LFG Convention 2025: The Beginning of Something New

A new convention dedicated to gaming began it’s first year in Los Angeles and it landed in a weekend of turbulence. Cities across the US were holding No Kings protests to stand against the continued disturbance against human rights and democracy. Within the walls of a hotel in Burbank, it was a respite against the political chaos and heat wave bonus. Sometimes, one just needs to play a board game of battles and strife to re-orient themselves with the actual reality of battles and strife beyond the glass doors.

On a serious note, the convention organizers were not oblivious to the tense situation around the city. They were transparent with information in their social media and made it clear that the safety of the attendees was a high priority with the con and the hotel staff. It was clearly stated that this was a safe place for all.

THE CONVENTION:

LFG Con is a board game convention started by three LA-based game store owners. There is Dustin of BGE Tabletop in West Hills, George of Game N Grounds in Chatsworth, and Dae of Fire and Dice in Winnetka. The convention on all things game: board game, card game, dice, and even social interaction too.

The board game portion of the convention featured a massive room for open play. This open room would have various tables moderated by experience staff or volunteers to demo and play the game. For tables open to players, there would be bright florescent signs indicating if players would be needed. This was a low stress way to introduce new players to the game. Sometimes a board game setup can be so complicated that many players will give up before even playing the game itself. By removing the set up process, players would lured by the game itself and just enjoy the process.

Various tables of the board game set ups were spinkled around the convention, ready to lure new players. This is CRAFTING COSMOS (https://www.officedoggames.com/game/crafting-the-cosmos/)

Aside from the open gaming of established games, there was a section for players to test out the unknown with unpublished games. These games are usually in the final stages of development and are moderated by the game designers themselves.

For the card players and dice players, there were smaller rooms dedicated to these type of game players. One just had to walk through the corridor, past the swimming pool full of hotel guests. Next to these room was also a room dedicated to panels, giving attendees a break from gaming to enjoy various discussions related to gaming. There were also social gatherings, competitions, and an exhibit hall. All in all, a pretty solid event for attendees to experience.

Or would this game lure you in as you walk by? ILLITERATI (https://gapclosergames.com/collections/illiterati)

SUNDAY EXPERIENCE:
It was a typical hot day for Los Angeles, so spending the day at an air conditioned hotel was an absolute treat. The hotel offered a decent sized parking lot for attendees and there was a special validation price. For LA, this is a big boon, Parking can be a major make it or break it deal for attending an event.

A glimpse of the gorgeous game pieces of WYRMSPAN (https://stonemaiergames.com/games/wyrmspan/)

The con staff was friendly and welcoming upon entering the doors. After registration, it’s a straight path in the open gaming room and small exhibit hall. The exhibit hall was a pretty small section where one can walk through within fifteen minutes. It was still a good mix of game booths and Knick knacks for the casual gamer. It would definitely be a boon to see the exhibit hall expand to provide more activation activities and experiences.

The “artist alley” was a bit disappointing as it really only featured three tables in one of the hallways. One booth seemed to feature art related to games but the other two artists seemed a bit out of place. Maybe if they were provided a room and had more than three artists, this would have been less confusing and awkward to walk by.

There was a short schedule of panels on Sunday with the first one beginning at noon. The “Women in Gaming” panel was a broad discussion of women and their experiences in gaming. Just even having a panel featuring women is a clear sign that this convention is aimed in inclusivity. It was a discussion of shared experiences among female panelists and attendees of what they experienced in events and what has kept them away from attending stores. Since some of the attendees were board game store owners, hopefully the message rang loud and clear. Especially the one about having clean bathrooms.

The panelists behind “Women in Gaming” panel: Clariss Inks (@clarissainks), Cynthia (@cyneticflow), Fran (@lorcanafrannn), Monica (@lorcanaduo), Sarah (@corgiluffytcg)

The following panel was a very cute and fascinating panel of a new podcast series that has been decades in the making.. Victor Ciccarelli a.k.a Captain Victor T. Mayfair gave us a bard-like experience as he walked us through an overview of what his website, Mythos Anthology, is all about. Captain Victor T. Mayfair features “interviews” with various characters of lore. His website is treasure source of all things myths. For anyone looking to use mythology in their story-based gaming, this is a must check out resource.

After the panels, it was time to check out a game. Most of the board games featured in the convention can go on for hours. Since there was no rush to join in on Sunday traffic, it was off to open gaming. There were so many beautiful game layouts but one really halted my tracks. The game board was massive and it made me curious to know what it was. Plus the board game art just reminded me of “Aliens”.

NEMESIS:

It sort of was “Aliens”. The game was NEMESIS, science fiction horror survival semi-coop game. You and your team wake up on a spaceship and find that one of your crewmates is already a corpse. Something is on the ship made that kill (guess what that something is…). The main objective of the game is not to die. Simple but definitely not an easy objective. The ship must stay on course and must remain in stable condition in order to survive. Except that there are other beings on the ship rapidly spawning to kill you. And your teammates may not exactly be on your side.

It was a massive board with TONS of alien figurines. The figurines were so cool looking that it was somewhat ok to keep spawning them just to see them on the board. One of the hardest parts of the game was to remember to roll the die during each turn to see how much “noise” we would generate. Noise can attract the aliens to you. So be very, very quiet.

The absolute fun part of the game was using the special decoder code to see if you were “infected”. If a contaminated card landed in your deck, the card could “scanned”. If the word “infected” was clearly spelled out, then unfortunately you got an alien baby and would not be able to escape until it was removed.

There were lots of moving parts and portions to keep track of so it was a definite boon to have an experienced guide to walk us through the steps. It allowed for new players such as myself to just enjoy the game. Even when I left a constant trail of fire in all of the rooms that I explored.

By the time the game was over, it was the end of the convention. Just like that, a whole day at LFG Con was done in a blink.

For a first year, the convention produced a very sturdy event. The events were organized, clearly communicated, and ran smoothly. The environment was welcoming and relaxing. There was an area for competition. Aside from a few portions that needed more visibility, like the Social interaction events, it’s a great start for this convention. It’s a convention that is worth spending the money on a hotel room to freely stay and just enjoy gaming through out the day.

For more information on LFG con, please go to: https://www.lfg-con.com/

LFG Con Interview special: The sister team behind Fambam Games: