Next weekend is the annual winter edition of Comic Con in the Netherlands. Now, whether it is your first time attending or not, we have made a must-do list of activities you can not miss out on as a gamer. Walking around aimlessly, gawking at other visitors, trying to figure out what to do next? No sir, not if we can help it. Read the list so you too can hit the ground running!
Now, let us start off by stating that this is not our first winter edition of Comic Con. If you want to know more about what we did last year, look at some pictures here or read our interview with Sibel (mostly known for her role in from Game of Thrones) here. Ok, now that that’s out of the way we can start emparting knowledge about how to plan for this year’s winter edition of Comic Con.
Plan in some slack
During a hectic convention, it’s pretty easy to take a whole lot of breaks, to sit down, either to eat something or to try to figure out what the heck you are going to do next. Our tip is: plan in some slack (your breaks). Choose your moments to meet up with people, so you don’t end up setting aside your own awesome plans. These planned slacking moments are an excellent time for using the bathroom, eating food, taking selfies with cosplayers and live tweeting the event for your followers, friends or mother. For example, why not catch your breath and eat whilst watching the Cosplay Catwalk or the Cosplay Contest with your friends? Our advice is to plan a break every 1,5 to 2 hours.
Get your game on at Dutch Comic Con 2017
There is a lot of gaming related activities going on this year at the Dutch winter edition of Comic Con. We are talking live demos of new games that you can try out at the Gaming Arena, retro games, board games and casual and professional tournaments. Now don’t panick. First things first! If you want to compete in any of the Tournaments, go to this website right here. You might have to be at the venue at a specific time to participate. And don’t forget to read up on the rules for participating!
- Pro-Tournaments starts at 11.00 a.m on Saturday and continue on Sunday. You can win prices up to €500,-. Don’t forget to buy your ticket for the Pro Tournaments.
- Casual Tournaments start between 13.30 – 14.00 and 15.30 -16.00 on Saturday, and between 15.00 – 16.30 on Sunday.
Casual gamer paradise
If you don’t want to compete during the event, you can still drop by the Gaming Arena because it’s also possible for visitors to play games casually and try out some of the newer games. Or get together with friends and play some oldskool retro games to impress other people (Ahem, I’ll have you know that I rock at Duck Hunt).
Just a heads up: Casual Tournaments are at a set time, so don’t forget to write them down in your schedule. Of course you don’t have to compete to play the games. You can drop by the booth and play the games if nobody else is playing them.
So what’s On the Menu?
List of games you can play at Dutch Comic Con 2017:
- Rocket League
- Overwatch
- Super Smasch Bros. 4
- League of Legends
- Super Smach Bros Melee
- Splatoon 2 (The online qualification tournament has already taken place)
- Tekken 7
- Pokémon Ultra Sun
- Pokémon Ultra Moon
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Assassins Creed Origins
- Just Dance
- Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite
- Sonic Forces
- Wuppo
- Project Cars 2
- Halo Recruit
- Super Hot VR
- Skyworld
- Space Pirate Trainer
- Tom Clancy’s Chost Recon Wildlands
Play some addictive board games
An awesome moment for the earlier mentioned pre planned slack is during a board game with friends. This is when you get to sit down, rest, drink something and get immersed in a fun board game. Just make sure to keep an eye on the clock, because if you are anything like me you’d be tempted to blow everything off and just keep playing.
Meet up with your favorite actors
You might see them walking around. And you might not be able to hold back your inner fan girl (or fan boy) when you do. Yes, we are talking about celebs. Now, I for one could not give a rat’s ass about what the Kardashians have been up to lately. But when you tell me that there’s a chance that I can meet an actor or actress from my favorite game or series, my heart does a little flip. Lucky for us it is possible to book photobooth sessions so you can make sure you don’t miss out. The prices vary between € 20 to € 45. Down below you can find the list of celebrities that are attending the winter edition of Dutch Comic Con 2017:
- Lena Headey
- Sean Gunn
- Jared Gilmore
- Kevin McNally
- Keegan Connor Tracy
- Tom Hopper
- Spencer Wilding
- Carolina Ravassa
- Lotte Verbeek
Shop till you drop
Is there something you really want? Or are you the kind of person who likes to walk down the Dealer Hall or the Artist Alley and decide what you want to buy on the spot? It doesn’t matter what type of shopper you are. Just make sure to plan your shopping trips around your photobooth sessions, gaming tournaments and any other meet-ups you have planned with friends. If you like to know what to expect before starting to plan your next gaming merch haul, here’s a list of all the exhibitors at Dutch Comic Con 2017.
Let’s bring it all together
Now that you know what you can do at Comic Con this year, note down the things that you don’t want to miss out on on a piece of paper. Are they at a set time? You might realise that some things overlap, so unfortunately you might have to make some difficult decisions. For example, the tournaments all start and finish around the same time. Photobooth sessions with celebrities might also overlap. Figure out what you absolutely have to do this year, and see if you can plan other important activities around them. Once you have done this, your schedule is really starting to take shape. Go the extra mile and take a good look at the floor plan below to get to know the venue before hand. Only thing left to do now is to plan some well deserved time to stroll down the shopping areas.
Et voila, you now have the best convention schedule known to man. If we missed any important tips, or if you have your very own method of preparing for a convention, please let us know in the comments below.
