The TN Games Days held it’s 9th convention from March 14th – 16th in Franklin, TN at the Cool Spring Marriott this last weekend and let me tell you it was a blast. It was my 5th time and first time as a sponsor at this board game convention and each year it gets bigger and better. This year it grew by about 80 attendees to reach 350 people total. The event run by Rick Kuehler, Bo Link and Russ Rupe (Conquest Gaming, LLC) was very well done as usual and is one of the events I most look forward to every year.
Friday afternoon
Starting at 8:00 am on Friday morning, the convention hosts events all three days including things like a flea market, math trade, 3D Battlestar Galactica (thank you Craig Herbert,) Crokinole tournament, Wits & Wagers tournament, designers showcase, a Tessen tournament, Conquest of the Empire, a charity auction plus tours of games for the attendees to participate in and register to win prizes throughout the convention.
The tours consisted of the following:
Quick Gaming Tour – Escape: the Curse of the Temple, Love Letter, For Sale, The Resistance and Snake Oil being the featured games.
Calendar Tour – Around the World in 80 Day, Kingsburg and Dungeon Lords.
Cult of the New Tour – Relic Runners, Space Sheep! and Parade.
The Constructables Tour – Steam Park, Wits & Wagers, Stecon: Infinity.
Netrunner: New Players Tour.
Personally I was able to teach two epic games of A Game of Thrones 2nd Ed., one was 4 hours, the other was seven hours (I love this game,) played Battlestar Galactica (humans lost at the last second,) Trajan, Nations, the brand new Marvel Legendary expansion: Paint the Town Red, Belfort, DC Deck Building Game twice and Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery. Friday I left at 3am and Saturday at 4 am. It was fun!
One of the great things about TN Game Days is it feels very intimate. Even though there are tables full of people everywhere, it isn’t to loud. You can hear the players, have plenty of space and you are close to everything you could need. The hotel is great, a bit pricey at $119 a night but it’s worth it right? Every year, I meet new and amazing people who come from all over the US to attend the event. Although I only got a couple new games in this year, it was well worth it as getting the big games to the table is always hard.
The first Game of Thrones
Sponsors for the event were:
Game Surplus, Out of the Box Publishing, AEG, Conquest Gaming, LLC, Days of Wonder, Rio Grande Games, Roll The Dice, Bring Your A Game, Stronghold Games, Van Ryder Games, Let it Sew, Meeple Source, Z-Man Games and Club Fantasci.
Next years TN Game Days will be March 13th – 15th at the same location. Don’t miss this! If you have any questions about attending in the future or sponsoring please email me or get a hold of TN Game Days here: www.tngamedays.com.
Game on!
Belfort from Tasty Minstrel Games
Lord of The Rings with Craig Herbert’s enhancing
Star Wars Crokinole Board
Nations from Lautapelit.fl
Trajan
