KublaCon 2023

We take four months to learn that objects are permanent, and the rest of our lives to accept that they are not.

I just returned from my biggest event of the year, KublaCon. I have been going for more than 20 years, and it’s always fun. But this convention has definitely changed over the years. The new management doesn’t seem to know what to do with me. In fact, one of the them straight up doesn’t want me there.

So while this year was still fun, I’m not sure that this convention is worth it. Every year it gets harder to go back.

The Hotel

The Hyatt Regency Burlingame has been home to KublaCon for as long as I can remember. The hotel is fine, if you’re just there for one night. But the dining options have been shrinking, so a long stay is getting a little food-weird. They tore out their sports bar years ago. Their restaurant menu has shrunk. And several places within walking distance have closed.

This isn’t anyone’s fault excatly, but it does mean that a gamer has to travel farther to get food. And yes, these days it’s possible to get anything delivered. So that’s true, but it’s true anywhere.

The rooms and staff and shuttle are still the same. Everything worked. The hotel is fine, though their elite lounge is closed (as if I ever went there). The only perennial problem is that the midday sun blasts like a death ray across the grand foyer.

The Demos

I wasn’t involved in any panels or seminars this year, so to fill the time I scheduled nine game demos, running games of Rochi, Shipwrights, Whispers, and many more. I also ran hours of unscheduled playtests, mostly for Tomb of the Ancients. As usual, Kubla is a great place to make new games, with a sea of talented players.

Bitin’ Off Hedz: We had a dozen participants for the official release tournament of Bitin’ Off Hedz, and I gave away a glorious T-Rex trophy (above). The games were nicely tense and fun, ran a decent length, and a good time was had by all. I’m really happy with the new build of this game - if only it had been this good in its first edition!

Rochi: I have been working on a variant of Rochi that cares about Day and Night (the two flavors of cards). This is a side bet called the Day Bet, in which each player buys a token for either Day or Night at the start of the hand. You can read about this new bet on the Rochi page.

Shipwrights of Marino: This game is still coming along nicely, with nothing new to report. I should (finally) post a version of this deck on DriveThruCards sometime this summer, once I nerf the last broken card. (Meanwhile, I challenge you to identify it.)

Whispers: This game is good fun. A couple of players came by and said “I think I played this last year” - but they probably didn’t, since this game is only ten weeks old. Whispers is similar to lowball, and Pairs, and plenty of other press-your-luck games, but the betting and penalties make it unique. Whatever the similarities, this game is fun, and I can’t wait to make a custom deck for it.

Holdout: I had a full table for the Holdout demo, and I played several more times over the weekend. I invented Holdout at last year’s KublaCon, and it was nice to celebrate the one-year anniversary with some new players. One of them referred to her last fresh cards as her “holdout,” which makes perfect sense, even though I thought the name of the game just meant “to last longer.”

Tablero di Berona: I brought a few full sets of Tablero to give away at this demo. I witnessed some unusual events, including stacks taller than I have ever seen, 6 and 7 pieces high. I won one of my games with the only roll that would save me - a double six. And I saw my friend lose a game with the only roll that would not save him - a 1 and 2.

Tak: KublaCon brought their giant Tak set, and I got to play and teach several times. It was great to introduce the game to fans of the book. Since then I’ve built a Tak page here, so I can easily point people at the rules.

Tomb of the Ancients: This is my newest, biggest design project right now, a puzzle game about archaeology. The game has two main mechanics: the market, where you buy maps and sell artifacts, and the desert, where you dig them up. Everyone agreed that the desert was working, but that there was something sketchy about the market. So afterwards I built a new version with a simplified market loop, so players can spend more of their time digging. You can download the open beta and let me know what you think.

The Harvest: I was also testing The Harvest this weekend, under the working title “Mean Business.” I don’t yet have a page for this game, but it’s basically a 36-card game game built on a change-making engine. Similar to Tomb, the cards-with-abilities part is working, but the change-making part is sketchy. I’ll post more on that game when it’s in better shape.

Everything Else:

It was great to see everyone, of course. I played games all weekend, from the minute I arrived on Thursday to late on Monday night. KublaCon let folks in for free on Monday, which was great, and people were there playing games throughout what is usually a very slow day.

I went to the Flea Market on Friday night, and narrowly avoided buying several more games I don’t need. I did buy some Girl Scout cookies though, because who doesn’t love cookies? I would say “because I wouldn’t have to carry them home,” but really, look at me. I’ll be carrying those cookies for a while.

I went to the Benihana not once but twice this weekend, because (a) as noted above, the local food options are few, and (b) who am I kidding, that’s irrelevant, and I would eat teppan every day if I could. I can’t get enough steak and lobster fried in garlic butter. And yes I’ll be carrying that for a while too.

Want to know where I’ll turn up next? (Hint: it’s the Brass Screw Consortium) - check out the Schedule page to learn more.

RinCon 2023

GAMA Recap