A group of gamers gathers around a table at the Brown County Inn to test out one of the many games at the first BroCoCon in 2019. The second annual BroCoCon game convention returns to the Brown County Inn this weekend after a two year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Submitted
After a two year delay, a family-friendly tabletop game convention will return this weekend to the Brown County Inn.
Local toy store The Toy Chest hosts BroCoCon game convention, which is “designed to be both family and adult friendly.”
“Attendees can have an enjoyable time as a whole family playing a range of games or as adults who want to focus on party or strategy games. BroCoCon seeks to remind everyone that play is important for all ages and that games are a great way to bring groups together,” Toy Chest owner Hilary Key said.
The event will feature more than 100 board games from more than 20 vendors, ranging in complexity from toddler games to strategy games.
The convention will take place on May 14. Tickets are available through TicketBud. Adult tickets are $15 and youth tickets are $10. The adult game night is $10.
Day-of tickets will not be available, as event attendance will be capped at 400 attendees.
The convention was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
“Given the isolation we’ve all experienced since over the past two years, I think this event is going to be a breath of fresh air,” Key said.
She continued that the convention will also hopefully help reinvigorate the human connection people need following more than two years of quarantining and living during a pandemic.
“I played more games and had more fun than at GenCon,” said a 2019 attendee.
Repeating that experience is The Toy Chest’s goal for the 2022 convention. This year’s main convention event will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Like the first convention this 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 in 2019.
Tickets for the Adult Game Night are separate from the convention. The Adult Game Night will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. the same day.
A little over 200 people attended the first convention overall in 2019. Back in 2020, Key said that the first convention went better than she could have imagined.
Key’s goal for this year’s convention — and the first one in 2019 — is to get people to put down their phones and interact with people face-to-face as they play games. That goal was accomplished in 2019 and the hope is to do the same this year.
Key said she is eager and ready to get the community together again.
“Reflecting on the 2019 event, I can’t recall another time that I’ve seen such a large group of people smiling and interacting without any technology for an entire day,” she said.
