Origins 2021 was held September 30, 2021 through October 3rd, 2021. It was a unique event, but then these are unique times, eh? I was able to attend on Friday and Sunday. Over the course of my time, I snapped some shots of things that might be of interest to our tabletop gaming audience. If I missed, you, your event or your booth, my apologies, it was a bit of a whirlwind experience.
The convention center is a large facility with huge halls. You could park an airliner of two inside these spaces!
The new parking garage on the north end of the facility added a lot of much needed parking!
The registration desk space was well organized and running efficiently.
Across the room was the pre-registration check in stations. This was fast and easy with a staff member on hand to assist with any issues.
I arrived very early on Friday morning with vendors completing their set up.
Origins 2021 was both familiar and very different. It was familiar in that the event has been in the same facility since the late 90’s and you see a lot of the same vendors and faces of attendees over the years. But the differences this year were numerous. The most obvious one is the change in dates. The ongoing effects of the pandemic had pushed the show out of its traditional slot in June into late September-October. The show was smaller, with the vendors and most gaming fitting into the combined halls B and C. This is not to say this was a small show, it most definitely was not small. But years ago I remember seeing almost an entire hall dedicated to Pokemon. I didn’t see that this year.
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The other pandemic driven impact was the mask mandate. With an event bringing thousands of people together in an indoor setting, the organizers implemented a rule requiring masks in all indoor spaces of the show.
Jim O’Neil (left) and Bill Weber (center right) ready for Ares Games Wings of Glory.
I did find time to wander the vendors aisles and quickly expended my funds on many new board games and toys. (If my wife asks, please disavow any knowledge of the previous statement!)
Decision Games had a large presence at the show. Decision had a lot stock on hand. They also had games from Legion Games and Revolution Games. Decision offered the chance to speak with the staff and check our some of their latest games.Catastrophe Games had a booth that saw a lot of action. They had a good selection of games from Hollandspiele Games as well as their own games. I picked up a copy of NATO Air Commander from them.They were offering demos of a new game “Zurmat” which was a company level game of operations in Afghanistan. It reminds me of a COIN style game as players are trying to achieve their victory conditions and build a base of support. I’m looking forward to this one! Enterprise Games out of Indiana shouldered the task of representing GMT Games at the show. They had a deep amount of stock on hand. As the sign says they provide both out of print and a broad cross section of games. There were a number of games from Compass Games on the shelf.I keep hearing that Gregory Smith’s sub games are out of stock, but Enterprise had these three! (And is that a Clash of Arms game to the right?) Another Gregory Smith sub game! (And the out of stock Pericles to the left)
After spending my money, I walked around to check out some of the gaming action. There was an impressive zombie game on the game.
Brains…And a nice little game of Warlord’s Cruel Seas with an S-boat puttering along at slow speed.Pet Landry’s Wings of Glory WWII game between the French and Germans getting ready to start.Jim O’Neil’s WWI Wings of Glory GameThe dedicated board game space at Origins. Access required purchasing an additional ribbon, or so say the staff manning the barricades.Lots of open gaming table space on Sunday morning!
1 Comment
Rick Martin
10/11/2021
Great pictures and report, Ray! Thanks for posting!
Great pictures and report, Ray! Thanks for posting!