Origins Game Fair 2013: The Highlight Reel

The annual Origins Game Fair has been held in the heart of Ohio in downtown Columbus for the past seventeen  years, and while it isn’t the enormous gaming or comic convention galas as we’ve come to know them, it holds its own as a smaller, non-electronic gaming con. With around twelve thousand attendees annually, it has thousands of games for CCGers (Collectable Card Gamers), LARPers (Live Action Role Players), RPGers (Role Play Gamers), Miniature Gamers, Tabletop Gamers , and Deck Building Gamers. And while the convention’s focus is on things that don’t require monitors or electricity , there’s also a huge free-play electronic gaming room for those that want to switch over for a while, or have a break between games.

As Origins continues to grow, the con remains family friendly and full of surprises. There is a fully staffed, enormous Kid Check room where kids can play games, watch movies, create art projects, build with Legos, use the hundreds of provided cardboard boxes to build caves, castles, and constructs, and have vendor s come in and give away stickers, temporary tattoos, or lead RPG and kids games. The kids also have the opportunity to win games and prizes. Best of all? It’s free for convention badge holders. There are restaurants galore within walking distance, including the popular North Market, COSI, and Columbus Museum of Art. With a little  driving, several parks, the Columbus Zoo, and Zoombezi Bay are a mere 5-20 minutes away.

2013 boasted a Superhero theme and to celebrate that, there were special guests Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, Andromeda) and Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four, Horatio Hornblower). Both guests held panels, multiple autograph and photography signings, with Ioan taking the time to learn and play the thematically appropriate  Marvel’s Legendary: Dark City (a deck building game) by Upper Deck, where any convention attendee could watch.

Sorbo screened his unreleased film Julia X with a Q&A for guests afterward, as well as hosting the Origins Awards, awards to fourteen categories in gaming that are voted on by GAMA and Origins attendees, and is awarded on the Saturday of the con by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. This year marked the 39th annual presentation for fourteen categories in the gaming world.  There’s an area in the vendor’s hall that has all the games, books, and miniatures to read, play, and review before you vote, too.

This  year also sported an entire host of gaming, artist, and author guests. Steve Jackson (Munchkin, Ogre), in Origins’ random “Upgraded Play” program (where games for special guests are semi-randomly selected are played in a separate area). Jackson played twelve surprise victims simultaneously in one-on-one games of his soon to be released Ogre, Kickstarter Edition (available November ’13). Jackson won ten of those games, losing two – one of those to an ecstatic 15-year-old Andrew duLuard

Gaming industry guests Steve Kenson (Mutants & Mastermind), Steve Long (Lord of the Rings RPG). and fantasy and sci-fi artist Charles Urbach, who has done work for WizKids, Magic the Gathering, and various Fantasy Flight Games, also held panels.

A hidden gem of Origins is the sheer number of authors who hold panels and seminars: Patrick Rothfuss, Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, Brad Beaulieu, Donald J. Bingle, Dylan Birtolo, Jennifer Brozek, Tracy Chowdhury, Maxwell Drake, Sarah Hans, RT Kaelin, Chef Daniel Meyers, Sheryl Nantus, Patrick Tomlinson, Steve Saus, Kelly Swails, Addie King, Greg Wilson, Bryan Young, Aaron Rosenberg, and Jaym Gates were here for 2013.

There’s a small section in the vendor hall devoted to the authors and their books, with readings by most days open to the public.  In speaking with Sheryl Nantus (who is delightfully chatty on twitter), I found that there’s even a relatively unknown annual anthology that premiered at Origins 2012 with shorts from the authors! When you go to Origins 2014, past and present editions will be available. Also, when you attend  in 2014, chat up the authors. They’re amazing folks.

Rob Doughterty, co-designer of Ascension and known Magic the Gathering player, also playtested his new game, Star Realms, with folks. Doughterty will be running a Kickstarter for his game in July to cover the amazing artwork and possibly an iOS and Android version of the game. Trust me, it’s fun, fast, and full of space smack talk. Being able to test new releases and newly designed games is perhaps one of the best features of Origins.

Throughout the various gaming areas in the Greater Columbus Convention Center and in vendor’s hall are many new releases game designers have that are either just now available, or are being manufactured for GenCon. Not only that, but this year, Origins also placed the artists in the vendor hall, making it a fantastic one-stop shopping extravaganza. It was in the vendor hall that I ran into Alana Smith-Brown, contestant on King of the Nerds, Season 2. She’s as cool as they get.

The vendor hall also promotes the annual Paint & Take, sponsored by Reaper. You’re given a miniature for free and shown the basics of painting. You get to take that mini home and marvel over it and show it off. And, if you desire, you can enter the mini in the Origins Miniature Painting contest in one of the six categories offered.

As if all this were not enough, there are gigantic games being played throughout. WizKids had a huge version of their upcoming Star Trek: Attack Wing. Mayfair Games, one of Origin’s largest sponsors, rolls out the giant Settlers of Catan and Settlers of America boards. It’s fun to watch, and even more fun to play.

There’s also an entire exhibit hall dedicated to boardgaming. Astutely called the Board Room, it does cost an extra $20, but there are thousands of games to choose from and if you get there early enough, you get a free game with the extra cost. In an adjacent exhibit hall, Star City Games (SCG) also holds two enormous open Magic the Gathering tournaments, Legacy and Open (held Saturday and Sunday), with $10,000 in prizes for each tourney. In speaking with Reuben Bresler from SCG, I found that even newbies could play; entrance does cost extra, but you can then play the entire day in the CCG area if you choose.

And lastly, RPG’s and LARP’s. Role playing with pencil and paper (RPG) or moving around and playing the game as actors (LARP) have long been a staple of gamers everywhere.  There were dozens of LARP games that ran nearly 24-hours a day for the entire convention, as well as a LARP cavern set up for folks to venture into and fight within. Costume not required, but oh does it ever make it so much more immersive!

With the ever present D&D RPGing, there was also the new release of Catalyst Games’ Shadowrun Fifth Edition.which folks were abuzz over, but there’s also the gaining momentum of Indie Games on Demand (IGoD). With IGoD, you come at designated session start times, select a game that the available GM’s (game masters) are able to run, and play for four hours. With many of the GM’s having actually worked on, written, and playtested many of the Indie RPGs, the experience is even more phenomenal.

Speaking of IGoD, GM Kira Scott compiled the video “One Great Thing [about Origins]” I’m going to end this article with. That and the statement: Origins  is where gaming begins; it’s also where sleep ends until the convention is over. Because you want to do everything.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK3ZNZ2WsFA?feature=player_embedded]