Hello Game Geek Conventions fans!
For whom the bell tolls…ugh…it’s 3:41am…double ugh… If you opened ANY dictionary and looked up “morning person”, you would invariably see a picture of my husband (and to a minor extent, my 9 year old too); you would DEFINITELY find a picture of me listed as THE antonym.
However on this morning, the morning of our trek to Columbus, Ohio for the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) Origins Game Fair, the shower does not even help – I am already civil, cordial, CONVERSATIONAL, practically smiling to the world!
Our drive was uneventful, the most pleasant and uneventful drive out to Origins Game Fair that I can honestly say that I have had in years. We checked in at the Columbus Drury Inn and Suites, hassle free, relaxed for a moment or two while we waited for our friend to arrive.
When he finally did arrive, we all headed over to the Columbus Convention Center to “check-in” and get our weekend passes, game tickets, and generic tokens.
Generic tokens…two words that are practically dirty…
To feed our addiction to the Battletech Pods, our first order of business was to secure $400 worth of generic tokens for our entire weekend…starting with this afternoon and evening!
Our first “drop” took place at 3:55pm, and it didn’t take long for any of us to feel right at home. Our daughter was seemingly entertaining the crew while she was on her mission, she could be heard by all that were near her cackling and having a grand old time.
After we ran a couple of missions in the pods, we walked around the convention center for a bit, exploring what was to be seen today. “The Great Hall” and the majority of the con officially opens tomorrow.
Mayfair Games, a favorite of many gaming geeks, is one of the great convention co-sponsors again this year…
This year’s fabulous Origins Game Fair will feature a bevy of wonderful special guests including fan favorites; the handsome Wil Wheaton, the very lovely Felicia Day, and the beautiful Adrienne Wilkinson. 
Also being deservedly honored this year at the Origins Game Fair are the events very special “Gaming Guests of Honor” featuring Rob Schwalb (Game Design), Jeff Tidball (Game Design), Sandra L. Garrity (Artist), and Aaron Allston (Author).
As we walked around, one could see the outstanding Origins Game Fair areas such as the Board Room and War Room for table top and board gaming!
There is also an Open Gaming Area and the Lending Library, as well as the set up for Origins After Dark and the Origins Beer Haus – each as family friendly as Origins ALWAYS is! This last area lends itself to a more mature crowd in its themes for the adult gaming geeks in attendance!
We started our evening events by playing a game of “Are You a Werewolf?” As simple as the name implies and really easy to learn, all that is required are 11 – 15 people sitting in a circle, a moderator, and a specific deck of cards.
The moderator shuffles the deck and then hands a card to each of the players. The card will inform the player of if they are a villager, a seer, or a werewolf.
No one is allowed to see your card, and through a question and answer session, “villagers” are weeded out via “lynching” due to disbelief of your village (they believe you are the werewolf due to suspicious activity or a dislike of your answers and involvement) or through being killed by he who actually is the werewolf. 
The seer’s job is to know for certain who is or is not a werewolf through “secret” interaction with the moderator and to take that information and help to sway the villagers on to a correct path of identifying the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” amongst them.
From “Are You a Werewolf” we concluded our first evening at Origins with more Battletech pods. What can we say, we are hopelessly addicted to the pods! They were running a single elimination “gun slinger” competition where 2 players were paired off, 1 kill, loser goes home. I should have won my match because I killed my opponent, however, since I took too much “splash damage” and was also killed, I was also eliminated.
Let me now preface our situation by saying it’s going on 11pm at this point and our 9 year old is VEEEEERRRYYYY tired. All she needed to do was get eliminated and we’d take her back to the room. Well, as her luck would have it, of us 4, she was the only one to survive! With a headshot she defeated her opponent! She was not about to last another round, she graciously bowed out, taking third place this evening, and we retired.
So, in closing of this LOOOOOOOOOONG first day Origins (I myself have now been up for 21 hours!!), we had a lot of fun, but this is just the beginning! The Great Hall, and much, much, more is in store for tomorrow and the rest of the weekend!
Thanks to Kenn for final staging and many thanks to you for reading and for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency to read about our news coverage at the great Origin 2012 event in Columbus Ohio!
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Love and regards,
Hey FidgetTBC,
Great first day overview report on Origins Game Fair in Columbus Ohio! What fun for the entire family with great guests and one of the worlds foremost geek fests! Thank you!
Best Regards,
Kenn