Gencon Memories, Part II

Cardhalla. That was the name of the thing. Just some random thing that con staff had come up with.

It was pretty much a roped off area, five foot by ten or so. And there were stacks upon stacks of old collectible card game cards lying around, donations from people who didn't want them, factory excess stock, or games long dead and of no use to anyone.

The instructions were simple. Come in and build. And build the Gencon attendees DID. They folded, stacked, and crimped cards, making towers and castles and buildings and dragons and all sorts of structures, from cards that would never see play.

They called it Cardhalla.

And it had a further purpose, than just being awesome.

On Saturday night, we came with change in our pockets. The rules here were simple.

You threw change, and knocked down the towers, and at the end of it all coins inside the area went to charity.

And as fascinating and awesome as it had been to see those towers rise, it was satisfying as hell to pitch quarters or handfuls of dimes and blow them away, watch them crumble under the bombardment.

Cardhalla's still around today. It's about four times the original size. And the crowd on ending night is usually big enough that I don't attend anymore. But oh, it's still a sight, and one any first-time Gencon goer should experience in its entirety.

It's rare that you get an event that satisfies both creators and destroyers. Cardhalla manages.