Tom Franklin
Over the June 5-6 weekend, QuestCon 2026 took place just outside of Raleigh, NC, about four miles from my house. Honestly, I didn’t realize there were that many board gamers in my area. I knew statistically there must be some, but enough to put on a game-playing convention? Nah.
I’ve been playing board games with the same group of friends for over 15 years. As a result, I haven’t looked elsewhere to find if there were other gamers in the area for a long time. Years ago, I checked out MeetUp, but going to a stranger’s house to play a game that might interest me (or at least didn’t involve dice) didn’t feel worth the time.
Turns out, over the years, that MeetUp group has been building. Meeting two Friday evenings a month, they claim to be the largest board game MeetUp group in North Carolina. They’ve been running a weekend gaming convention for the past few years that I had never heard of. Meeple Mountain’s founder, editor-in-chief, and all-around nice guy, Andy Matthews, sent me a message from Nashville, telling me about a convention right in my metaphorical backyard.
When I arrived, I met my new Meeple Mountain colleague, Jennifer Derrick, which was a great way to start the afternoon.
I signed up to do a learn & play of Stefan Feld’s Druids of Edora hosted by Board Game Beat’s own W. Eric Martin to give my afternoon some structure.
My friend and colleague here at Meeple Mountain, David McMillan, wrote in his review of Druids of Edora:
“My first playthrough of the game left me feeling angry and frustrated, feelings one rarely associates with great games.”
David’s feelings stemmed from a lack of clarity in the rules; my frustration came from the gears of the game not turning together in my head until last few moves. In fact, playing Druids of Edora reminded me a lot of my first time playing Agricola years ago: I was focused on just staying alive, feeling bewildered at how the other players (two of whom were new to the game as well) were cruising along, accumulating endgame points.
After the game was over, I griped about what I perceived to be an opening disadvantage due to rolling high numbers on the movement dice. (Dice. Bah, humbug!) Having played the game several times, Eric walked me through a possible opening series of moves I could have made to turn those high rolls into an advantage. This left me curious to play the game again.
QuestCon By the Numbers
By the numbers, QuestCon had 175 participants on Friday and 220 on Saturday. They gave away about 220 games between door prizes and play-to-win sessions. Pretty impressive for a small-town convention.
QuestCon is run as a charity fundraiser, with a different charity being chosen each year. This year, the organizers (Hi, Jason!) raised over $6,000 for Isaiah 117 House, a national organization for children who have been removed from their homes for their safety. Instead of waiting in impersonal welfare offices for hours or days on their own, they’re given a welcoming, home-like environment with clean clothes, meals, toys, and emotional support. There are two such Isaiah 117 homes in North Carolina, one in the next county over from ours.
The MeetUp group and QuestCon share a Discord server, which I made use of to gather more information on the convention, both for my own playing time there and for this article. While I’m not giving up my regular gaming group, I’ll attend a few of the Friday night MeetUps to see if I can find a place in the group.
And yes, I’ll be back next year.
Jennifer Derrick
Like Tom, I had no idea that there was a board game convention in my backyard. I know the sponsoring group holds monthly game nights, but despite my best efforts, I have yet to make it to one. I did not know that they also hold a convention every summer and figured that attending would be a good way to learn about the group and maybe get a feeling for what the regular game nights are like.
Now, get ready to have your mind blown. This was my first ever convention of any kind! Yep, despite writing about board games since 2014, I’ve never yet made it to any convention. Not Gen Con, not Essen Spiel, and not any of the others we so often hear about.
So, how was my first experience?
It had ups and downs. One of the major ups was that I got to meet Tom Franklin. When I signed on to Meeple Mountain and learned that a contributor lived in my town, I couldn’t believe the coincidence. It was nice to meet him in person. Another positive was that Tom introduced me to W. Eric Martin. I was surprised that he also lives nearby. I had no idea that my hometown had become a board game hotspot.
We played a few filler games together before parting ways. (I’m definitely ordering a copy of Mega Jackpot!) Tom had signed up for one of the Play and Learn sessions. I didn’t sign up for anything, partly because nothing on offer really spoke to me, and partly because I figured wandering aimlessly might be a solid strategy.
In hindsight, I should have signed up for something, even if it wasn’t a perfect match for me. That would have given me a built-in group to play with, and maybe made things less awkward. As it was, my introversion and imposter syndrome got the better of me. I was reluctant to approach anyone and ask to play. This wasn’t the kind of convention that had vendors or other things to look at, so it was pretty much play or go home.
After slinking around the hall by myself for a while like a weirdo, I ended up by the game library. While staring at the shelves, wondering what I was doing there, one of the hosts approached and asked if I’d like to play something. I thank this person for taking pity on me!
We played Azul, which I had played before. I lost, but I didn’t care. After that, my savior gathered a larger group together and taught us Wandering Towers. This was great because it’s a game I’ve heard so much about but never had a chance to play. As it plays best with more players and I’m usually just playing with two, it isn’t something I’ve sought out. Our group had a blast. I lost, but again didn’t care.
After that, it was time to go home. I left feeling pretty good about life. The people I met were all very nice, and my fears about approaching people were probably unfounded. If I’d had more time, I might have screwed up my courage and asked to play something. Next time I’ll be braver.
But what really struck me at the end of the day was, again, how little credit I’ve given my area for being into board games. Sure, we have some stores and even a board game cafe or two, but I never really thought that the hobby had penetrated that deeply here. But there were a lot of people at Quest and I saw so many games I’ve never even heard of. Clearly, it’s a bigger deal here than I realized. (This is what happens when you game with the same people for years and years and take it for granted. You don’t seek out new opportunities, and things like this sneak up on you.)
Having seen how nice the hosts were, I’m excited to get to some of their regular game nights. I’m definitely prioritizing it and making it part of my journey to get back into gaming. Most striking to me was the shift in mindset I felt afterwards. I was reminded that the joy of the hobby is playing. Sometimes, in reviewing and writing about games, it’s easy to forget that this is a hobby I chose because I love to play. Seeing so many people having fun and just playing for the sake of playing was refreshing and something I’m going to try to hold onto, even when QuestCon is long in my rearview mirror.
