'Itzacon' or 'ItzaconEire' as it is sometimes known, is Galway's annual Gaming convention. It has reached its Sixth year and shows no sign of slowing down. Itzacon VI was held on the weekend of the 19th - 21st February 2010. General rejoicing was had by all who attended and much hilarity ensued.
There were murmurings of a gaming convention for Galway as far back as 1998 but these never materialised.
Itzacon was the brainchild of Anita Murray, FanSci's then Auditor and the convention's founding director. Itzacon I [1] was brought forth to much cheering and a lot of happy and soon exhausted gamers in March 2005.
Itzacon II continued this trend for 2006, that time with added Pirates. Itzacon III was claimed to have had a Prisoner theme, but when asked, it denied it had a theme, it refused to be themed or filed or any of that kind of thing. Itzacon IV had a Victorian feel to it, but a gentleman never comments on these things. Itzacon V revolted against the previous regimes while still adhering to their remit of great games and fun for all. Itzacon VI seemed to embrace an Art Deco feel, or so they claim. Onwards and upwards!
Itzacon III saw the inauguration of the National Game Writer Award. For too long writers have slaved over creating games only to see players have fun for three or more hours and win a prize. Writers deserve recognition for the work they do and Itzacon seeks to reward this. Who will be next year's winner? Only time will tell. Rules for admission will be posted on the Itzacon VII [2] website. Itzacon is also one of the only conventions to run at least one RPG per convention through Irish, usually scheduled as "Eachtraí Gaeilge".
- Itzacon VII will be taking place on the weekend of the 11th - 13th of March, 2011 in the Bailey Allen Hall, NUI, Galway.
