Prezcon 2020, Reflections on What Makes It Fun

It is day three of Prezcon (Wednesday), the middle of the convention where attendance starts to pick up and build into the weekend. I arrived on Monday on the official first day. It turns out that about 50 people or so arrived the day before that to hang out and play games.

I have realized that the joy I get in playing in the Prezcon game tournaments is the opportunity to have scheduled playing time for games, as opposed to any delight in possibly winning a tournament. Today, for example, I know I get to play Texas Glory at 12:00 noon. I never do better in that tournament than winning one game (and often win none), but it is a game I enjoy and Prezcon is the only place I play it. Another game I get to play exclusively at Prezcon are History of the World. These are fun games, but are outside the interest of the people I usually game with. Being a week long convention where I have few responsibilities, it is a great opportunity to play these games.

Prezcon is also largely about hanging out with friends for a week and playing boardgames, not just playing boardgames. Part of that feeling probably comes from my general performance in tournaments – I am not winning tournaments (except for one in 2016). I win enough individual games for some competitive pleasure, but I am losing more games than I win. It has taken me several years to realize the pleasure of boardgaming with people and with friends over the competitive nature of the games.

So far at this year's Prezcon, I have played one new game: Terraforming Mars. It was a lot of fun (and I understand why so many people enjoy playing it). There are a lot of symbols and a lot of mechanics going on, so the initial game is a little intimidating.

I have also played Azul, Wingspan, Texas Glory, Conquest of Paradise, 7 Wonders, and Castles of Burgundy. Burgundy is funny. I enjoy immensely, but I feel like I am out of my league in playing it competitively. Yesterday, I scored what I consider a respectable score (213) and finished last on my board. My friend Matt and I made the joke that we need a “minor league” tournament for players like ourselves.