Gen Con

This year's sold-out Gen Con drew in more than 71,000 gamers to Indianapolis. The convention’s growth over the years has included a more diverse attendance. Organizers of the event have established several initiatives to make the convention, and tabletop gaming, more inclusive.

The Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis is making extra room for Gen Con fans, as uses for the space continue to evolve.

The four-day convention began on Thursday. It will include a variety of events including board and card games, roleplaying games, a costume contest, a film festival and more.

The convention is back at 100 percent capacity after being canceled in 2020 and then postponed and limited to 50 percent capacity last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After last year's in-person convention was canceled due to COVID-19, vendors hope pent-up demand from the past two years encourages purchases.

The in-person convention will be pushed to mid-September, running from Sept. 16-19, with a lower attendance cap.

On Tuesday, the tabletop game convention announced it was canceling the in-person event in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers expect another record-breaking year with more than 60,000 people buying Gen Con tickets. However, as the convention continues to grow, Gen Con President David Hoppe recognizes some are unable to make the main event.

This year's meeting, which ended Sunday, featured 538 exhibitors and 19,600 ticketed events.

Gamers from around the world will descend on downtown Indianapolis the first week of August to take part in Gen Con. The gaming convention offers everything they would expect, and a few things that they might not. WFYI's Jill Ditmire explains.