EA at TooManyGames 2015
Too Many Games has become an annual tradition for my friends and me to travel to the Greater Philadelphia area. Usually, we grab a few cheese steaks, guzzle down energy drinks, and have a carefree video game theme-packed weekend. This year I tried to juggle the responsibility of highlighting my adventure while running a booth to help promote the upcoming AVGC. TMG 2015 offered a ton of musical acts, cosplay events, and vendors selling bank account-draining goodies, so it was a challenge pacing back between the panels, concert hall, and show floor to just be still at a booth.
Having a booth to call a home base meant I had a reliable space to charge my phone and cold water at my disposal, plus a static place to have people come to visit me during the convention. We also teamed up with two other vendors Retro Classics & Pop Culture Hoard. With them at our booth, we got to sell games and artwork and meet some interesting people that browse thru the geek stuff.
The Game Chasers came by our booth to bargain for some games.
Pat The NES Punk came over.
Also, an Argonian! (Elder Scrolls)
Sitting across our booth were a few familiar faces from my previous adventures:
Mega Ran was our booth neighbor.
And so was Dethlehem.
Venturing away from the booth, I hit up the indie showcase to check out what the underdogs of the game industry were cooking up. Too Many Games draws in various game developers to come to demo their latest creations and get feedback from free playtesters. It’s a great way to get indie games some publicity and get some fresh perspectives on the work.
First up, my buddies from Broken Crown Games/Broken Crayon Games. They came down from way up north PA to come promote their goods, but had car trouble and couldn’t showcase their stuff on the first day. Emergency beers were ordered.
I visited the team of Wimbus Studios to check out their latest update to The Island of Eternal Struggle. I’ve enjoyed their sense of zany artwork and fun twist on old-school JRPGs. Check out their latest Kickstarter and watch the RAVE trailer.
The guys of Philosoplay were demoing their game of That Rock Paper Scissor Game!, a multiplayer arcade game that uses the mechanics of Rock Paper Scissor & Snake. The Rock player can only defeat the Scissor Player, the Scissor play can only defeat the Paper player, and the Paper play can only defeat the Rock player. It’s fast-paced, easy to play, and gets you trash-talking quickly.
Next up, I stopped by the Space Whale Studios booth to check out if I was a cool enough dog. In this game, I have to help a cool dog that rides a motorcycle in the desert by moving the correct land masses until the dog reaches the end of the stage. The title says “Cool Dog Don’t Care“, but after like 6 tries at this game, I ended up caring.
Suave Games Booth showed off Boris: Hero of the Universe, a Shoot’Em Up/Rhythm game that stars a bearded dragon Boris that has the powers of laser beam eyes and flight. The game plays like Galaga which changes the enemy spawn rates by the musical beats. BHOTU is based on a true story that the creator, George Yockachonis Jr. experienced. One day, George felt the hot stare of his pet Boris, and the stare was so intense, that he thought laser beams were coming out of him.
Walking around, The Rorschach Puss booth caught my attention once I realized what the game was about, Beer. Fireman Pissaro is about drinking beer and pretending to be a fireman by peeing on fires. I don’t care how these fires happen. I don’t care what kind of beer makes you pee this much. I did wonder why no one else ever thought of this game before.
I also noticed a group that had cosplaying QuickSliver and Scarlet Witch, which lead me to the Risen Phoenix Studios Booth. They were promoting Steamalot: Epoch’s Journey, a tactical card game that mixes steampunk and medieval elements to create
LionPlex is a game studio that I met at MagFest this year, and I stopped by their booth to check out the latest update to Neon Krieger Yamato
Changing the gaming pace, I stopped by the Formal Ferret Games booth to check out some tabletop games. One game that really got my interest was Bad Medicine, a mix of Charades and Cards Against Humanity. The goal of the game is to solve a bad medical problem with made-up medicine. You have to determine the name, how it cures the medical problem, and what the horrible side effects the medicine does to the user.
My buds from Fanboy Anonymous had a panel at TMG to talk about the nature of being a Fan of geek culture. I dropped by to see them in action and stir up some trouble.
TMG updated the location of the Arcade selection, it was placed in a private and dark location to give the selection an old-school vibe, similar to what arcades used to be in the 80’s & 90’s.
Filling the sounds in the arcade selection were various DJs playing a few sets to entertain the people waiting for a cabinet to open up.
When I wanted a break from playing games or talking games, I was able to catch a few concerts to just chill and listen to some songs.
Checking out some of the vendors’ booths I met Mike from The Archives, who sold artwork re-purposed old gaming equipment and peripherals into functional furniture.
Two non-gaming items stood out in my findings; A Game of Thrones VHS tape & Will Ferrell’s Super Mega Sexy Hot Tan
TMG 2015 was an excellent convention that welcomes attendees to make their own fun and find something to satisfy the gaming addiction in everyone. There were a ton of interesting and odd moments at the booth and walking around the place; there was a time I was at the arcade dancing to a blaring Jpop music and the next, I was having beers with people at the booths.
I am certain that all TMG has to do for 2016 is just not change a thing. Maybe have a “Bring Your Own Keg” Rule next year.
