Put down your cell phones for a weekend and trade them for a seat at the BroCoCon game convention.
The Toy Chest is again hosting the adult- and family-friendly tabletop game conference at the Brown County Inn at the end of this month.
It’s “designed for players of all ages and experience levels, and offers a new way for both families and gamers to learn and play games in a non-intimidating environment,” says Toy Chest owner Hilary Key.
The convention will take place March 27 to 29. Tickets are available through Ticketbud or at the Toy Chest in Nashville. Prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children. The adult game night is $10.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Last year was the first year for the convention, and Key said it went better than she could have imagined.
“I was scared to death, so I think that meant I overthought everything in the world, and it worked,” she said with a laugh.
Key was worried that people who attended Gen Con as well as BroCoCon would have large expectations for this new gaming convention.
“One of those people actually told us that he takes off work to go to all of the days of Gen Con every year, and that he played more games and had more fun at BroCoCon. That’s high praise,” she said.
A little over 200 people attended last year’s convention.
“They say that from one year to the next, something like this, in its earliest years, will kind of organically double, and if it does double, we will sell out,” Key said.
“I really want people to buy their tickets ahead of time so they don’t show up that day and get disappointed.”
Last year’s convention even won over the most skeptical of attendees: Pre-teen boys who love video games, and whose mom brought them to the convention.
“They looked so mad. They said, ‘You said you didn’t know if this was video games or board games, but we think you knew the whole time.’ They were really mad it wasn’t video games,” Key said.
“By the time they were leaving, their mom was letting them agree on one game to buy, and they just could not agree. They wanted five games. They were bargaining with, like, ‘I’ll give you $20 of my money at home.’”
Key’s goal for this year and and for last year’s convention is to get people to put down their phones and interact with people face-to-face as they play games.
She said that goal was accomplished last year.
“You saw no one on their phone,” she said.
“Embarrassingly, it was like I almost forgot things can be that fun when everyone is that engaged.”
Like last year, there will also be an evening for adults with a cash bar and rounds of “game speed dating,” featuring games that could be inappropriate for younger players. Key said around 50 people attended the 21-and-older game night last year.
“People loved the game speed dating so much, they didn’t want to move when the buzzer went off. They didn’t want to be done when they got through all of the games. So, we’re adding more games to that and giving a few more minutes.”
Tickets for the adult game night are separate from the convention.
Last year, strategy board games were the most popular, but it was also the convention’s smallest category, so Key said the plan is to double the amount of strategy games this year.
“A lot of the companies that participated last year, thankfully, were happy with the experience, wanted to come back and wanted to do something a little bigger, so we have more special features and highlights than we had last year,” Key said.
One of those highlights will be the game Heist, a cooperative team challenge. “The game gives you commands and you’re having to follow the instructions. As you complete a level without too many mistakes, you move on to the next,” Key said.
The game has been out for about a year, and the company knows of only one group who reached the top level. “They want to set up two stations to play that over and over all day, and try to get someone to Level 6 to win a big prize,” Key said.
The convention also will feature a Slapzi-inspired scavenger hunt. Slapzi is the Toy Chest’s bestselling game.
“You’re holding picture cards in your hand, and then you flip over a card in the middle that says something like, ‘You can jump over it,’ ‘You can eat it,’ (or) ‘It has a head.’ So, if you’re holding a lion, and you’re the first to put that down on ‘It has a head,’ you get rid of your card,” Key said.
The scavenger hunt will do that game in reverse. Picture cards will be hidden throughout the Brown County Inn and attendees will go to the Tenzi booth to find cards that match.
“If they’re holding, ‘You can eat it,’ then they have to search the entire area trying to find and collect a card for that. We’ll probably give some prize to whoever ends up with the most correct matches at the end of the day,” Key said.
A more traditional scavenger hunt will start on Friday when attendees check in. Those who complete the hunt will get raffle entries to win one of the many game raffle prizes.
“It’s kind of themed around some of the games that are in the conference, and it’s things they would find around town. Last year, Gnomes at Night was one of our games, and there’s that giant gnome over by the Hoosier Craft Gallery. It was a clue and they figured out they were looking for a gnome in town,” Key said.
The convention kicks off on Friday when people check in, get their badges and the scavenger hunt. An open play room will be available 24 hours in the Brown County Inn. “They can play games overnight if they want,” Key said.
The convention officially starts at 10 a.m. Saturday and will run until 6 p.m. The adult game night featuring a cash and game speed dating will go from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday morning, raffle prizes will be handed out with everything wrapping up noon.
More information can be found on BroCoCon’s Facebook page.
As of last week, around 15 tickets had been sold so far for the convention. “Last year, the bulk of them sold the week of the event, which is what I anticipate would happen again, so if we’re going to sell out, it’s probably then. If you buy your tickets before the week of the event, you are probably all good,” Key said.
Key may be in need of a few additional volunteers to help run the games. Anyone interested in volunteering can email her at [email protected].
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What: BroCoCon, Brown County’s own game convention, hosted by The Toy Chest. Learn how to play new games and participate in a scavenger hunt in Nashville.
Where: Brown County Inn, 51 State Road 46 East, Nashville
When: Friday to Sunday, March 27 to 29, with the majority of the events happening Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An adult game night featuring a cash bar and “game speed dating” will then run from 7 to 11 p.m. Raffle prizes will be awarded on Sunday with the event wrapping up by noon.
Cost: $10 for adults, $5 for children. After-party tickets are $10 for adults 21 and older. Tickets are available through ticketbud.com or at The Toy Chest, 125 S. Van Buren St.
More information: @BroCoCon on Facebook. A Facebook event page has also been made for the convention. Call the Toy Chest 812-988-2187 with questions.
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