Countdown to SaltCon 2020!

February just rolled around and it’s time to get excited!

Of course, there was a lot of excitement around the Super Bowl last weekend when the Chiefs triumphed over the 49er’s.

And Valentine’s Day is next week — which can be something to get excited about.

Then there’s also President’s Day right after — which brings a day off of work in the U.S. for many companies. So we can see people getting excited for that.

If you look it up, you’ll also find that February brings in a lot of crazy special days: Groundhog Day, Dark Chocolate Day, Nutella Day, Pizza Day, Ukulele Day, Umbrella Day, Toothache Day, Inventor’s Day, Radio Day, Tug of War Day, Pokemon Day, and plenty more.

But what I really get excited about when February hits is that SaltCon is only a month away!

 

What is SaltCon?

SaltCon is a board game convention in Salt Lake City, Utah for anyone who enjoys playing games.

For me, it means steady days of playing tons of games and reconnecting with lots of friends.

SaltCon runs for 4 days the first weekend of March. Which for 2020 means, March 5-8.

Not everyone in our family considers a full day of gaming a big win (let alone multiple days of it in a row), but I love it!

Over the past 10 years since we’ve been doing family board game reviews, I’ve only missed SaltCon 1 year. And I’ve loved seeing it get bigger and bigger every year!

I believe last year there were about 1,900 attendees!

Which is fantastic for a local board game convention.

 

Game Library

Perhaps the best things about board game conventions is playing games you don’t own but would love to try.

And at SaltCon you’ll find a huge Game Library where you can checkout any game you’d like.

The SaltCON Game Library has over 1,700 board games, card games, dice games, party games, deduction games, role playing games, dexterity games, miniatures games and more!

If you’d like to see the full list of games available in the SaltCon Game Library, you can check it out on the SaltCon BoardGameGeek.com Game Collection.

 

Hot Games

SaltCon also has an area in the game hall dedicated to Hot Games.

These are board games attendees are most interested in playing. A certain number of game tables are dedicated to these games. The games are set up and being played constantly. And each game has a Volunteer who teaches the game to anyone ready to play.

Some of the games that I’m interested in playing at the Hot Games tables are: Paladins of the West Kingdom, It’s a Wonderful World, Parks, Rune Stones, and Ecos First Continent.

 

Game Trades

The other part of SaltCon I get really excited about is the Game Trade and Game Swap.

It’s like having Christmas in March!

It’s a great chance to trade out games we haven’t played in ages and welcome home other games we’d love to play.

That’s probably another reason why I get antsy for SaltCon in February. I’m currently looking over our games and deciding which games to offer up for trade.

If you’ve got games you’re thinking about trading, check out the SaltCon Math Trade.

So much more

Of course, with the growth in SaltCon attendance also comes an increasing demand for other events and activities at the con.

And there are plenty of those!

There are door prizes, game giveaways, play to win games, game publishers, game designer competitions, miniature painting contests and lessons, panels, Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator, roleplaying, flea market, game shows, and tournaments.

One of the events I’ve signed up for is the Family Feud game show Friday night hosted by Meeple Nation. They’ve always got some great game events in store.

 

See you there

I’m definitely looking forward to reconnecting with friends I only see once a year SaltCon. But I also look forward to making new friends each year as well.

If you’re going to be at SaltCon, I’d love to meet you!

I’ll be wearing my blue “The Board Game Family” t-shirt. So if you see me, stop and say “Hi”. And if the timing is right we may get in a game or two as well.

Hope to see you soon!