Thoughts on PAX Unplugged 2024

boardgamequest.com:

I’ve been to a few conventions. I wouldn’t say I’m a “frequent” con-attendee but in the past couple of years I’ve gotten a chance to go to UK Game Expo, PAX East, PAX Unplugged, Dice Tower East, and Origins. I’ve also been to Gen Con a few times, probably about once or twice a decade since the 1980s. This doesn’t even count the many local “conventions” or large game meetups that may sell advance tickets that I’ve visited.

That’s not considered aggressive attendance compared with vendors who may attend 3-4 big conventions a year, every year. It’s also not frequent compared with the Board Game Quest crew who (most of them) attend Gen Con every year. Indeed, most of the BGQ team find it invigorating to get on the road and hop over to the next state to attend the largest game-playing convention in the world (sorry Essen, you’re big but you’re 100% marketing).

What is true is that, now, in this post-pandemic age, mega convention attendance is growing as are the number of all kinds of conventions. In the great before times, the numbers were steadily increasing. And then, everything went into a twister with some of the big conventions weathering the storm better than others. At gatherings near me, people were hesitant to go back to the same levels of social closeness until just last year. Now with this year drawing to a close, and apparently disposable income on the rise, the return of epic conventions and board game publishing is in full swing.

I have no doubt that the numbers for this year’s PAX Unplugged were the highest the convention has ever seen. (Editors note: It’s being reported that PAX Unplugged’s unofficial numbers have surpassed Origins, making it the second-largest tabletop convention in America). Even with at least 50% more added space for free play, the tables filled up even with plenty of people still milling around the Expo Hall. It certainly is the largest tabletop convention on the East Coast and they have managed their attendee flow better than last