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After an uncertain few years (thank you pandemic) I have finally been able to attend AireCon! Unlike the slightly more retail focussed UKGE, AireCon provides gamers with a super-chilled three days of uninterrupted gaming, with a huge amount of space for open play. Now that the weekend is over, and my new games have been carefully added to my board game shelf, here are my thoughts about this year’s convention.
An AireCon Party Don’t Stop
The nicest thing to see by a long way was the sheer number of people. Everywhere I looked the tables were packed with people, all chatting and enjoying the variety of games on offer. The atmosphere was relaxed and provided a great escape from the stress of the working week, something I’m sure we could all benefit from at the moment.
The other highlight for me was getting to demo and trial a load of new games. One of these was Magnificent Bar Stars, which has players competing to attract prospective punters to their pub by building enticing and original cocktails. This was a really quick, easy game to pick up and I just kept going back for more. Another game I had to pleasure of playing was Drags to Riches, a deck-building game based on drag queens! You might recognise these guys from last year’s UKGE where they had an actual drag queen roaming the convention. Unfortunately, this time they had left their glad rags at home, but the game brought more than enough fabulousness on its own. Both of these games are coming to Kickstarter later this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on them!
I also got to demo Steel Colosseum, Zatu’s own dip into publishing. As this was the first and only physical copy, it was fantastic to finally get to see all the components in person. Despite playing countless bouts, however, I am yet to win a single game, and so will have to go back to the drawing board to work on my strategy before it hits Kickstarter later this year.
More To Life Than Games
While AireCon is heavily open play focused, it isn’t just a room full of tables and chairs. Aside from the handful of retailers around the room, there was also a bring and buy, an RPG room, and a host of food vans. These food vans were, quite frankly, incredible. Having sampled some really rather sub-standard convention food before, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of the lunches and dinners on offer, ranging from Far Eastern cuisine with Katsu curries, to European selections such as good ol’ fashioned pizza. These vans kept me going throughout the long days and I found myself quite excited for lunch and the opportunity to sample different options.
Saturday night was the annual charity raffle. For those of you who haven’t been to AireCon before, this raffle is far superior to pretty much any other raffle you would have seen. After buying your tickets, you get to choose which of the eight tables you want to use your tickets on, placing them in the bucket when you’ve made your choice. These tables have an impressive selection of games and merch generously donated from various retailers for the raffle. Featuring this year were a couple of copies of Gloomhaven, a whole Crokinole table, and Horrified: American Monsters to name but a few. These games were joined by a huge array of games that made the 50p tickets feel very enticing. The best part about all of that is that the proceeds went to two different charities to support the local area.
Drawing To A Close
Overall, my experience at this year’s AireCon was incredibly positive. Everyone I spoke to was friendly and welcoming and I had a really fantastic weekend of gaming (plus some damn good food too). After not knowing what to expect from the Con, I’ve been blown away by how much fun it can be and I’m already counting down the days for AireCon 2023!