Philadelphia is an amazing city for a convention that focuses on tabletop games, which makes it a perfect place for PAX Unplugged every year. The convention center has massive rooms for merchants and open table gaming, and it also has smaller areas where players can concentrate on specific games. It’s across the street from the Reading Terminal Market, which houses so many choices of food that you can’t help but find something you want.
If you go to the Reading Terminal Market, I recommend Olympia Gyro if you want well-made food at a good price that gives you a choice of grab and go or to sit and eat. Sitting and eating is my preference as the convention is best taking it while on the move, so relax and fuel up here and you won’t miss anything later. Even with a crowded open-air atmosphere, the service is quick and friendly. This restaurant has been at the market since 1982, and it has been owned by the Voulgaridis family since 1984.
PAX Unplugged has lots of helpful staff called enforcers who will direct you to events. They do a great job and give helpful advice. They even play games with people who are waiting in long lines for the various panels. This is one of the coolest things about the Pax Unplugged Convention, which GiN has covered for several years now.
Philadelphia is home to gaming events like the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo and TooMany Games. This gives it a local base of support, and many people like me took the train into the city. I saw many who were coming from north of Philadelphia from places like Boston and New York, while others came from further south like Washington DC, or Richmond. PAX Unplugged is definitely a major regional event these days.
If you need to fly to PAX Unplugged, the airport has a great many public transportation options that will drop you at City Center, where the convention, restaurants and hotels are.
The signature event for the first day of the show was story time with Isaac Childres, the creator of Gloomhaven. He started his career with his self-published game Forge War while working as a physicist. His ups and downs while working on Forge War, as well as his appreciation of all things gaming made for a great speech, as was his tips for others looking to market their own titles.
Also on Friday was an event where Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, the co-creators of Penny Arcade and the founders of PAX, created a comic strip in front of the audience. It was done to raise money for the Child’s Play Charity. This year, Jerry Holkins was wearing a board games t-shirt and talked about the many things that highlighted their longtime friendship. One amusing story revolved around the time when cartoonist Mike Krahulik was offered a Harley Davidson motorcycle as a way to market the product to gamers. Krahulik turned the offer down, citing how dangerous it was and definitely not in his wheelhouse.
On the exhibitor floor, Darrington Press, which is Critical Role’s publishing house, commanded a large following and made sure that people who came to the convention knew who they were.
On the first day of the convention, GiN contacted the folks at Lurking Fears and the creators of the upcoming Godzilla TTRPG. We interviewed them last year, and if you remember that, they are the group that provides professional GMs to lots of people at PAX and other shows. We got to catch up with them again this time, which was really nice.
We also saw the Access Forward Gaming Lounge. As the sign proclaimed, “The Access Forward Gaming Lounge is an inclusive space for accessible adaptations of your favorite tabletop games.” The players there were busy with multiple games, and lots of folks were coming and going.
Now with all of the convention’s activity and crowds, we’ve got to mention the “Calm Passion Calmer Space.” That was a space set aside for those who “need a break but are not interested in absolute silence…offering tools and strategies to manage sensory input and reduce anxiety.” There were many other events and people that showed how PAX Unplugged looks out for everyone who attends this ever-growing convention. And this was just the first day.