Dragon Con, one of the largest gaming conventions in the nation, will roll out a basement full of games, from the latest and most popular video games to rarely seen board games, along with discussions with the game designers responsible for the games people love to play.
Now in its 35th year, Dragon Con, the internationally famous pop culture, science fiction, fantasy, and gaming convention, runs from Thursday, Sept. 2 to Monday, Sept. 6 with events and activities across five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Sheraton Atlanta – and AmericasMart Buildings One and Two.
Taking up more than 140,000 square feet in AmericasMart Building One and the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, gaming at Dragon Con will feature the full array of gaming including PC and console games, board games, miniatures gaming, role-playing games, collectable card games, and even LARP games.
In addition, there will be panel discussions and other programming with game designers to help gamers understand the finer points of creating and playing the games they love and voice actors to get to know the people behind well-known video game characters. Popular parties, such as the Heroes & Villains Ball and the 8-Bit Bash, offer gamers and other fans a chance to take a break from the tables.
“Hardcore gamers and casual fans alike will get the chance to play their favorite games and discover some new favorites this year,” convention co-chair David Cody said. “We’ve worked hard to provide the best possible gaming experience while also taking the steps we needed to protect the health of our fans.”
This year’s convention will be a little smaller than in past years, with a variety of changes across the convention to reduce crowding and create opportunities for pandemic-related sanitation. While the gaming footprint will remain the same, there will be some changes. A complete list of the changes and health & safety related protocols can be found here: https://www.dragoncon.org/updates/
Gaming opens at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2, and stays open through 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 6. Gaming in AmericasMart will close from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. each day for cleaning and other reasons. To keep the dice rolling 24 hours a day, tabletop gaming – miniatures, card games, pen & paper games, campaign RPGs, and board games – will move to the Westin’s Savannah Ballroom for those six hours.
Meanwhile, renovations in AmericasMart means that gaming will now be split between the 2nd and 3rd floors in Building One, rather than consolidated on a single floor.
Influential game designer Steve Jackson, Start Playing Games co-founder Devon Chulick, and voice actors from Overwatch, Mass Effect, and other popular video games lead an all-star roster of gaming guests at this year’s convention, where they will meet with fans and lead panel discussions.
In addition, Joystick Game Bar will hold an American arcade experience with tons of favorite – and free to play for Dragon Con members – cabinet games at 161 Peachtree Center Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30303, from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. each day. A $10 cover is required for non-members.
Jackson, creator of both role-playing game GURPS and the mega-popular card game Munchkins, will discuss the finer points of his games as well as game design generally with fans at a number of panel discussion. He will also lead, with Mayfair Games founder Bill Fawcett, a two-day hands-on workshop on designing games.
In addition to leading panel discussions, Chulick, whose website, Start Playing Games, is the highest grossing pay-for-play table top gaming site on the internet, will run a live-streamed game of Dungeons & Dragons on YouTube. Other live-streamed role-playing games include another game of D&D led by the podcasters from Dungeons & Randomness, which will run on YouTube, while fans of horror games can tune into The Horror Experiment Live on YouTube and Twitch for live-streamed horror games.
About Dragon Con
Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 2 -Sept. 6, 2021) in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,500 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
