Heading to Harrogate in March should mean trees coming into leaf, with crocuses and daffodils adding colour like an embroidered carpet throughout the town. Not this year though. It was all white. There was snow – lots of snow. Still, the intrepid tabletop community weren’t about to let something as trivial as sub-zero temperatures, dangerous travelling conditions, or the risk of slipping over stop them. (For the record, I slipped and fell just once, which is a win in my books).

Harrogate Convention Centre was teeming with people, and despite the huge numbers of people, it didn’t feel crowded. That was thanks to the Airecon crew who rented much bigger areas of the centre to run the convention this year. Even then, it still felt pretty full on Saturday, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it grow again in 2024, if money and Mark’s (the founder of Airecon) stress levels allow.

Come and play

Airecon is a play-focused convention, which means it caters to the likes of you and me: people who want to meet up with like-minded people and play games. It’s in contrast to something like UK Games Expo (you can read my previous reports for UKGE here and here) or Essen Spiel, which have open gaming areas but are set up for vendors first and foremost. Last year’s Airecon (which I wrote about here) had a retail and publisher presence, but it was pretty small. This year the exhibition space was much bigger and felt more like one of the halls at UKGE. 

The purists among you might want to turn their nose up at the growth of places to spend your money, but I’m actually in favour of it, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the additional income from exhibitors means Airecon can afford to occupy as much of the building as it did, and allows it to cater to increased numbers of attendees. Secondly, and maybe most importantly from an attendee’s point of view, the exhibitors were in a completely separate hall from the rest of the convention. If you wanted to you could spend the whole weekend at Airecon and not step foot inside the exhibition hall once. If it continues to grow, I hope the convention keeps this feeling of separation, because it helps Airecon to feel like it has in the past. It’s that spirit and feeling of a gathering of people who just want to play games which makes Airecon what it is.

Airecon isn’t just about playing or buying games. They also run a ton of events. I didn’t attend many, but I did take part in the board game pub quiz again, which was great. Despite having had quite a few drinks between us, our team – Full Fact Hunts (sorry Mark!) – came 4th out of 30+ teams, which was great. Mark runs a great quiz, and we had an absolute hoot. I watched some of the giant Just One game which seemed to be getting a lot of laughs, not to mention the Jolly Boat show, the charity raffle, the Park Run, beer tasting, or the morning meetup for coffee and breakfast. It’s fair to say there’s plenty to be doing at any given moment.

Personal highlights

I had a great time at the convention. On Thursday evening after heading out for a beer and pizza with Iain from The Giant Brain, I nipped over to the hall to collect my pass, only to bump into a certain Mr Rodney Smith, who many of you may know as the face of Watch It Played on YouTube. I went back to the bar with him and Matthew Jude from the same channel (among other things), where we had a couple of beers, waxed lyrical about what makes a good wargame rulebook, and shared our mutual admiration of The Players Aid (go and check them out, Grant and Alexander are great).

It kept snowing overnight, which meant my genius idea backfired on me. I took a large, rolling suitcase with me to transport my games, thinking the rollers would help me. Clever, right? Not so. The snow was so deep that the rollers never touched the tarmac, and I used my case as a makeshift snowplough as I trudged through the streets, dragging it behind me.

You’re welcome, residents of Harrogate.

Once in the halls, I met up with my extended, adopted family of people from the Gaming Rules! Slack server, who I tend to spend time with at every convention. I pretty much just played games all day, which was amazing. I played (and won at!) The Great Wall, which was very good, Yokohama, Ominoes, No Thanks, Scout, Gorilla Marketing, and Can’t Stop.

Saturday was when I took some time out to go and speak to people in the exhibitors’ hall, which was really good. I met a load of new people, including, but not limited to – Andrew from Yay Games, Tristan from Hall or Nothing, Tim from Critical Kit Ltd, and Tony from Meeple Design. Along with them, I managed to bump into old friends too: Tom from Trolls & Rerolls, Laurie from SDR, Paul from Patriot Games, Flavien from Hachette Boardgames UK, and Nicky at Kosmos Games,  I could have spent much longer talking to more people in that hall, but that’s the sort of thing I prefer to do at UK Games Expo. Airecon is for playing games for me.

For the rest of that day I played a few games, including Atiwa, Cuba Libre, and frustratingly a game I can’t tell you much about! I booked in a few months ago for a demo of a new game by David Turczi (Tawantinsuyu) and Simone Luciani (Barrage). I’m not allowed to show you photos of it, I’m not allowed to tell you what it’s called – it’s all very hush-hush.  What I can tell you is that it feels like someone made a game using 60% Brass, 20% Barrage, and 20% Concordia. I can tell you it won’t get crowdfunded. I can tell you it’s coming from a big publisher. I can tell you you should be able to pick it up at Essen this year. I’m very excited to play it again, and I can believe it might already be my game of the year.

Thank yous & final thoughts

There are so many people I want to thank, I’m bound to miss some of them. With that in mind, THANK YOU to:

Mark, Ben, and everyone who set up and ran Airecon, from the organisers to the stewards and everyone in between. From the planning to the execution, without each and every one of you, we wouldn’t have the Airecon we all love.

Rodney, Matthew, and Paula from Watch it Played for taking the time out of their crazy schedules to share a drink and a laugh with me.

Dina from Dina Said So, who not only pushes new indie studios my way, but also brought me Moomin fudge from Finland. MOOMIN FUDGE!

Iain from The Giant Brain, who I’ve known for ages, but met for the first time. We had fun playing games and setting the world to rights over Norwegian breakfasts. Gavin and Sara-Jayne were very welcome additions to our games too, so thank you all.

Last, and in no possible way least, thank you to Mak, Jill, Mark, Bob, Neil, the other Bob, and everyone else from my Gaming Rules! Slack extended family. You guys make conventions for me, and there’s no other group I’d rather play games and drink beer with.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating – if you’re on the fence about going to a convention, or you’re nervous about going, Airecon is a fantastic place to start. There’s no denying that it is very busy, and from the outside, it can seem intimidating. However, in all my years of attending events in different places, for different hobbies, there is nothing that compares to the friendliness you’ll find at an event like Airecon. No matter which demographic you fall into, you’ll be made to feel welcome, and I’ll wager you a bratwurst from the food trucks that you leave with more friends than you arrived with. Even for someone like me who lives a long way away, the 16 hours on trains and 800 miles of travel to get there and back is more than worth it.

See you all next year.

The post Airecon 2023 Convention Report appeared first on Punchboard.

My convention experience so far (for board games at least) has been the behemoth that is the UK Games Expo, and the smaller, friendlier GridCon. People had told me that AireCon sits somewhere between the two, so I was keen to find out what it was like. I also knew plenty of designers, publishers, and online friends who were going to be attending, which helped swing the decision to go.

I loaded the car with games, more games, and some other things which are apparently necessary, like clothes and toiletries. After eight hours in the car, and a disastrous stop at Bridgwater service station (where I managed to fall, take the skin off my palms, crack a rib, and hurt my shoulder), I was ‘up North’. Before we get to the convention, I want to take a moment to mention how beautiful Harrogate is. Make sure you plan in some time to take a walk around the town.

“I suffer from anxiety. Is AireCon for me?”

Plenty of people were – understandably – anxious about attending, what would be for many, their first big convention. Lockdown drew a lot of new players into the hobby, and turning up to a strange show, with thousands of strangers in attendance, is a daunting prospect. I wasn’t too worried, but I had the benefit of previous experience, and knowing a few people who would be there.

I think the first thing that really struck me about AireCon, and this includes the build-up, as well as the event itself, is how welcoming it is. Emails before the big day outlined what was expected, where people can go, and what help and support was on-hand. It was all evident from the moment we walked in. Friendly staff and volunteers were at the door, welcoming attendees, disabled access was everywhere, including priority tables in the open gaming areas.

The long conservatory was flooded with natural light, and some quieter space to play games, while still being close enough to feel the buzz from the main hall. If all of that sounds like it’s still too much, AireCon did two especially nice things. Firstly, upstairs they have quiet gaming areas, which can be a welcome reprieve from the noise downstairs. Secondly, and best of all, is the Roll Through It area. There’s a friendly team of volunteers who take the time to make sure you feel welcome, and will even play some games with you if you don’t feel ready to face strangers yet.

Games, games, games

I went with the intention of playing lots of games, and I wasn’t disappointed. I met up with some people I know from the Gaming Rules! community, and we camped out on some tables for the entire weekend. I’ve had to go back through my photos to remember which games I played, and I think it was: Dinosaur Island: Rawr and Write, Watergate, A War of Whispers, Echidna Shuffle, Almadi, Libertalia x 2, Brian Boru, Snowdonia, and Anomia. There are some great titles in there, and reviews of at least two of them on the way.

Along with playing, I spent a lot of time walking and talking. Rodney and his crew from Watch It Played made the long trip across the Atlantic to come to the show, and I managed to grab both he and Paula from Things Get Dicey for a chat and photo ops. Both were very humble and only too happy to stay and talk. It was just another thing which helped make the event feel comfortable and inviting.

I also got to meet some people I’ve been interacting with over the last two years, which was fantastic. I bumped into Lawrie from SDR Studios (I previewed Earth Rising for them last year), Joe and Maddie of Cogito Ergo Meeple (Solar 175 preview here), the ever-present Bez, Flavien and Cyprien of Hachette UK and FunnyFox respectively (distributors and publishers of Almadi), Will from PSC Games, Ellie Dix of The Dark Imp, and the guys behind The Detective Society.

That’s before even mentioning the legends I played with all weekend. Scott, Mark, Jill, Peter, Bob and the rest of the Gaming Rules! crew, thank you. A big hello also to Craig of Meeples of the North Kingdom, who I first met up with last year at UKGE, and played games with again this time around.

Final thoughts

If your idea of a good convention is one where the emphasis is on playing games, AireCon is fantastic. Everyone, from staff to other attendees, was so friendly and welcoming. If you’re worried about coming along on your own, don’t be, there are always plenty of people happy to invite someone new to their table. The sales stands were good, and I love that the vast majority of the space in the halls is given to people, and the games they play, not just businesses looking to make a buck.

The catering – by way of a variety of food trucks – was great, and it was never too difficult to get a drink or a snack. The games library was well-stocked, and free! Okay, there’s a £10 deposit, but you get that back. Upstairs, the bring and buy was fantastic, and I’ll admit I grabbed a couple of bargains I hadn’t intended to. With so much of the weekend’s proceedings going towards charity, including a cut of the bring and buy sales, I can justify my new-to-me games to myself.

I’m equal parts surprised and delighted that the AireCon crew have managed to expand so much in such a short space of time, but without losing the feeling of friendliness that pervades the weekend. Everyone there is just happy to be with likeminded people who just want to take a day or two out from the stresses and worries of life, and enjoy something approaching normal, after a torrid couple of years.

I had an amazing time, and I’ll be back. If you’re on the fence about coming, or nervous of attending, I urge you have a look at their beginner’s guide, and to come along. If you live closer than I do, then definitely go and check it out. It’s a celebration of all that is wonderful about out hobby, and the people who share it.

See you next year, AireCon!

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