The 2024 GaryCon marks the 16th annual gathering of geeks to celebrate the life and works of Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons & Dragons. This year, it sold out despite extensions to the ticket cap. With a sold-out event of over 2,500 attendees, one must consider whether it is worth the hassle to not only secure a ticket but to travel to the obscure location of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Let’s look at the pros and cons to help you decide whether GaryCon is your next ride-or-die convention.
What’s the Point?
Why does GaryCon exist? Simply put, it exists because people asked for it, and then showed up when it happened. The long version includes Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Luke Gygax seeing the outpouring of support after his father’s death, and inviting a bunch of nerds up to spend the day together. People made the trek, got together, and watched the D&D cartoon and the episode of Futurama in which Gygax makes a guest appearance. Those wonderful people wanted to repeat the experience in future years, so GaryCon was born.
What Does One Do?
As with any convention, there are many of the usual things to draw attendees in: panels, speakers, celebrity guests, merchant halls, autograph tables, and even cosplay contests. But beyond that, there are thousands of events over the course of a few days. Events include specific games to play, from board games to RPGs, tournaments to compete against other teams, forums and discussions, meet-and-greets, and more.
If you like Dungeons & Dragons, there are games to sign up for. And not just a few. Dozens upon dozens of games were scheduled on each day, including tables (or ballrooms of tables) set up for older editions of D&D. I was able to spend some time observing former GeekDad writer John Booth and his team as they played an original D&D tournament game. This year, there was also a tournament game for Descent Into Tsojcanth, which was also played at PAX East, and features a modified version of the upcoming Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth adventure from Quests of the Infinite Staircase.
In addition to the RPG tables, players can find dedicated events for murder mysteries, wargames, card games, board games, and countless other games people are inclined to bring, teach, and/or play with others. The best part is that events are scheduled through Tabletop.Events, which allows the host to specify whether any given game event is a learning event, a competitive event, or a casual event for players who already know how to play. Perhaps my favorite feature, though, is that if all the games you’re interested in playing are full, you can create your own event to host the game yourself. Once you put in the request, the team will do their best to find you a table, create an event, and allow others to sign up. And those who lead events or DM games get perks from the con for making the event better.
Who Goes to GaryCon?
At one panel for Dungeon Masters, Chris Perkins asked how many attendees were players in their usual game. A few people raised their hands. When he asked how many were the dungeon master or storyteller for their game, almost every hand went up. He mused on this, saying that it is a unique feature of GaryCon that it tends to draw more dungeon masters than players, whereas the reverse tends to be true in other conventions. That isn’t to say that the event is for dungeon masters, only that it tends to draw them more than players.
That said, there was a healthy attendance of young people, a laundry list of celebrities, and a number of senior team members from Wizards of the Coast. Vendors/merchants also made up a pretty sum of people, including hand-made goods vendors, game stores/retailers, and everything in between. Cosplayers from many genres were in attendance and were able to compete for prizes. In the end, there were all kinds of people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, and interests.
Notable celebrity attendees included Vince Vaughn, The Big Show, Joe Manganiello, Ed Greenwood, Erol Otus, and Keith Baker. There are dozens more, but these are the ones I spotted personally.
Who Makes GaryCon Happen?
In a nutshell: volunteers. Luke Gygax started GaryCon because people wanted it to happen. But the convention itself isn’t owned by a huge company. It is funded by ticket sales, and the showrunners who put work in all year long are enthusiastic volunteers rather than employees. When I thanked Luke for putting everything together, he humbly—and emphatically—requested that the gratitude and credit be forwarded to the countless volunteers who make the event happen.
What’s the Biggest Reason to Attend GaryCon?
After attending GaryCon and speaking with folks who have been attending for years, it became quickly clear what the draw for the event actually was: community. The people who care enough to fly to Chicago or Milwaukee and then drive an hour or so to the event are not your typical drop-in con attendees. It takes planning and forethought to organize lodging, food, transportation, and all the little pieces that make it possible to attend. So the people who show up tend to be more engaged and more inclined to connect with others. It’s a perfect punchbowl of passion, enthusiasm, and open-heartedness.
Bonus points for the location, though. Hosting the event in Lake Geneva meant I was able to participate in a tour of the town, see the TSR locations, and visit many other notable landmarks that helped shape the whole of geekdom. It was with some reverence and joy that I visited the home Gary Gygax wrote the first rules for D&D, and saw the small museums and shrines that exist around town to commemorate the birth of D&D and the life of Gary Gygax.
What’s the Biggest Reason to Avoid GaryCon?
The only reason I see for anyone to avoid GaryCon or to mark it off of your list of 2025 candidates is the sheer inconvenience (and resulting costs) of attending. Bus tours and historic locations aside, it is a right pain in the butt to get to the location. Once there, hotels aren’t always nearby. The Grand Geneva is a hotel and a venue, but it’s expensive. They own another hotel nearby, which also fills up quickly. My hotel was 30 minutes away, and the hotel didn’t provide a shuttle for guests going to GaryCon. The cost of flying to a nearby location, renting a car or taking a shuttle, having a hotel for the duration, and the tickets themselves are notable. Add to it the amount of time needed to travel to the town (and then to the location if you don’t get on-site lodging), and the cost of inconvenience can easily tip the scales in the direction of choosing another event.
TL;DR
GaryCon is a volunteer-driven convention to celebrate Gary Gygax’s legacy of a “life well played.” It’s hosted in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. If you’re looking for lots of chances to play games, build community, and learn from others, this is a great convention for you. If you aren’t prepared for difficult travel and lodging being a real possibility, it might be better to pass. Either way, I’m glad to see the Gygax family taking the opportunity to continue building the community Gary helped bring to life.
To learn more about the announcements Wizards of the Coast made at GaryCon XVI, check out this post.
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