Attending PAX Unplugged was such an energizing joy this year. I worked the IGDN booth to do setup, teardown, and sales. I had such a good time meeting everyone that came by to see what we had available, and now I have a lot of follow-up emails to write! Sales were really solid, our Tarot for Transformation zines were a top seller! We sold out of most of the stock we brought. In Good Company and The Optimist’s Guide to Tarot, both sold out completely. And we came quite close with The Old Ways Must Go. Plus, Conversational Shrapnel was a hit each time I passed out cards.
What I played
- A sneak preview of the physical version of the Atomic-Robo Cooperative Card Game, which I’ve been helping playtest online.
- At Unpub: Cosmic Soup, which an old friend of mine is working on. It’s a two-player light strategic lane battler where you draft/build an old cosmic god and try to defeat others.
- At Unpub: Period Party, an absolutely phenomenal cooperative trick-taking card game. You work together to each throw your own party before Mother Nature throws her own. It uses dynamic strategies and changing contexts to change-up the cooperative strategies each round.
- A playtest of our own game Kung-Fu Kittens, to try out some little adjustments to make one of the rounds run a little bit more smoothly and consistently with the rest of the game.
Little things I learned and realized…
A walking commute to the convention center is really nice, especially when there’s good coffee in between the destination and my hotel. I was actually too close, and ended up without good morning coffee on multiple days which was a sadness.
The lack of sleep this year means I need a new eye mask. I’ve gotten very used to sleeping in a near blacked-out room, and my roommates’ decisions(?) not to close the blackout curtains was probably a contributing factor to some nights lack of sleep.
Even though I was working, it’s really nice to be on a messaging thread with friends. Though there’s a little bit of missing out, it also makes everything happening around you a little more real.
PAX Unplugged returns, December 4-6, 2026. See you there.