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GameHole Con 2015 in Madison
Ladies and gentlemen. It is time for the 3rd Gamehole Con! Taking place this weekend in Madison, WI, Gamehole Con is in it’s third year and has moved to a larger venue. It is located at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center. Here’s some info from their website that I’ve copied and pasted here:
Gamehole Con is the largest tabletop gaming convention in the upper Midwest.
Tabletop gamers from around the country gather each November in Madison, WI for this carnival of gaming. Gamehole Con is all about tabletop gaming and all the fun that goes with it. The convention features role-playing games, board games, fantasy and historical miniature gaming, and collectible card games. Gamehole Con is for the fantasy and adventure tabletop gaming enthusiast. Gamehole Con features the best guests in the industry, an unbelievable Dealer Hall and of course, lots and lots of gaming! If you are a tabletop gaming fan, do not miss Gamehole Con!
What is a Gamehole?
I’ll leave it to the Gamehole Con team to explain. Visit this link or read their explanation:
Now, you may find yourself asking, “What is a Gamehole?” or saying to yourself, “Ew. A Gamehole sounds yucky.” Well ladies and gentlemen; a Gamehole is simply a hole for gaming. It is a nod to the author that single-handedly created the genre of modern fantasy literature and thereby fantasy gaming – J.R.R. Tolkien.
As Tolkien so beautifully wrote at the very start of the transcendent Hobbit: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
A Gamehole is a hole for gaming. Instead of Hobbits, it is filled with gamers, gaming, food, fellowship and fun. More specifically, the Gamehole is a longstanding group of Madison area gamers. We have been getting together for years playing our favorite games. We love virtually all tabletop games.
Why I’m Attending
I will be attending as a Game Master (GM). This year I have the great privilege to be running demos of my game, Scoville. I have seven demo sessions between Friday and Saturday. I’m really looking forward to meeting some great gamers and introducing them to Scoville.
If you are attending, come find my table and introduce yourself! It would be great to meet a bunch of you.
What does Gamehole Con Offer?
Gamehole Con offers an exhibitor hall with booths of game companies selling their games, fantasy RPG companies selling their wares, and more geeky goodness. The con also has a large gaming area with many GMs running games. Games are available the entire weekend! You can see what’s available on this listing.
The Con also has another embedded con called Crafter Con. This is hosted by The Game Crafter, print-on-demand service for gamers and game designers. They are a local business who have a great product. If you are a game designer, stop by the Crafter Con stuff and enjoy a good time.
There is also a great lineup of guests and artists being featured at Gamehole Con.
Overall it will be a great weekend of gaming and I recommend you stop by and check it out!
Brewery Spotlight: Karben4
Try the Silk Scorpion or the Undercover for some barley awesomeness!
If you live in the Madison, WI area and you like beer and food you should probably go check out the newest brewery in town: Karben4!
Located where the Ale Asylum used to be, on Kinsman Boulevard near the airport, they have six brews available to compliment their delicious menu items.
They don’t have a full website up yet, but you can visit the domain and learn the hours: karben4.com. Or you can learn a lot more on their Facebook page: facebook.com/Karben4. Or you can follow them on Twitter: @Karben4. And they’ve been in the local online news outfits as well. Here’s a sampling:
- Beer Baron takes over former Ale Asylum (77Square)
- New Brew at Karben4 (Madison Magazine)
- Beer Here: Silk Scorpion Black IPA from Karben4 Brewing (Isthmus Daily Page)
When I visited I tried the Undercover Session Ale and the Lady Luck Irish Red. I thought both were very enjoyable. But my favorite was the Nightcall, which is a smoked Porter. I had only previously had one smoked beer and that was a very smoky brew. The Nightcall, however, had a much more enjoyable level of smoke flavor, which was present but not overwhelming. So I sampled and enjoyed three of their six beers!
But perhaps the highlight of our evening at Karben4 was the summer sausage sandwich. I would try to explain the amount of awesomeness this sandwich brings to the table but I’ll share a picture from Karben4’s Facebook page instead. Don’t drool too much! (Disclaimer: I did not personally eat any of the sandwich, but I have a really good sense of smell and this smelled of awesomeness. My friends both thoroughly enjoyed it!)
Even if you don’t like beer, you should visit for this sandwich! (So says my level 1 friends)
So when you’re looking for something to do head over to Karben4, grab some grub and a brew, and have a great time! And don’t forget to take home a growler full of brewing delight!
Boards and Barley 