We are no strangers to Columbus, though we haven't visited in a number of years. Columbus is a medium-sized Mid-Western city, situated along the banks of the Olentangy River. With about 2 million people in the metro area, it is less than half the size of Detroit. There is still too much traffic. We were first attracted to this area many years ago as we explored Native Indian Mounds in the vicinity. On our last visit Deb was a race-walker in the city's marathon. This year, not one but two of her short films were official selections at the Origins Film Festival, held every June in Columbus. This part of the festival has been up and running for only three years. The gaming part has been around much longer.
A nice PR shot of downtown, borrowed from the internet.
The focus of the trade show part of the Fair is on new games, ones just about to be released. There were hundreds of new games to try out and to purchase.
The Doctor Who game we wanted was sold out by Saturday afternoon. We'll try to order
it on-line.
Regional, National, and World Tournaments were another major focus of the Fair.
There was a lot of serious gaming going on.
Saturday was the busiest day of the Game Fair. It was also the day of the Columbus Pride Parade! It was pretty crazy downtown, and burning hot and very humid.
Table top gaming sets and parts were also on sale.
Cthulhu Wars, coming soon!
Drinks from the brew pub across the street!
Kelly is a producer and actress, and a co-coordinator of the film festival part of the Fair.
Film festival table at the fair.
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Deb met someone made of barrels.
Deb wears her Supercar tee-shirt, Gumby
pin, Origins pin, and other assorted bling.
I got to try seven new games. I really liked one called Deadline, a Noirish game based on movies from the 1940s. Not sure why I didn't buy it, but I will, soon. The Fair ran out of two games we wanted to buy, a Dr. Who card game featuring the first 4 classic Doctors and their companions, and another one called Wordsy. We will try to acquire all three very soon, as well as an add-on to one of our favourite games, Tokaido Road.
The film festival was loads of fun. We saw a feature film, and two sets of short films. Deb's two films were in the Fantasy section. We also watched a set of films related to gaming. Great stuff! Here is a complete list of what was screened over the 3 days, in alphabetical order. We saw Akemi and Taru (for kids only), Basic Adventuring 101 (pretty funny and quite good!), Heaven Kid (Gack!!), Horrors (very fun and very good), I Put My Low Stat (okay, but too long), Inhumanwich (a terrific feature spoofing 1950s monster/sf movies--it won best picture overall and audience favourite), Kansay's Glorious Death (at 37 seconds, the shortest of the festival--very stylish), Mr. Denton (a real creepy and extremely stylish and well done horror short from Spain), The Adventures of Sir Fireheart (a comedy costumer, quite engaging to watch), The Rangers: Durstan Chronicles (a much-too serious LOR type episode), Voyage of the Golden Hinder (part 2 of Deb's epic Yorick series), The Sucker (from France, about poker player crooks--quite a few flies in the ointment here, but it was stylish), Tilting at Skyscrapers (a very funny short about a man escaping from his gaming cave for a few hours), and Ye Most Excellent Adventures... (Deb's first Yorick film).
Best fantasy short went to The Old-Men, which we did not see. Best SF short went to Penguins in Space, which we did not see. Next year, if any of Deb's films are accepted again, we will return but go earlier for an extra day. This way we will have enough time to take in most of the films and the gaming floor.
Best game by far that I tried out is called Deadline. Sadly the game does not play as well with only 2 players, and it takes 2-4 hours to play, despite what it says on the box. Still, we might get this one soon, when it reaches retailers. Also, Wordsy looks pretty good, and is okay for two players, or even one, which is great. We will also get an expansion for Tokaido, and a Dr. Who card game. By Saturday afternoon, many publishers had run out of games to sell, so next year we will buy by Friday at the latest. There were also a large number of costume wearers!
We also visited some very good eating establishments. Portia's is a vegan restaurant. We ate there Friday night, and recommend it. Portions are small, however, especially the desserts. Saturday we had lunch across the street from the convention center, where the Fair was held, at Barley's Brew Pub. Food here is very solid, and their pale ale was among the best I've ever had. They also had on a special menu for the gaming crowds, and a special drink menu (see above). Saturday night we ate at Loving Hut. It was a bit of a drive from downtown, but it was certainly worth it. We have visited their restaurants in Brighton, England, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, IN. All are high quality and good value. On our way home Sunday we stopped in Toledo at Green Leaf Cafe, a relatively new veg/vegan restaurant featuring comfort soul food. This was a bit out of our way, but again worth the drive. Great food, wonderful people,though the atmosphere is less than stimulating.
We are definitely interested in returning next year! Hopefully Deb's film(s) will once again be accepted.
Mapman Mike
Best fantasy short went to The Old-Men, which we did not see. Best SF short went to Penguins in Space, which we did not see. Next year, if any of Deb's films are accepted again, we will return but go earlier for an extra day. This way we will have enough time to take in most of the films and the gaming floor.
Best game by far that I tried out is called Deadline. Sadly the game does not play as well with only 2 players, and it takes 2-4 hours to play, despite what it says on the box. Still, we might get this one soon, when it reaches retailers. Also, Wordsy looks pretty good, and is okay for two players, or even one, which is great. We will also get an expansion for Tokaido, and a Dr. Who card game. By Saturday afternoon, many publishers had run out of games to sell, so next year we will buy by Friday at the latest. There were also a large number of costume wearers!
We also visited some very good eating establishments. Portia's is a vegan restaurant. We ate there Friday night, and recommend it. Portions are small, however, especially the desserts. Saturday we had lunch across the street from the convention center, where the Fair was held, at Barley's Brew Pub. Food here is very solid, and their pale ale was among the best I've ever had. They also had on a special menu for the gaming crowds, and a special drink menu (see above). Saturday night we ate at Loving Hut. It was a bit of a drive from downtown, but it was certainly worth it. We have visited their restaurants in Brighton, England, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, IN. All are high quality and good value. On our way home Sunday we stopped in Toledo at Green Leaf Cafe, a relatively new veg/vegan restaurant featuring comfort soul food. This was a bit out of our way, but again worth the drive. Great food, wonderful people,though the atmosphere is less than stimulating.
We are definitely interested in returning next year! Hopefully Deb's film(s) will once again be accepted.
Mapman Mike
