Game and comic conventions have a few things in common: a bustling show floor, the need to carry hand sanitizer at all times, and phenomenal gaming areas. They also share long lines for panels, signings, demos, and more. Waiting… So much waiting.
When you’re not in a gaming area and find yourself sitting in some hallway, or even slowly navigating the crowd on the show floor, you can still play a quick game with friends or strangers to help pass the time.
Throw these three games in your backpack when you’re getting your convention survival kit together, and you’ll be ready for anything. (Sure, you could save on bag space and just play games on your smartphone, but wifi in a convention hall is typically terrible, and you don’t want to waste precious battery life!)
Zombie Dice
After 3 days at a convention, you might start to feel like the shuffling undead yourself, so embrace it with Zombie Dice. This game so quick and easy it can be casually played around a table with a group of friends in the gaming area (as evidenced on TableTop) or while you’re all hunkered down on the floor waiting to get into a convention panel.
Just toss the cup, dice, and maybe a pad and pencil to keep track of brains in your bag, and you’re good to go. The first person to roll 13 brains on the dice wins. But it’s up to you if you want to risk rolling to wrack up the brains on a single turn, or play it safe and hoard that brain matter while you can.
Sneaky Cards
Show floors are so packed that you’re often up close and personal with strangers anyway, so why not play a game with them? Sneaky Cards from Gamewright will turn your next convention into one big scavenger hunt. Cards task you to interact with strangers by giving you missions that range in difficulty, such as simply taking a selfie with them (an ordinary request at a convention) to switching spots in line (a true sacrifice at a con, for sure).
If you’re a naturally shy person, Sneaky Cards might be an extra challenge for you, but it’s sure to make the convention one to remember. You can even use the unique number on the card to track where it ends up long after the convention is over.
Spyfall
The people standing next to you in the unending line for Nathan Fillion‘s autograph look just as bored as you are… or is one of them more than what they seem? Find out by inviting them to play Spyfall.
This bluffing card game from Cryptozoic is easy to pack, just stow a few packs of cards in your bag instead of the box itself. All of the players are at a specific location shown on the cards (like a casino or space station), but one player is a spy with no idea what location is on the other cards. It’s up to the spy to learn the location without blowing his or her cover. Your time waiting in line will fly by as you use questions and answers to figure out who’s who, but don’t give too much info away!
Do you carry any other must-haves in your convention backpack? Let us know in the comments!
Featured Image: David Reyes, Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Other Images: Steve Jackson Games, Gamewright, and Cryptozoic