Cameron, Ashley, Steve and Derek manning the booth.
The Outrider Studios team had a great time at their first ever Origins Game Fair. Although there were a few minor problems (“The exhibitor floor opens on Wednesday, right?”), we consider our premiere convention experience a success.
Sales of Edge and Remnants exceeded our expectations. Remnants was especially popular with younger gamers who were looking for an “indie game” feel, while Edge sold well to traditional role-players who were looking for something fresh and light on rules. Sales and booth traffic were slow on Thursday, but picked up significantly by Saturday as our confidence and sales pitch improved. It was an excellent hands-on opportunity to learn about how the convention scene works, and a crash-course in booth management.
Columbus is a beautiful city, and we were blown away by the friendly atmosphere. The staff at the Hyatt was exceptional and welcomed the gamer crowd with good humour. The food in Columbus was also outstanding – special thanks goes to Michael O’Toole’s restaurant on Nationwide Boulevard for serving the best cheeseburgers we’ve ever tasted.
Ultimately, though, it was the opportunity to learn from other gamers and designers that made our experience at Origins so special. We met a lot of great people, including the team from Evil Hat Productions, who are responsible for the Origin Award winning Dresden Files RPG, and many of our personal game-design heroes such as Andrew Peregrine and Luke Crane. The warm welcome, advice and guidance from the community was overwhelming and we appreciate each and every person who spoke to us and visited the booth.
We hope to have an equally great time at GenCon in August, and we’re looking forward to returning to Origins next year.