Hobby World Birthday — Impressions

After my trip to the "Role Player" convention, which was organized with the participation of Hobby World, I decided to also attend the Birthday of this publishing house. Especially since entry to the celebration of Hobby World's 24th anniversary was not only free but also included gifts.

To receive a gift, you simply had to register on the website (well, that is easy for those who have stable mobile internet; others had to look for a local access point, but more on that below), after which the visitor received a bracelet and a gift of their choice — a miniature from the game "Berserk," an art book for the game "Berserk," a special card for one of the card games (Spycon, Industry, and several variations of Munchkin), and a rare issue of "World of Fantasy." However, all the offered issues (there were six or seven options to choose from) were completely ordinary, and three to five years old. Of course, there were interesting articles in them (I took the magazine as a gift), but I wouldn't call them rare.

In addition to the gift at the entrance, all visitors were invited to participate in a "Quest." You had to visit several gaming zones and complete tasks in them. In most cases, you had to post your photo on social media with a hashtag, but in some places you also had to participate in activities. At the venue near the entrance, they were playing a tabletop "Carcassonne," while at the Hobby Games store there was a competition for assembling and painting models and miniatures.

Here, it is worth noting that Hobby World celebrated its Birthday with flair. Several gaming zones were marked for guests, where they could play a variety of [board games](/games?search=настольные игры), all for free and under the guidance of a representative from the company who knew all the rules. Additionally, there was a relaxation area with bean bags (though many were also playing tabletop games there). All of this was located in the "Basmanny Courtyard" complex, which included a courtyard between Baumanskaya Street and Spartakovskaya Square, as well as a two-story loft.

However, not everything was located in the Basmanny Courtyard. The model painting competition (and painting models outside the competition, which was part of the quest), as well as the tabletop role-playing game zone, were located in the neighboring courtyard-alley, in one of the Moscow Hobby Games stores. In this store, they even arranged a separate Wi-Fi distribution point, so you could easily get online and post your photos or register for activities.

Also, internet access was useful for checking how a painted model should look if you wanted to make it colors according to the canon. And for complete beginners (like me), there were a couple of specialists on site who explained how and with what to paint to achieve a certain effect.

Yes, I participated in the painting competition. Of course, I didn't win a prize, but, like all participants, I was allowed to take home a sample of my work (a figurine from the "Reborn Eternal" army).

Two winners of the painting competition!

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the session on tabletop role-playing games — most of the spots had been reserved in advance, and the rest were taken by a few earlier arrivals. But I did complete all the other points of the "main quest."

The reward for completing all activities on the quest card was standing in line spinning a wheel with random prizes. You could win cards, stickers, the same magazines and figurines that were given out for registration, as well as a coupon for visiting the "game library" of Hobby World, allowing you to play board games all day under the guidance of an experienced master. I got a set for playing "Dungeons."

It is obvious that Hobby World decided to organize the celebration partly to attract people to board games. And this is definitely a successful idea — allowing people to play their products not only for free but also with a specially trained person who can explain all the nuances of each (or almost every) game and advise what to choose if you have no experience.

And where would we be without cosplay?

I think that those who came to Hobby World's Birthday with friends got even more pleasure from the games than solo players like me. Also, someone could have made acquaintances over a game of "Crusaders" or "Gzhel."

This was the celebration that took place on July 6 at the "Basmanny Courtyard." And next year, Hobby World should celebrate its 25th anniversary. I believe that such a date will undoubtedly encourage the company to organize an even more grand and interesting event.