Gathering - Last Day and Wrap-up

Well, this is the wrap up report for the Gathering 2007 as I saw it. As the day was Easter Sunday, we spent time earlier in the day with family, and thus only a few games.

Prototype - I only got to play one game with Freideman Friese this year. I find his style matches my tastes well and this was no exception. Always a fun time. Becky and Christine joined us for this play.


Factory Fun - With less than an hour until the big dinner Ken Drake joined Becky and I for this quick game. We played with my previously unpunched set and were still done in about thirty minutes. Excellent again and I'm glad I bought a copy.

Dinner - This was our fourth year to attend and the first we've stayed for the dinner on Sunday night. Alan throws one last hurrah for the ninety or so guests who stay to the bitter end. The drinks were flowing, the meal was excellent and the company, as always was wonderful. I'm glad we stayed, but I suspect in future years it'll be tough to justify the extra day off. Perhaps in two years if something special happens for the twentieth anniversary.

Santy Anno - After the dinner I decided to hang out for one last game. Sheila wanted to pull this one out and I agreed. It wasn't until it was on the table that I realized I had played this several times last year as a prototype and greatly enjoyed it. This time we played a seated version, not quite the frenetic pace that it has when running around, but a nice way to finish out the Gathering.

I was to bed by 10:30.

Last Thoughts:

There were a number of people who couldn't make it this year that were greatly missed. I'm sure I'll miss some names, but Andrea Meyer, Mik Svellov, Alfonso Smith, Alan Newman, Dave and Jen B. Some folks who I regarded as pillars of the Gathering so it was sad to not see them.

Some folks regarded the stock as having no new standout games, but overall I was quite happy with what I played. I really managed to avoid any stinkers and most were quite solid. I didn't come across any new favorites, but that is ok. There is enough grist to feed my gaming mill for another year here.

Nine days really is quite a long time. Alan floated the idea of going even longer and a small percentage of the folks thought they could or would even do that. It is a nice length for playing both prototypes and published titles however.

It was a mistake not to bring prototypes. There were a lot of new publishers there this year, and no good reason why the stuff I was previously showing couldn't have been pulled out for more plays. When packing I felt like my lack of design work in the past year meant I shouldn't bring titles. I won't make that mistake again.

Everyone is wondering what the next big thing will be. I had a number of conversations about Magic, how Settlers arrived in the U.S. and the popularity of Puerto Rico. What sort of game play will be the next breakthrough? Tied into this question is where it will come from, a big company (they tend to be trying to consolidate profits by publishing 'sequel' game play), or an upstart (it is getting ever cheaper to publish and get your title out there worldwide).

Well, that is it. I hope some of you will stay tuned as I return to my regular schedule of random stuff. For the rest, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to do it again next year.