I’ve been playing games with the Lovely G and our girls for the last eleven years or so. I can remember when I first researched what games to buy and discovered Carcasone. I asked my Mum to get it for the girls for Christmas and then got completely overwhelmed by the rules. The girls who were seven and four at the time had a fun time ‘playing’ the game anyway. They used to put the tiles together, place the meeples and tell stories.

A couple of years after that I scored the Australian wildlife game, Menagerie, in an op shop and it fast became a family favourite. Cute animals and set collecting are a prefect combination for primary school-aged kids!

Fast forward to now and I have a huge bookcase filled with games and many fond memories of family game nights spent collecting, placing, talking and arguing. There’s a lot less gaming going on at home these days as the girls are busy with friends and homework. Theses days I manage to squeeze in the odd game of Boggle or perhaps Splendour but that’s about it.

Until last weekend that it is when I finally made it to the PAX Australia games convention which is held each year here in Melbourne. I was hoping to go last year but at the time we were too busy moving house. Making up for lost time, I invested in a three day pass. No messing around here folks!

I have to admit that my initial experience wasn’t great. I managed to mess up on PT - missing trains, getting off at the wrong stops and running later and later. Of course when I finally got to the Melbourne Convention Centre, there was a huge queue out the front. Once inside I ran past the food trucks, photo displays and folks in cosplay, trying to find the panel for developing games. I was late and the panel was full. I was heartbroken. This was the one session I was most excited to see.

But you know what? It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had planned to spend my three days going from panel to panel. After my initial disappointment, I decided to play games all weekend instead. And it was brilliant!! I met so many great people and got to try a whole bunch of games I’ve never played before. As I said to someone I met, this is my idea of heaven!

Thee's something for everyone at PAX Australia with literally everything covered from role playing to miniature painting, pinball machines to video games, board games to war games, digital dodge ball to dance moves, panel discussions, and so much more!

Am I going again next year? Hell yes!