You get to enjoy the look of surprise or dismay on your opponents' faces when you play a BANG! card on someone who ran out of 'MISSED!' cards. You can drink in the noise of the room or the anticipated silences that ensue when someone rolls a seven in Settlers of Catan. It's just that board games are one of those activities that just work so much better in the presence of other people. Sure, you can play just about any board, card or role-playing game on your computer and with special mods through virtual gatherings on Tabletopia or Tabletop Simulator. This year, the convention returned for a massive five-day schedule of demos, shows, panels and tournaments at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas for just about every game that comes in some kind of cardboard box or commemorative metal tin.

The annual tabletop game gathering launched by Scott Aldin's, the IMDB for board games, became one of the biggest conventions for the medium until the pandemic put a stop to in-person anything for a good two years. Another sign that things are starting to return to normal, or whatever counts as normal these days, is the non-virtual return of Board Game Geek Con.

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