The Mental Attic

It’s that time of year again isn’t it? It’s Rezzed time, baby!

For those of you who don’t know Rezzed is a yearly gaming event, the little brother to the massive EGX—formerly Euro-Gamer Expo—with a greater focus on independent developers and titles. It starts today and will run until Saturday at the Tobacco Docks in London.

I went to my first Rezzed last year and had a blast. I played awesome games, met interesting developers, had long chats with people who are now friends of mine and even beat Timlah from GeekOut South-West into submission at Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter.

It was my first event but colleagues, acquaintances and friends of mine have gone to several and in the past few years they’ve written a few guides for the newcomers to the event, to give you the Dos and Don’ts. But I’ll be nice to you and give you a full list of what you should be aware of:

• Keep hydrated. You’re going to be walking and standing a lot and in the middle of a throng of people. It’s gonna get hot and you’ll need the liquids.
• Hygiene: If you’re planning to talk to people, make sure you smell right, so breath-mints are necessary. Also, make sure to slather that deodorant on you with a paintbrush, even more so if you’re a journalist.
• Pacing: This is especially important for the journalists visiting. Your first instinct is to book appointments with every developer that sent you an email. Don’t. I tried it and it’s a nightmare. You don’t give yourself enough time to talk and enjoy the games and end up way too tired excessively fast. Because of this, I had to reschedule an interview slot with a BAFTA-winning developer, a professional and social faux-pas that they graciously let slide and for which I’ll be forever grateful. Don’t let this happen.

   As Kim from 1001Up once said: “Make sure you cover the things you definitely want to see and anything else is a bonus.”

• Respect: Not only to the developers and other people there, but also and sometimes most importantly to the Cosplayers. These guys put on amazing costumes but sometimes don’t even get a minimum of respect. People touch, prod, poke and treat them like weirdos. If you want a photo, talk to them and get a photo. It’s not only polite, but you’ll also get them excited enough to strike a pose!

But the most important one, at least for me: have fun. You’re in a place with new games by talented developers, independent and AAA alike. Enjoy it all, feel the atmosphere, go to the stalls and see what’s for sale. Talk to developers as gamers, connect with them on a personal level and if you meet friends, colleagues, hell, even if you meet your nemesis, the one with the curly moustache, make sure you say hi and have a laugh together.

Rezzed is one of a kind, and it’s brilliant so make sure you enjoy every second of it.

I’ll be there for the entire event, if you are one of the very few people on the planet who recognise me, come say hi, I won’t bite…too hard. I’m always up for a chat and most importantly, I’m always there for a laugh.

Enjoy Rezzed! Next week will be all about the event: the games, the devs, the best and worst!