Well it’s been 3 years since I was at the Gathering of Friends due to work, kids, covid, etc.  This year I am blessed to have a long weekend to make the drive to Western New York and hang out with some of my friends.

Not sure how much blogging I’ll do during the con itself, but I will likely make reports in dribs and drabs (whatever I can do from my phone)

One of the great things is that the con goers provide the library.  This year, Rodney has outdone himself, bringing 8 bookshelves worth of stuff, and then there is another table on the side which has a bunch of small card games!

I got in late afternoon, which was enough time to unpack my own stuff, and to save some nearby table space for my friends.

Dinner tonight was the first of maybe a dozen Indian/Pakistani/Nepali meals – seemingly every restaurant within walking distance is one of these three!  After dinner, I picked up my badge and button.  I have missed a few years now, and I thought I’d be close to getting one of the black badges, but I’m guessing I still have a few years to go to make it to the 20 year achievement (and of course, I’m guessing that Alan will change the threshold to 25 at that time!)

There are also nice buttons available – with different colored meeples – for easy identification – to let others know how you want to deal with hugs/fist bumps/stay the h*ll out of my personal space issues.

There is also now a barrier to try to keep out non-con members from getting in our space.  This is nice too….

Once we were settled in, a short night of games. More on the games later – or you can read previously written reviews…

Mille Fiori

Word flip (prototype)

Portal of Heroes

Cat in the Box – new version from Bezier; the new graphics are really slick

And yes, Ally, I asked Ted for permission :) 

After that, time to hit the hay. It was a long drive, and I want to be well rested for my first full day tomorrow.

Until your next appointment, 

The Gaming Doctor