CON521: The Game Convention Game

In CON521: The Game Convention Game, players race to claim seats at 42 game events over the three days of the CON521 gaming convention. The events are represented by hexagonal tiles on a board showing the three levels of the Meepleton Convention Center, as well as four hotels where the players start each day.

Each player's limited stamina restricts the number of games they can attend, but stamina refreshes daily. Claiming a seat at an event requires at least two turns: one to move to that event hex, and one to claim the seat by spending stamina. There is only one open seat per day at each event. Each game event has a type, such as board game or cosplay, each with its own section of the board; within that area, the seven events of that type are distributed randomly for every game. Each game also has a theme, such as zombies or space wars, and one of each theme in each type are spread across the board.

Money is used to pay for hotel rooms and for cards in the exhibit hall. Players can also buy food at food stop locations, with food providing extra stamina. Money does not refresh, and the initial supply must last the entire convention. Exhibit hall cards give bonus actions or points, but the exhibit hall is only open for certain hours each day. The exhibit hall also contains one demo per game type. These events do not have themes. A time track advances one hour per round, from 8 a.m. to midnight, and then from Friday to Saturday to Sunday. Players win by accumulating the most "Nerd Cred", which comes from two main sources, scored at the game's end:

Event Types — The player who claims the most of each type of event scores that many points (0 to 8, including demos.) Two-way ties split the points. Ties of three or more players score no points.
Themes — All players receive Nerd Cred based on the number of events played in each theme (0 to 7), according to a progressive scale.

A few bonus points can come from exhibit hall cards or unused money. The game includes a scoring sheet for easy calculation.