I’ve always heard that GenCon was big in terms of attendees and space, but I didn’t think it was much bigger than some of the other Indiana conventions that I’ve been to such as Indiana Comic Convention and PopCon. But I vastly underestimated it when I attended in person today.

GenCon is expected to hit record number of attendees this year. In 2019 (the year before the COVID pandemic), the convention logged 70,000 attendees. Last year they reached 50,000, and they are expected to announce how many people attended after the conclusion of the convention.

In terms of the space they use, it’s definitely the biggest I’ve ever attended. Most conventions in Indianapolis will use the Indianapolis Convention Center, which is approximately over 937,000 square feet, taking up an entire city block. Whereas most conventions only rent out most of the space in the convention center, GenCon rents out the entire building. Not only that, but they also use and host events at Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts), which is connected to the convention center, as well as three hotels that have a number of large banquet halls for gameplay. You will definitely do a lot of walking, and there’s a lot that you can do!

Plan Ahead!

This may seem a little bit obvious but I cannot stress how important it is for you to plan well in advance for this convention. Now be prepared – it’s going to be overwhelming when you do this.

For starters, when you attend the convention, you’ll need a badge that will serve as your admission entry to the convention itself. Inside the convention are a myriad and large number of events that you can attend. The majority of these events will require tickets in order for you to attend – this is different than your badge. This allows you to be able to attend a demo, gameplay, gaming tournaments, panels, programs, etc. and they’re sold at a variety of different prices. Many of them are affordable whereas some cost more.

One of the best pieces of advice I received is for your first year to walk through and just take it in and don’t worry about tickets. While I would say the same thing to you, I would add to try to book one event per day. This way you get a sense of how the ticketing system works, you’re not trying to cram too much in, and more than likely there’s at least one event that will sound interesting to you that you want to check out.

Pro Tip: If there’s an event that is sold out, try checking during the convention itself. This year when I found out that Darrington Press was hosting some playthrough events, they were already sold out. But luckily today, I checked the event tickets on GenCon website and I was able to snag two of their events!

You’ll also need to be prepared to walk A TON. I’d recommend prepping to do daily mile walks just to build up your endurance and strength for it. If you are parking at the convention, try to use a website or app (I used SpotHero) to reserve your parking space for the duration of the event ahead of time for a reasonable price. I paid $73 for a 4-day parking garage spot that’s about a 10-minute walk from the convention center. If you wait closer to the event, there will be fewer spots available, and the ones that are will end up costing more.

The Displays Are AMAZING!