| Gary Con | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Gaming |
| Venue | Grand Geneva Resort |
| Location(s) | Lake Geneva, Wisconsin |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | March 2009 |
| Most recent | ongoing |
| Attendance | 3000 |
| Organized by | Luke Gygax |
| Website | http://www.garycon.com |
Gary Con is a gaming convention held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin every year to celebrate the life and works of Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and commonly considered the father of role playing games. Gygax was raised in Lake Geneva, where the company he later founded TSR, Inc. created and produced the Dungeons & Dragons game for 25 years. [1] [2]
When Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax died in 2008, role playing gamers from around the world joined to honor Gygax's life with a virtual convention, held at locations around the world. [3] Gygax's friends and family held an impromptu game event at Lake Geneva's American Legion Hall following his funeral on March 8, 2008, now known as "Gary Con 0," [2] [4] By 2009, son Luke Gygax had established the first official Gary Con, still at the Legion Hall. "Gary Con I," held March 7, 2009, was attended by a number of gaming industry icons: Frank Mentzer, Tom Wham, Steve Chenault, and Jim Ward. [2] Daughter M. Elise Gygax-Cousino helped establish the initial event.[ citation needed ]
By 2010, the Legion Hall no longer had the capacity to host the growing event and its participants. As a result, the event was moved to a local lodge west of the town. [2] The convention moved to the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa in 2016, where attendance has doubled since then.[ citation needed ] Convention organizer Luke Gygax told a local paper Gary Con was "...meant to be a more intimate event, reminiscent of the formative years of the gaming industry." [5]
Gary Con was mentioned in the February 26, 2015 episode of the television sitcom The Big Bang Theory , "The Intimacy Acceleration." This reference brought attention to the event, causing its website to nearly crash, and boosting attendance for that year. [6] [7]
The focus of Gary Con is "Old School Renaissance", with games written during Gygax's ownership of TSR getting the most attention. [1] [8] Often the games are run by designers who originally created the game: Metamorphosis Alpha run by Jim Ward, Fight in the Skies run by Mike Carr, and Tom Wham's boardgames. [4] [8] Other TSR titles are in abundance and a host of loyal gamers running the classic games, such as Chainmail.[ citation needed ] HMGS Midwest is well represented at this event honoring Gygax, who was a historical wargamer before founding TSR.[ citation needed ] Another favorite of the con, is Joe Kline's Circus Maximus qualifiers, as well as his modified games which include "Mobieus Maximus."[ citation needed ] Recent years has seen the addition of Last Hope Live Action Roleplay, a local LARPing group which attends the convention, trains convention goers in combat, and leads them on a live adventure in which they must face monsters and other opponents in battle, discover and return important items, and solve puzzles.[ citation needed ]