Geekway 2022
In today’s post, I would like to focus on something I mentioned in last week’s blog: Geekway to the West. In May of this year, I flew out to St. Louis, Missouri to attend Geekway to the West, a board game convention local to the St. Louis area. The convention took place over the course of 4 days with most attendees playing from 8 am-Midnight each day.
I flew into the St. Louis airport Wednesday afternoon and caught a Lyft ride to my hotel. I was a bit nervous as this was my first time in the area and I guess just overall nervous for the convention as I was super hyped for it and nervous if I was going to meet cool people or not. The hotel I stayed in was alright. The staff was friendly and the room was dated, but it didn’t bother me since I only was only going to be there when I needed to get some sleep.
On Thursday, I was up super early, filled with excitement about whatever I was going to experience that day. I was able to get a Lyft over to the St. Charles Convention Center which is where it was hosted. I ended up getting there about 30 minutes early and a line had already started to form! Once inside, I got checked in and headed straight for my first game, Dinosaur World. After the game, I walked around the halls for about an hour to see what everyone else was playing. I stopped by a few tables, asked if I can watch, and observed various games including Tenpenny Parks, which is one I have been wanting to play for a while. I stopped by the demo area and ended up playing Lizard Wizard and Truck Off: The Food Truck Frenzy Roll And Write. That night while working a shift at the check-in booth, I met Corey from Blue Falcon Gaming. We ended up talking about our experience so far with Geekway and ended up staying in contact to get some additional gaming in. Thursday ended early as I was jetlagged from the previous day.
On Friday, I hit the ground running again. I met up with Corey and got in a game of Honey Buzz and Witchstone. I went into Honey Buzz with an open mind, I loved the art, and it honestly became my favorite game of Geekway. I played Honey Buzz a total of 4 times during the convention. I was walking around a bit near the afternoon and ended up running in Jamey from Stonemaier Games. I have been a huge fan of him and the games he publishes. I introduced him and his girlfriend Megan to two games, Key to the Kingdom and Noctiluca. It was a blast being able to chat with both of them and have fun playing games. I followed up with a play of Ark Nova. Finished the day with a few shifts at the Play & Win and the Game Library.
Saturday was the last full day of Geekway and wanted to get as much as I possibly could in. I arrived super early and played a match of Endangered. After some morning coffee, I found a table playing Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest and joined them. I headed to the demo area and learned a bit about Mobile Markets. Lunch break quickly came and after grabbing a bite to eat, played Planet Unknown. They had Fancy Gaming upstairs which I stopped by to look around, however, opted to go downstairs and hang out. I ran into Corey and he invited me to a late game of Space Base. That night, although late, ended perfectly.
Sunday rolled around, a bittersweet morning as I strolled into the convention and brought The Siege of Runedar to the table. I got in one last game of The Quacks of Quedlinburg, then proceeded to my final shift at the merch booth. They called over the loudspeakers the folks that won games from Play & Win as well as door prizes for those who assisted with the convention. I was shocked when I heard my name announced for the main door prize. I couldn’t have imagined a better end to such an amazing convention. In total, I played 16 different games (13 new to me) with multiple plays of a few of them.
To this day, I still think about all the fun I had. Even though I was scared to go it alone, I met so many amazing people and everyone was extremely kind. I am still in contact with Corey, we usually play games on BGA (Board Game Arena) over Discord and I’d consider him a friend of mine. To all the people that I met there, I thank you for giving this geek an incredible first-time experience. I will be back (next year hopefully) and ready to play some games.
Have you ever been to Geekway or any other convention? Let me know in the comments below!
