Spore-Con 2010: Day 1

It was the first day of Spore-Con today, held for the first time ever at Pasir Ris East Community Center. We’ve mentioned Spore-Con previously, but this is the first time the entire HBG crew is down there to partake in the action. Given today’s turnout and the fun on people’s faces throughout the event, I think it’s safe to say that Day 1 of Spore-Con, at the very least, was a success. There was tons to do today, from wargaming to more casual gaming, from role-playing to CCGs, and of course the display of quite a few well painted minis. There was even 2 separate sessions where members of the public could interact with some of the invited guests. The Guest of Honour? Eric M. Lang – designer of quite a few games, some of which you might have played or had an eye on before.

So the HBG crew were really down to help demo Warmachine and also to really just take in the thick thick air when the legions of gaming gather together and descend upon a location for concentrated gaming. It was fun to see not just the Warhammer and the Flames of War tables bustling with action – but very heartening to see children trying out games like A la Carte or Vampire: The Eternal Struggle which each of them got a free deck of as they entered. I got one too! Having a family focus was the aim – so it was great to see parents bring their kids along and just have some fun.

Another highlight was the Q&A with Eric M. Lang. I can’t profess to be a huge fan of his, considering half the games I’ve played I’ve no idea who the creators are – but that being said a little extra reading up really showed his huge body of quality work – work which I should have been more familiar with (am kicking myself right now, for saying something REALLY STUPID). Still the talk was very animated and enjoyable – and really brought insight into the whole game designing process. I’m not sure how many in the room dreamt of designing games – but I did come out of it thinking maybe I could give it a shot too. However, such thoughts dispersed quickly.

But in the end the order of the day was the tables upon tables of gaming. It was fun trying to show some folk the simple version of Warmachine, but I think for many of us how epic some of the Warhammer sets could be was quite the eye-opener. There’s tons more photos below, and there’s a full day of gaming tomorrow. HBG will be there again, so get your game on!