What is a Gaming Con? What is AppleCon?

I’ve been fielding some questions and comments lately and it’s clear that there is a little confusion about how AppleCon works. If I may, I’d like to explain here to help out the locals in town, and new visitors understand what a Game con is and does (if they’ve not been to one before).

A game convention (of our sort) gathers together gamers (mostly tabletop variety) to play their games of choice in a fun atmosphere. We are a convention, so there is also access to special guests and members of the industry. Writers, artists, game designers, and others that work in the field.

So there are a few base purposes going on here.

To visit Cornish and Maine.
Playing games.
To connect with others in the industry.

Visiting Cornish

There are a LOT of new people to the state coming to AppleCon. It’s why I’ve really been trying to push for local businesses to advertise at the convention while our guests are at the Inn. These are people from out of town EAGER to experience Maine things. They’ll be looking for food, goods, entertainment while in town. They likely don’t know what or who is in Cornish at all.

The Games

We don’t provide games to play (ok outside of the board game library). Game Masters sign up, and submit games to host. That means the games that are offered, are brought and hosted by those coming to the convention. We are arranging some things like Adventurer’s League play, Magic the Gathering ETC… but what D&D games, Star Wars, or WWII Mini games are offered are completely up to attendees and GMs (Game Masters).

When registration opens, gamers sign up to get in on the games listed. Most have limited space. This guarantees you to have a seat at a table to play. Wandering in and buying a ticket last minute at the con holds no such promise.

The Connections

This year we are inviting:

Tim Kask (A legend in the Dungeons & Dragons world). Tim has a long history in editing, game design, magazine production, and more. He was present at the birth of D&D.

Diamond DeVille is coming. A local performer and cosplayer.

Jay Libby, an avid game designer and producer.

Noura Ibrahim, who is connected to Critical Role and other streaming Hollywood-like things.

So aspiring artists, adventure writers, actors, game designers, should bring their portfolios and questions. This could be an on-ramp into the industry.

The Inn will be bursting at the seams with folks eager to play games and explore Maine in the fall. There are opportunities for vendors inside and out around the Inn. W

e want EVERYONE to become part of the AppleCon family and enjoy this new event. bring your taste of Maine to the gamers with snacks, goods, or art

A game convention isn’t like going to the movies where you show up last minute for entertainment. It’s a living breathing entity that winds up all year long and the people who gather make it happen. Even hosting a game of Monopoly, or Settlers of Catan is something that can be fun and make new friends. So become a GM, get your badges early, remind local businesses to advertise.

Let’s show these visitors what it means to be welcome to Cornish Maine.