BoardGame of Thrones: Pre-PAX Boardgame Night at the Westin (Feedback Time!)

LexiconGrrl

Pre-PAX Board Game Night at the Westin Waterfront Hotel

Post- PAX EDIT: feedback is being collected to pass on for next year's event. If you have comments about what worked, what didn't, or any ideas you have for next year, please post!

This year, for the first time ever, PAX East will have two pre-PAX gaming night events in the Boston Metro area for your gaming pleasure on the Thursday evening before PAX. Attend one or both! See below for details.

WHAT: A coordinated meetup the night before PAX for anyone with board games, or anyone who wants to play boardgames.

WHERE: Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel: 425 Summer Street. WE ARE TAKING OVER THE HOTEL LOBBIES. Over 300 Seats in three separate areas with dedicated bars and bartenders. Gaming will be held on the mezzanine, in the Restaurant and on the lower level by the Starbucks. Look below under the COOL SHIT section for amazing details.

WHEN: Thursday March 21 @ 4:00 PM until late, late, late

ALTERNATE GAME MEETUPS
Shadow Moses Game Night at the Boston Mariott Long Wharf : 8:00 PM, 50-100 Seats
CANCELLED Rapture Game Night at the Boston Seaport
GOOGLE MAP OF PRE PAX GAME MEETUP LOCATIONS

COOL SHIT
The Westin is pulling out all the stops this year:
- Sauciety Restaurant: 180 Gaming Seats, Dedicated bar & bartender
- Mezzanine: 80 Gaming Seats, Dedicated bar & bartender
- Cafe (under the mezzanine): 40 Gaming Seats, Hotel Lobby Bar available
- Game and Gamer themed drinx and noshies will be on hand for purchase.
- The Cookie Brigade will be present in Force (well, at a table). Don't forget to Support Child's Play! (Bakers: Cookie Dropoff here)

HOW IT WORKS
On the Thread
1. If you have games to bring, please post what you're bringing.
2. If you're looking to play a specific game, please post your request.
3. Please post your game/requests on the thread for the hotel that you plan to attend.

Once Present at the Hotel
1. Your coordinator for the night is LexiconGrrl. You can find her at the Cookie Brigade Table if you have any questions.
2. If you've got a game and are looking for players, put the box top of the game vertically on your table. This is the universal sign for "I don't care who you are, please join us"
3. If you're looking to join a game, look for vertical box tops.
4. NEW: Use the following twitter hastags to find/advertise games.
#WestinTabletop (remember to include the room you're in)
#MariottTabletop

THE RULES
- Being good guests is critical to this event's welcome at the hotel. Don't be a dick.
- The hotel is giving us amazing space and service for free. The best way to show your appreciation is to support the hotel bar and restaurant while you're there.
- The hotel will be reserving the Birch Bar Dining Area for non-gaming guests and will have it roped off and staffed with a seating hostess. Please sit in one of the designated gaming areas to game. If you get asked by the hotel staff to move, please be respectful and honor their request.

GAME ON!!

Requested Games
Agricola (Listed Below)
Arkham Horror (Listed Below)
Ascension (Listed Below)
Blokus
Carcasonne (Listed Below)1
Cards Against Humanity (Listed Below)
Castle Panic
Chaos in the Old World
Dominion with or without Expansions (any) (Listed Below)
El Grande (Listed Below)
Epic Spell Wars of theBattle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre (Listed Below)
Fluxx (Any) (Listed Below)
Gamma World
Game of Thrones LCG (Listed Below)
Gloom (Listed Below)
Ground Floor (Listed Below)
Munchkin (Listed Below)
Pandemic (Listed Below)
Penny Arcade: Paint the Line (Listed Below)
Power Grid (Listed Below)
Race for the Galaxy
Rumble in R'lyeh (Listed Below)
Settlers of Catan (Listed Below)
Shadows over Camelot (Listed Below)
Shab-Al-Hirir Roach
Small world
Space Alert (Listed Below)
Super Dungeon Explore (Listed Below)
Tsuro (Listed Below)
Twilight Imperium (Listed Below)
Warmachine (Listed Below)
Marvel or DC Deck Building Games (Listed Below)


Available Games
7 Wonders
Agricola
Alien Dice
Arkham Horror + Expansions
Ascension + Expansions
Avalon
Aye, Dark Overlord
Back to the Future (themed Chrononauts)
Battlestar Galactica
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Blokus
Bohnanza (+Bohnaparte)
Boss Monster
Burn in Hell
Carcasonne (+Expansions)
Cards Against Humanity + Expansions
Cash n Guns
Castle Panic
Chrononauts
Citadels
City of Horror
Core Worlds + Expansions
Cosmic Encounter
Creationary (maybe)
DC Comics Deckbuilding Game
D&D Castle Ravenloft
Dominion + Expansions
Dragon Brigade
Drinking Quest
DrunkQuest
Dungeon World
El Grande
Elder Sign
Eleminis
Eminent Domain
Epic Spell Wars of theBattle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre (maybe)
Fiasco
Fireball Island
Flash Duel
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Fleet
Fluffy Bunny Tea Party
Fluxx (Original)
Fluxx Martian
Fluxx Star
Fluxx Pirate
Fluxx Zombie
For the Win
Forbidden Island
Fury of Dracula (maybe)
Game of Thrones Second Edition (maybe)
Game of Thrones (Something or Other)
Gamers vs. Evil
Gauntlet of Fools
Gloom
Gloom - Cthulu
Grimorie
Ground Floor
Guillotine
Halo Wars Risk
HexHex
Innovation
Kittens in a Blender
King of Tokyo
Legend of Drizzt (maybe)
Libertalia (maybe)
Magic: The Gathering
Marvel Heroic
Meta Game
Miskatonic School for Girls
Munchkin + All Expansions
Munchkin Bites
Munchkin Booty + Expansions
Munchkin Cthulhu
Munchkin Zombie
Netrunner (maybe)
Nuns on the Run
Paint the Line
Pandemic
Panic on Wall Street (maybe)
Perplex City: The Board Game
Pokemon: The Drinking Game
Power Grid
Red Dragon Inn
Risk: Godstorm (maybe)
Roll For It
Room 25
Rumble in R'lyeh
Run For Your Life Candyman
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Settlers of Catan
Shadows Over Camalot + Expansions
Skull and Roses
Skyline
Small World
Smash Up
Snake Oil
Space Alert (maybe)
Star Wars X-Wing (Millenium Falcon + Slave)
Starfluxx
Summoner Wars
Super Dungeon Explore + Caverns of Roxor
The Impossible Machine
The Resistance
The Walking Dead (comics version)
Thunderstone Advance + Expansions
Ticket to Ride Europe
Ticket to Ride Classic
The Great Heartland Hauling Co.
Tsuro
Tsuro of the Seas
Twilight Imperium + Shattered Empire (maybe)
Walking Dead Board Game (TV Based) (maybe)
Warmachine
We Didn't Playtest This At All + Expansions
We Didn't Playtest This: Legacies
Werewolf
X Wing
Yahtzee!!
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Zombie Dice + Expansion
Zombies!


Archive Post Data:

Discussions have commenced with the administration at the Westin for the BEST PRE-PAX BOARDGAME MEETUP YET!! Stay tuned for further developments.

Date: Thursday evening before PAX: March 21, 2013
When: 4:00 PM till Late, Late, Late!
Where: at the Westin Hotel Mezzanine ... (or IS it?!) (no, it is.) (really?) (well, we'll see.)

QUESTION FOR YOU (yes, YOU!): The Westin really isn't big enough for the number of people who want to play tabletop games. How do you all feel about dual-hosting at both the Westin and the Seaport? The management at both hotels would be included in the discussions and planning.

(this is just a placeholder. ignore it.)

zerzhul

I ignore nothing

TheAggroCraig

Can't wait! I'll probably be here up until the pub crawl. Within the last year a bunch of friends and I all got into board gaming, so we'll be bringing/hopefully trying new stuff while there.

Lady Amalthea

Definitely up for some late night gaming! Has anyone called the Westin to see if they will allow us to use the Mezzanine again? Cause that was great!

zerzhul

I'm considering doing this for the first time this year. I've done the barcrawl at all of my paxes thus far, might be time for a change. We'll see. Maybe after the barcrawl

Lady Amalthea wrote: »

Definitely up for some late night gaming! Has anyone called the Westin to see if they will allow us to use the Mezzanine again? Cause that was great!

Based on the OP, it sounds like Lexi is working on that

Direwolf

First year staying at a hotel for PAXEast and this is a big reason why. Can't wait!

d0ughb0y

I should be up there sometime after noon, count me in!

LexiconGrrl

So general question for the masses (and I'll update the OP to ask this question too):

The Westin really isn't big enough for the number of people who want to play tabletop games. How do you all feel about dual-hosting at both the Westin and the Seaport? The management at both hotels would be included in the discussions and planning.

Chorazin

Oh man please do get it in two hotels. Sitting on the floor because of the lack of space and trying to teach people 7 Wonders after a 8 hour car trip jacked up my back something fierce.

Or, if we can get it, move it to one of the conference rooms with all the tables!

vttym

Chorazin wrote: »

Oh man please do get it in two hotels. Sitting on the floor because of the lack of space and trying to teach people 7 Wonders after a 8 hour car trip jacked up my back something fierce.

Or, if we can get it, move it to one of the conference rooms with all the tables!

Conference room will probably cost money, which I imagine is something that we're trying to avoid.

Seaport has a decent lobby, but I don't recall a lot of seating, persay. There is a restaurant there, but otherwise it's a lot of floorspace. There is a wide area by the conference rooms that tables could be set up by, I suppose.

Unless I'm forgetting something? Regardless, seeing as I'm at the Seaport, I'd be in favor, but splitting the attendance between two places may mean I won't see all of your wonderful faces.

zerzhul

There's never going to be enough space, imo, for all the people that want to play on thursday nights... I mean we take up all the tabletop space *at* pax itself

I guess my overall opinion is: do what you can to allow as much gaming as possible, but don't bend too far over backwards trying to solve a problem that is a logistical nightmare. Get what space/seating can be achieved, and let everything else work its way out organically from there.

Chorazin

vttym wrote: »

Chorazin wrote: »

Oh man please do get it in two hotels. Sitting on the floor because of the lack of space and trying to teach people 7 Wonders after a 8 hour car trip jacked up my back something fierce.

Or, if we can get it, move it to one of the conference rooms with all the tables!

Conference room will probably cost money, which I imagine is something that we're trying to avoid.

Seaport has a decent lobby, but I don't recall a lot of seating, persay. There is a restaurant there, but otherwise it's a lot of floorspace. There is a wide area by the conference rooms that tables could be set up by, I suppose.

Unless I'm forgetting something? Regardless, seeing as I'm at the Seaport, I'd be in favor, but splitting the attendance between two places may mean I won't see all of your wonderful faces.

Yeah, it might cost money, didn't really think of that. But a man can dream....

LexiconGrrl

The Sheraton in Seattle was super cool at Prime this year and actually gave us free conference rooms. I'm hinting at that with the Westin also, but there's a new person in charge who's never worked at PAX before, so there's a bit of a learning curve to overcome during the discussions.

Thunderous_T

Just out of curiosity, how much would a conference room cost?

LexiconGrrl

It's usually a negotiated rate depending on who you are, what kind of amenities are needed, that sort of thing. Typical rates range from $100 - $500 per hour.

Dan19721121

I would love to come to this after I have dinner. I will be the one looking for a twilight Imperium game to join... (never played it.... ever)

Malgaras

Going to be awesome as always! However, if we get arrangements with two hotels on paper, I wonder if that will really have much effect on people in reality. I suspect a large percentage of the people at the Westin last year were there because:

A. It's the hotel they were staying at.
B. It's attached to the convention center so logically makes sense if you're looking for some pre-PAX gaming.
C. It's historically been filled with gamers the night before.
D. You walk in the door to the Westin and HOLY CRAP THERE'S A HUGE MOB OF PEOPLE UPSTAIRS

Allocating more space somewhere else won't really effect any of those. I guess my point is getting more space in a completely separate location somewhere else doesn't mean people will automatically do some sort of crowd load balancing and use it. People will want to be where the other people are. If we can get some of the rooms at the Westin (I know I was sitting on the floor outside of a giant one that was completely empty last year), that would definitely be ideal, but who knows...

Paine

Dan19721121 wrote: »

I would love to come to this after I have dinner. I will be the one looking for a twilight Imperium game to join... (never played it.... ever)

If you actually want to do that you're going to have to pre-plan and get a group together. A game of TI, especially with new players, will take you upwards of 6 hours on average.

LexiconGrrl

Paine wrote: »

Dan19721121 wrote: »

I would love to come to this after I have dinner. I will be the one looking for a twilight Imperium game to join... (never played it.... ever)

If you actually want to do that you're going to have to pre-plan and get a group together. A game of TI, especially with new players, will take you upwards of 6 hours on average.

A list of the games people intend to play and some sort of easily manageable signup process will be posted in the OP as we get closer to PAX, probably sometime in February, after we've heard back from the Westin.

Speaking of which... their management has indicated that they'll be firming up their plans in mid-February (with the blessing of Reed Expo and PA) for the details like number of seats, location, etc...

gerafin

As I have a room in the Westin this year (and a sizeable board game collection) my plan might be to round up a group by wandering the mezzanine and then heading back to my room to play. While it's nice to be in a crowd of gamers, playing on the floor with people having to tiptoe over game bits every few seconds was not, in my mind, optimal. Would other people be into opening their rooms to cut back on the crowd, and be fine with a more isolated experience?

TheAggroCraig

gerafin wrote: »

As I have a room in the Westin this year (and a sizeable board game collection) my plan might be to round up a group by wandering the mezzanine and then heading back to my room to play. While it's nice to be in a crowd of gamers, playing on the floor with people having to tiptoe over game bits every few seconds was not, in my mind, optimal. Would other people be into opening their rooms to cut back on the crowd, and be fine with a more isolated experience?

The only problem with this would be the noise levels for other people, so it wouldn't work well into the wee hours of the night.

But personally I'd be open to it for at least the afternoon, I'm personally bringing Sentinels of the Multiverse, Cards Against Humanity and Chrononauts, while friends will be bringing more games like Small World, Castle Panic, Munchkin, Starfluxx, etc. (Plus, we can drink a bit more freely in the rooms than in the mezz, so drinking games ahoy!)

kropotkin

My highlight from PAX Prime 2012 was the pre PAX board game night. I managed to play a full game of BSG after a 10 hour flight and still laughed as I was jettisoned from an airlock after being falsely accused of being a cylon!

As for splitting the venue into both Seaport and Westin, I support this idea as many have had to stay in Seaport this year thanks to the Westin being booked out nanoseconds after the reservations went up. If there is a possibility that we can use both I say we at least make the effort to try.

fullofgrace

Hubs and I are able to make PAX East weekend a longer one this year so I'm excited to be able to participate this time! I'm also really looking forward to getting to experience some new board games. We love them but we are really only able to play two player games.

tvethiopia

i just want to say how much i completely and totally love the existence of this. one of my favorite moments from last year was going to bed late thursday night and thinking about how i'd had so much fun, and pax hadn't even started yet! it's just the perfect way to start the best weekend of the year. thanks x10000 to @lexicongrrl for all you do to make this happen for us!

zerzhul

I love this and I haven't even attended one :P

gerafin

TheAggroCraig wrote: »

gerafin wrote: »

As I have a room in the Westin this year (and a sizeable board game collection) my plan might be to round up a group by wandering the mezzanine and then heading back to my room to play. While it's nice to be in a crowd of gamers, playing on the floor with people having to tiptoe over game bits every few seconds was not, in my mind, optimal. Would other people be into opening their rooms to cut back on the crowd, and be fine with a more isolated experience?

The only problem with this would be the noise levels for other people, so it wouldn't work well into the wee hours of the night.

But personally I'd be open to it for at least the afternoon, I'm personally bringing Sentinels of the Multiverse, Cards Against Humanity and Chrononauts, while friends will be bringing more games like Small World, Castle Panic, Munchkin, Starfluxx, etc. (Plus, we can drink a bit more freely in the rooms than in the mezz, so drinking games ahoy!)

Didn't even think about noise level, good call.
I'm probably bringing City of Horror (zombie game with a hilarious "who do we throw to the zombies next?" vote mechanic), The Resistance (5-10 players, super easy, figure-out-who-the-spy-is intrigue game), and Cosmic Encounter (classic!). I might stay away from games that support less than 6 players in order to accommodate more people, but Galaxy Trucker + expansion = 5 people, so maybe... we'll see what people are interested in. I'm also sticking with easier-to-teach and shorter games, because I know personally my excitement level is way too high PAX-eve to deal with lots of rules and 2+ hour games. Maybe Dominion would be good just for its brevity and simplicity, although I'm sure lots of people will also have brought it.

gerafin

edit: double post somehow? deleted.

CtrlAltDft

Last PAX East was my first and I stayed at the Westin. Having tables set up in the mezzanine for tabletop gaming was awesome and being able to go from my hotel room to the mezzanine for some gaming whenever I wanted to was great.

GrimRupert

gerafin wrote: »

I'm probably bringing City of Horror (zombie game with a hilarious "who do we throw to the zombies next?" vote mechanic),

I would be so down for that. I recently discovered it and found out it's a sequel to Mall of Horror, the first not-your-Milton-Bradley board game I ever bought. I'm curious to try it out.

That said, it really depends on how things go. I'm getting in around 8pm from the train and staying at the Renaissance near the Seaport, so I'll likely be doing any gaming there instead depending on how the Renaissance is looking. Does anyone else know how they are?

The Seaport is likely to be accommodating, as they have been very welcoming of the GamersWithJobs.com crew having their slap-and-tickle (a.k.a. meet-up) the past two years in the restaurant.

PayneTrayne

I will be bringing some CAH and Munchkin before I head off to the Pubcrawl.

Schmulki

I'm staying at the Seaport and getting in on Thurs night, so I'd probably be up for some gaming at some point. I'll probably have a lighter game or 2 like mentioned, would anyone be up for anything heavier, more in the Power Grid, Agricola, El Grande, or Chaos in the Old World line of things? (just a few I've been playing lately)

As for players/space/time, all but Chaos take 5 (and no, I won't do PG with 6, it's awful), they all take a decent amount of space, and generally in the 1.5-2.5 hr range.

As for the Seaport, I didn't attend last year (stupid Easter/Passover, grumble grumble), but the year before, I played a fairly long game of Munchkin in the bar/restaurant area one afternoon, they had no problem with it since we also got food/drinks while playing. I don't remember other good areas to play games.

But, if playing something bigger/longer, I really wouldn't be adverse to moving a game to a room, if that's easier.

punzie

I'm thinking of doing this instead of the bar crawl this year but I just don't know.... I certainly do enjoy post-pax gaming in the Westin.

Menolly07

I'm thinking the same as well, and instead doing just a plain out to a bar(s) with a couple friends instead. The crawl is SO big. I'd rather game more!

macrogeek

I'm bringing my stepson this year. He's not old enough for the pub crawl and we loved tabletop time last year. So we are planning on hitting any game night events.
I would think that if we talked to the management of either hotel, they might consider opening a conference room if it means we're not plugging up the bar areas.

Khadour

punzie wrote: »

I'm thinking of doing this instead of the bar crawl this year but I just don't know.... I certainly do enjoy post-pax gaming in the Westin.

Menolly07 wrote: »

I'm thinking the same as well, and instead doing just a plain out to a bar(s) with a couple friends instead. The crawl is SO big. I'd rather game more!

That's kind of where I am on it, but still on the fence. Guess I'll decide when the PokeCrawl thread goes up. . .

macrogeek

I spoke to the Seaport on Twitter today. They said they would reach out to us about getting us a conference room set aside for gaming.

treeza

I am pretty excited about this! It'll be my first time attending, and it sounds super fun. Now to decide what game to bring! :rotate:

LexiconGrrl

macrogeek wrote: »

I spoke to the Seaport on Twitter today. They said they would reach out to us about getting us a conference room set aside for gaming.

One thing that not everyone may be aware of is that there is a whole chain of command that we have to go through that includes PA and Reed Expo when setting this event up with the hotels. I'd like to ask that if anyone wants to reach out to a hotel themselves, please check with me first before doing so.

I'll be reaching out to the Seaport before PAX, please be patient. Thank you!

Thunderous_T

LexiconGrrl wrote: »

I'd like to ask that if anyone wants to reach out to a hotel themselves, please check with me first before doing so.

We're just starting to discuss doing a smaller board game night at the Boston Long Wharf, what's the protocol you'd like us to follow for these requests?

LexiconGrrl

Thunderous_T wrote: »

LexiconGrrl wrote: »

I'd like to ask that if anyone wants to reach out to a hotel themselves, please check with me first before doing so.

We're just starting to discuss doing a smaller board game night at the Boston Long Wharf, what's the protocol you'd like us to follow for these requests?

You read my mind! I just sent a PM to @Halfazedninja with all the boring details. Sending you a PM now.

Halfazedninja

Yup! Details to follow!