only once, but then taught the game three times because it was so enjoyable to share.

We also bought a long-desired copy of the heist co-op Burgle Bros. from Tim Fowers and played it eight times in the first week we were back. Great fun, this tough, tense puzzle requires a fair bit of luck to win but is true to its theme. So, we didn’t feel cheated when nabbed by the guards and felt justified in celebrating our cleverness when we escaped with the goods.

Round 4: The Rest

A brief note on a few of the other expectations of a gaming con:

• Library: The library had about 1000 games; mostly in good shape and representing a good selection of the hotness and classic hobby games.
• Events: There were a few events on the calendar typical of the Dice Tower (Pitch Car competition, live podcast, panel discussion, etc.) but we didn’t attend any of them.
• Prize Support: Typical of Dice Tower, there was no shortage of door prizes.
• Vendor Hall: There was a good mix of products represented by the 50 vendors.
• Organized Play: We didn’t participate, but this seemed to be an area in need of a bit of love based on the confusion we saw around the sign-ups. The Adventurer’s League was on another floor, so we didn’t see how well that was attended.
• Tournaments: Envoy had tournaments setup and a selection of about 50 games in a Play-to-Win library.
• Con Crud: Lori didn't get it, but I did and was miserable for about 10 days.

End Game

Dice Tower West was worth the drive and expense and we would recommend it to anyone who enjoys cons for the same reasons we do or for those who are aficionados of the Dice Tower.

Your Turn

What do you look for in a game convention? What is your favorite convention? How far will you travel for a gaming convention?