Chaos & Confetti

Chaos here!

Once again, Confetti and I returned to the convention we consider our home board gaming convention, PAX Unplugged.  For the third time, we ventured to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to partake in a weekend of competition, fun, and tabletop goodness.

We never had any doubt that we’d be attending all three days of PAX again this year.  However, we were super excited to get the opportunity to do so under the label of “content creators.”  This special title would give even more access to the convention and a chance to delve further in the world of board gaming that we love so much.

After venturing up to Philadelphia on the Amtrak train and settling into our nearby hotel, we were ready for the thrills of another PAX Unplugged weekend.

So, how did it go?  What do we do?  What did we think?  Let’s find out:

GAMES:

The obvious draw of PAX Unplugged is the board games and tabletop experiences.  Access and exposure to games comes in many shapes and sizes.  

Admittance to the convention comes with the ability to check games out.  There is a huge library, organized from A-Z, that spans multiple tables which are then all piled high with games.  The library gives attendees the chance to discover new games, try them out before they guy them somewhere else, or play established favorites with friends new and old.  I always have trouble carving out time for the freeplay areas amidst all the other things I want to do, but I did get in games of The Night Cage, Tribes of the Wind, and Cat Lady.

There are always tournaments going on at PAX as well (which I’ll discuss further later in this post).  There are opportunities for competition for all types of gamers. This year, I took part in tournaments for Coup, Abandon All Artichokes, and King of Tokyo.  I also competed in Ravensburger Triathlon which included a whole host of games and even a jigsaw puzzles.

The convention also offers a number of ways to learn, demo, and play games.  We got to play casual games of Lorcana with people who actually work on the game.  I got to demo the cooperative trick-taking game Sail.  Throughout the weekend we were shown how to play games like Wise Wizards’s Kapow, Envy Born Game’s Sirens, Rock Manor’s upcoming StarDriven Gateway, and Gamey’s The Tree Trimming Game, among others.

Of course, the gaming doesn’t have to stay locked to the convention.  There are a good number of raffles and giveaways.  We left with mini-demos of Codenames, That’s Not a Hat, and Flashback: Zombie Kidz.  Despite being a bit more budget conscious this year with the holidays right around the corner,  we still ended up purchasing a handful of games including: new characters for Shovel Knight: Dungeon Duels, Sky Team, Teatime Adventures, a box of Lorcana boosters, and Fiction.    

PUZZLES:

As lovers of puzzles and escape rooms, we always appreciate how much PAX offers in terms of puzzle challenges.

This year’s offerings included a $15 puzzle packet, a puzzle/scavenger hunt hosted by CGE, escape room experiences, and a safe combination challenge by Lockedbox Adventures.  Even one of our favorite puzzle publishers was there in the form of PostCurious.

While some of the puzzles can be entire events on their own, such as the escape rooms, others make fantastic filler between other events.  We often pulled out our puzzle packets while waiting for a tournament to start or for our next scheduled event to arrive.  Though, as we got closer to completing puzzle chains, they did grow in priority.

Last year, we didn’t solve a single Lockedbox Adventure puzzle before the end of the weekend.  This year, we actually made a point of sitting down with their puzzles.  While their puzzle postcards still proved tricky, we did beat them and actually got to open their exhibition hall safe.

The puzzle packet took inspiration from 80s video games and chatgpt.  They were well designed and satisfying puzzles that felt doable, despite taking some definite brain power at times.

Outside of the satisfaction of solving the puzzles, the best part was that we actually teamed up with some friends along the way to crack a few.  A fresh set of eyes here and there helped refine our approaches at times.

Yay puzzles!

TOURNAMENTS AND COMPETITION:

Unplugged always offers a wide variety of tournaments and competitions for those bold enough to partake.  Every year I sign up for several competitions throughout the weekend.  With so much going on, I tend to opt for the shorter games like Sushi Go!, Love Letter, and Exploding Kittens, but I’ve also indulged in some longer gameplay as well over the years, including Smash Up and Quacks of Quedlinburg.  

Despite doing well and making it to the finals of different tournaments over the years, I’ve never actually claimed the top spot before.  The thrill of the chase, the fun of the games, and the joy of playing with others always keeps me coming back for more though.  

Oddly enough, I’ve also used these tournaments as excuses to learn games and try them out.  My first games of Sushi Go! and Abandon All Artichokes took place in PAX tournaments.  This year, I got to play seven games of Coup, five-plus years after only ever playing it once or twice before.  

For those wondering, Coup didn’t yield ultimate victory for me either.  Nor did Abandon All Artichokes this year.  

King of Tokyo

As silly as it sounds, King of Tokyo is the tournament that means the most to me.  Looking back to my first PAX Unplugged experience back in 2019, King of Tokyo gave me my first “almost” experience.  I made it to the finals twice that first weekend, but never seized the gold.  Since then, I’ve joined a King of Tokyo tournament every PAX I’ve been to and even at Gen Con earlier this year.  Again and again, I find my way to the finals, but fall just short of eternal (in my mind) glory.

So, it should be no surprise that I signed up for the King of Tokyo PAX Unplugged Championship.  With over seventy competitors, the odds did not seem in my favor.  Yet, somehow, I made it to the finals (sorry Confetti who got knocked out round one).  Yes, the bracket was only two rounds deep, but I’ll take a win where I can get it.

Then, in a miraculous fashion (they should make an inspirational movie about it), I rolled the three 1’s needed to reach twenty points and win.  One roll.  Re-roll.  Champion!  It happened just like that.  A journey five years in the making finally paid off and I achieved gold at PAX.  Confetti celebrated me, but also probably got tired of me bringing up my win the rest of that day.  But, it really did mean a lot to me.

Ravensburger Triathlon: Rise to the TableTOP

In terms of competition, it didn’t seem possible to beat my King of Tokyo moment, but Ravensburger had something to say about that.

Since we missed the Lorcana tournament, I thought it might be fun to try out one of Ravensburger’s many other events.  A few weeks before Unplugged, I signed up for the triathlon with Confetti and two of my other closest friends who would also be attending PAX this year.  The four of us tend to have great chemistry together, so I assumed we might stand a fighting chance, but even a loss would still result in bonding time and gameplay.

The first round of the tournament consisted of each team member playing a different party game against other competitors. The games included Strike, That’s Not a Hat, Push, and Pinata Blast.  Confetti proved dominant in the push-your-luck style game of Push.  While her opponents came in with respectable scores in the 20s and 30s, Confetti stole the game with a score in the 80s.  Our other two members also claimed victory in their games of Strike and That’s Not a Hat.  

Sadly, I proved to be the weak link as I failed to win at Pinata Blast.  I played well overall and came in second place, but second wasn’t good enough.  Mostly, I have to blame the cards and dice hating me (hush, don’t tell me differently).

Round two allowed teams to choose their level of difficulty in the logic puzzle presented by Rush Hour.  Since we were part of a three way tie for first, we went with the biggest challenge of grandmaster level.  The possible points were at their highest, but failure to succeed would give us nothing and probably knock us out of contention for the top prize.

Rush Hour is a spatial puzzle that requires players to move around vehicles of differing size and orientation in order to free their little red car and slide it away from the traffic jam.

Confetti is not the most confident with spatial reasoning, so the task quickly fell to me and one other member of our team.  We had ten minutes to accomplish our task.  The two of us quickly go to work, sliding cars and pointing out possibilities to one another.  The cars seemed to become an even bigger jumbled mess as something always moved into the way of another car that needed moving.

The other grandmaster team beside us completed their challenge in what felt like seconds, while we fumbled through resolving our tiny plastic pile up.  Doubt edged into our minds, but we never gave up hope.  Finally, everything started to come together and then our little red car shot free of the mess, driving us straight into our desired points (this challenge rewarded points on completion and not time).  

Despite feeling like we were moving super slow, we actually ended with well over half the remaining time left.  The chance for a breather was very appreciated.

The final round would reward a diminishing amount of points for the top three teams.  Each team needed to complete a jigsaw puzzle, pick it up, and then run it across the finish line.  The final puzzle came in at 150 pieces, but upped its trickiness level by actually having a tough image on display: a castle with a lot of redundancy between its rooms.  

At the call of “go” we ripped open our box and set to work.  The four of us worked amazingly well together and avoided getting in each others’ way during our quest to place pieces.  I may have been the weakest link during the first round, but I felt I proved my worth during the second round’s challenge.  In the third round, I removed all doubt as I demolished that puzzle… by putting it together.  I love a good jigsaw puzzle and I fired on all cylinders, even my team acknowledged my puzzling strength.  

As we snapped the final piece in place, I picked up our puzzle and ran the twenty-ish feet to the finish line.  It was only after completing the last challenge, that I realized how quickly we actually built our puzzle.  I crossed the finish line at exactly 12 minutes, and we were the first team to conquer the third round. That sealed our victory as the first ever Ravensburger Triathlon champions. 

While my King of Tokyo championship win stands as a fantastic and personal victory, the triathlon felt great to win as further proof of my bond with my wife and friends.  We shared a special moment, and then got awesome medals as well.

PAX Unplugged really offers the best kind of competition, especially when you’re on the winning side of things. 

PANELS:

In previous years, we’ve made more of a point of sitting in on panels, but we didn’t prioritize them as much this time.  Even though plenty of scheduled panels looked promising, I only ended up checking out the Shut Up and Sit Down Top 1000.  

This panel featured the Shut Up and Sit Down crew ranking their top 1000 anything.  The audience threw out suggestions which then were added to the list.  The trick was that once something was added to the list, it’s ranking couldn’t be changed.  The discourse and rankings were a lot of fun and often hilarious.  The twist of bonus rounds only added to the experience.  Shut Up and Sit Down gave me a solid hour of entertainment.

I wish we could have sat in on more panels, but there is never enough time to do everything we hope to do. 

EXHIBITION HALL

The expo hall never fails to provide plenty to look at, buy, try, and experience.  It’s hard not to want to buy a little of everything.  With so many great games on offer, attendees will have to be careful not to blow their bank accounts on everything they see.  There are a wide variety of games, accessories, clothing items, books, magazines, and more for every taste and style.

Thankfully there are plenty of inexpensive ways to enjoy the show floor as well.  Simply walking around is fun, but many of the booths are also offering chances to learn and play their games as well.  Many booths also have freebies or giveaways.  We picked up a few free enamel pins and a couple demo games as well.

BackerKit had a stamp hunt/passport that required visitors to check out several companies they’ve partnered with before.  An enamel pin waited for those who finished the stamp hunt.  We liked getting a closer look at several games though, and even bought Teatime Adventures because the stamp hunt put us in close enough proximity to allow the rpg book to grab our interests.

Visiting the exhibition hall is an adventure in itself and always one of our favorite parts of attending PAX Unplugged.

WRAP UP:

It’s always fun to visit PAX Unplugged because it’s a concentration of so much that we love, while being surrounded by so many others who also enjoy similar hobbies.  We enjoyed getting to spend time with long time friends and being able to see some people that we mostly know through online interactions.  I may have only known some people for as long as it took to play a game, but for the hour or two we sat together, we were friends (especially that group I played seven games of Coup with).  

Our content creator badges made us a bit more bold about approaching exhibitors and designers, and it was really neat to hear more from them.  The con is full of so many passionate designers, creators, and artists,  so we loved getting more insight into their lives and games.  

We can’t wait to visit PAX Unplugged again next year.

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