It has been a week since we came back from Madrid, but as pre-event days are madness, post-event time is also full of work to do and asses to kick. Besides, it’s not easy to express what this weekend has been to us.
We will recap the event here, but we will also write another article about the tournament and the conferences.
The Punka crew left at friday midday, to be able to get to Madrid in time to set up our stall. As it is usually the case, we got some heavy rain which turned into a wide blue sky as soon as we crossed the Negrón tunnel (which is frontier between our region Asturias and the north of León). Nothing serious to say, as the trip went smoothly.
Climate change: Rest of Spain vs. Asturias
This year we were able to set up our stall from an early time, so we could get everything ready for the weekend as soon as we got to the place. As our cars were full to the roof, we couldn’t transport the miniatures in their blisters but in pieces in their own boxes, so Friday afternoon was mainly used in putting 3 of each reference in their blisters to be hanged in the exhibitor’s shelves. We really underestimated the bulk of sales we were facing next days.
Setting up the mats for the tournament.
Saturday was going to be our shiny day. The event opened its doors at 10 am and at 10:30 we had our first conferences and then the national tournament at 3 pm.
We knew it was going to be a stressing day, but it surpassed any prevision we had and there were times in which long queues were formed in front of it. Our partner Marcos was going to attend the conferences, along with Israel and Marco, but he had to stay in the stall with our intern Yoly to help her getting new blisters ready as fast as they were sold.
Under this conditions it was impossible for us to set up the demo table on Saturday, as not only we couldn’t spare a single hand to hold these demos and explain the game to the public, but it also there was no spare time event to set up the physical table.
We won’t talk much about the conferences, as we will write another article about them talking about what we showed and what came out of our fans’ minds to create a new beast and a character. But the idea of this brainstorming with our public was mainly to have a great time and big laughs, and that was successfully accomplished.
No empty seat in the conferences.
After the conferences, about 12 am, we were shocked to see the huge amount of public present in the event. Every single stall and table was full of people playing, buying or working. Maybe it was about this time when the place got to its full capacity and, due to safety reasons, the organizers prevented more people from entering and a lot of people had to wait outside for their turn.
Our stand was overrun by more people coming out from the conferences, who were only staying in Madrid for the day and it was the only moment they had to buy before the tournament started in the afternoon. We started to run out of stock in some references.
Crowded stall.
It was the time to start setting up, with the awesome help from the Madrid Punka’s playing community, the tournament tables. We can only thank them big time for all their help making this possible.
In spite of the size of the tournament and that we had never organized anything that big, everything ran smoothly. We must mention the high quality of the scenery brought by Scratch Attack. We will talk about this and the tournament in another specific article.
The impressive tournament table formed with the scenery from the scenery contest.
That same day was the cosplay contest, and we were delighted to see that some people had decided to turn themselves into some of our game creatures.
A Bobblehead and Slug mutard, best cosplays ever.
Sunday was a bit quieter, but we were not out of things to do either. We could at last set up the demo table and show the game to several people, talk with other companies, retailers, etc. to plan evil schemes for the future, and at lunch time we shared some time with the players from Madrid’s Punka gaming community.
The demos table at work.
Even so, Isra (who had brought his photo camera to make a decent report about the event) wasn’t able to walk around the stands until some of them were already closed.
Marcos attending an interview with Turno 4 and Oscar, from Euphoria.
We started packing everything up again in the afternoon, so we could get back home that same Sunday.
Getting back home at sunset.
Overview
Last Hispania Wargames we noted the game was beginning to take off and gaining more and more players, but this Freak Wars has been a turning point. You all know we are a small company working with that we have… for the first time, modesty apart, we have seen ourselves not only at the same level as other more powerful companies, but sometimes even above them. So the only thing we have to do is keep working with the same passion or more, and bring the Punka word even further.
But it was not only us, this event has also taken a great leap forward. So big that maybe next year the place will be too small to hold it. We have already started planning next year’s Freak Wars to make something even bigger.
Thanks
First of all we want to thank the Freak Wars organization and staff, who have been able to hold an A-grade event and were there to help with anything we needed. Thanks of course to the Punka gaming community, with people coming from Barcelona, Málaga, Valladolid, Valencia and even by plane from Mallorca. To all the companies which collaborated in the tournament: the 7th Grade Club, Anyma Juegos, Bigchild Creatives, Collateral Studio, Plast Craft Games, Surus Creations, Thunder Chrome, Valquiria Studio.
*As we didn’t have much time to take our own pictures, some of those included in the article are from fans or the event’s official photographer I Photo You.