Twisted Lords Gaming Con, post-show

Oklahoma is a strange place. I know that sounds bad. That's not my intention.

I've worked the convention circuit promoting Tortured Earth since the summer of 2014. In that time, I've traveled largely through the southeastern US, cycling among the coastal states. Convention attendees and vendors alike easily identify the culture of the convention and adapt accordingly. Typically, the spending habits are predicted based on the interest of the convention, the makeup of the community, etc.

This simply doesn't exist in Oklahoma City. For nine hours on the return and each night at the hotel, we debated what the focus of the group could be, what items they would most likely be interested in, specialty items we could use to draw customers to our booth, etc. We just couldn't figure it out.

The people are incredibly friendly, the attendees are very generous in their purchases when they do purchase, the organizers are super friendly and accomodating to both vendors and attendees. As far as picking items for next year's crowd. Still have no clue.

The convention was originally organized as a Bolt Action convention, organized to develop an interest in that game system. A couple of other smaller cons fused with it to create a tabletop event with a strong emphasis on historical battles. With the fusion of other groups, the convention culture is either still being refined or has yet to consolidate. After speaking with the organizer, they definitely wish to expand to include more tabletop games, board games, and roleplaying games. 

The convention pulled a little over 200 people, but the average purchase was $80. We still fell from the profit line by $200 but are willing to return to the convention again next year. This is largely due to the organizers' willingness to discuss changes and modifications to the convention concept to include a more diverse group of attendees.

Of course, I have no real way of knowing who is reading this article, but I ask the reader to consider this con a potential stop. Game developers should always consider the smaller convention a staple of their convention circuit. Small cons offer the benefit of contact with attendees and other game developers.

We managed to make contact with two miniature casters, three fellow game developers, and a potential sculptor through this convention. This is in addition to running game demos and getting feedback on our growing product line. 

For any game developers out there, I'd like to do an all-call. A personal rally cry has been collaboration and presenting ourselves as a group. Any mid-America game developers looking for a show or attendees looking to try new developments, please open discussions for using this show as a potential meeting hall and forum for game development discussions.

Thanks for reading!

K. B. Kidder

If you are checking out this blog for the first time, you may access our website by clicking here: Tortured Earth.

Character Species released for review: Allorn, Dwarf, Elf, Eoceph, and Goblin.

Combat Creatures released for review: Braunach, Faeda, Fetid Hound, Minotaur, and Wolf.

The 2.0 version of Tortured Earth are now available on Amazon through the following links:

Tortured Earth Core Rule Book 

Tortured Earth Supplemental: The Unofficial Account of Gavin Harris

Tortured Earth Supplemental: The Travel Journal of Mica Greer 

Other booth photos:

The predator skull was raffled and won by Anthony Radford.

We've started diversifying our game supply stock. Trees for miniature terrains and textures are now available at our booth.

Of course, we still sell rings and necklaces, flags and sunglasses.