The Long Island Tabletop Gaming Expo is a one-stop shop to learn and buy board games of all kinds. The March 7 and 8 event brought thousands of tabletop hobbyists and local vendors to the Cradle of Aviation in Uniondale in an eclectic mashup of interests and attractions
“We’ve got stuff from all across the industry: card games, role playing games, board games, miniature games, and we’ve got panels and classes on them,” said Event Coordinator Jesse Harchack. “(For) pretty much anything on the tabletop hobby, you can find something here.”
While conventions attract many hardcore fans, the expo focuses on approachability to welcome newcomers.
“We always put a focus on walk-ups, people completely fresh to the hobby,” Harchack said. “I think people want more engagement in their hobbies and their life right now… you see people playing with people who are complete strangers. They just met, and they’re having a good time playing games. I think people really just like the social aspect of it.”
For the past four years, the expo has been bringing together friends and families for game tournaments and panels of industry experts, exhibits of board games throughout history, and sessions helping new game designers test out their designs.
Johnathan Sammis attended the expo for the first time this year at the suggestion of his friends.
“I’m big into Magic: The Gathering,” he said. “This is actually neat because there’s a whole bunch of vendors from all over the island. This is one of the conventions where there’s a handful of them all in the same building. It’s really nice being able to see what other people have to trade, to buy, to sell, and just a little bit of everything.”
Vendor stations and game tables filled the museum, taking space between various aeronautical exhibits, featuring everything from global franchises like Warhammer 40,000 to games made by local and independent creators.
On the second floor of the building, attendees were able to borrow board games and play them for free.
The convention’s vendors offered instructed play for many games, such as Battletech: Alphastrike and Halo: Flashpoint, two combat board games using plastic miniatures, hosted by Brothers’ Grimm Games from Selden.
“We’re running a bunch of demos this year,” said BGG staff member Sarah Becker. “We run them every year. They’re free to play, they have so many options… we’re serving our patrons and hopefully making some friends along the way.”
Darlene Hartman attended the event with members of her hobby group.
“We’re looking for some things for our Dungeons and Dragons tables: some dice, some terrain, some new miniatures,” she said. “We like just playing the game. Later on, we’re playing a few of the role-playing games here just to feel them out.”
Jason Bullara of the Tabletop Society in Bethpage welcomed Hartman and her crew, introducing them to his custom-made game tools.
“We pull some an array of 30 printed accessories and other jewelry and dice trays and Dungeons and Dragons accessories and gaming accessories,” he said. “People get excited over this, so we get excited too.”
While the expo offers a new space for hobbyists’ interests to flourish, one group sought to share the fun with people in need.
Chris Rodriguez, co-founder and executive director of the Queens based nonprofit Board Games for the Better, held a fundraiser for their special programs with a sixty-prize giveaway.
“We’re a nonprofit organization that donates board games to children and families across the country,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for about a little over four years; we’ve donated over 9,000 games, and we have a game date program where we’ve done about 200 hours of game time with kids in schools, shelters, domestic violence shelters and libraries.”
The nonprofit developed and began distributing their own nautical-themed board game, Bluffing for Booty, at the event, prioritizing their goals to make gaming accessible and enjoyable for all people.
“We designed a game that we think is playable by anybody and everybody. We’ve played this with four-year-olds and played this with 103-year-olds.”
To learn more about future events, visit LITableTop.com.
