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Game On at Gam3rCon

Comic-Con's little-known cousin finds its stride

Missed out on Comic-Con tickets, but still want to get your annual taste of geekiness? Don’t worry, there are still plenty of tickets for Gam3rCon.

Now in its third year, Gam3rCon celebrates all forms of interactive gaming, from dice, cards and tabletop games, to the latest innovations in video games.

Taking place at the same time as Comic-Con (July 11-15), but at the 10th Avenue Theatre, what Gam3rCon lacks in terms of corporate backing, it makes up for with charm and intimacy.

And affordability: A five-day pass is only $30, much less than a one-day Comic-Con pass -- if you can find one for sale.

“We’re not trying to compete with Comic-Con,” says co-creator Walter Meyer. “It’s an augmentation. People used to play ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and ‘Magic: The Gathering’ upstairs at the Con, but they discourage it now.

“That said, we’d love it if it became popular enough that we had to schedule it at a different time from the Con.”

That could happen. The first one attracted 500 attendees and that increased to 2100 last year and Meyer is hoping that more than 5000 gaming geeks will attend this year.

But it’s more than just playing video or roll playing games. Attendees can watch original plays like “Gam3rs,” a work by Meyer that has been performed all over the country, as well as a “filk concert” on the rooftop.

“That’s like folk music with where the lyrics relate to characters in games and other parts of the gaming life,” he says.

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