GUTSHOT CORE RULE BOOK Rocks OwlCon XXIV
Feb. 10, 2005 -- Houston, Texas

HOT OFF THE PRESS -- Available after five years of playtesting and development, the GUTSHOT CORE RULE BOOK made its national debut at OwlCon XXIV in Houston, Texas. View our OWLCON PHOTO GALLERY >> (This will open in a new window)

The dust has settled on the 24th annual OwlCon and the Gutshot Posse is still catching its breath after a very successful weekend which featured the long-awaited national release of the company's flagship product, the Gutshot Core Rule Book. The gaming convention was held Feb. 4-6 at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Although it competed with both the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, this year’s convention had the second highest attendance on record with more than 450 people.

“I was thrilled at how well we were received by the OwlCon staff and attendees,” said Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell. “This is my fifth year to attend the con, but my first as a dealer. I really had no idea of what to expect in the way of sales, and I was very pleased with the results.”

Game co-creator Mike Murphy was on-hand to share in the product’s national debut. This was his first time attending OwlCon (he had previously lived in Las Vegas, Nevada), but is an old hand at attending other game cons and commented more than once on how well organized things were at Rice University.

“This is a really well-run convention,” he said at the Gutshot dealer table on Saturday. “I’ve been to a lot of cons where they didn’t know what they were doing, but these guys really know what they’re doing.”

Mitchell also said he was amazed at the energy level and enthusiasm people had for the two demo games he ran over the weekend. On Saturday, and again on Sunday, Mitchell ran a simple scenario called “Last Man Standing.” The game is a simple scenario where everyone fights everyone else to the death – the winner is the last one alive.

“I actually had people begging me to be let into both games,” Mitchell said. “I had 10 people play on Saturday and seven on Sunday, and the energy level at both games was very high.”

The energy level actually pulled in a lot of observers who wanted to see what the ruckus was.

“All through the game people would stop and stare at the excitement over at Mike’s game,” Murphy said. “Some of them would go over and watch, then come by the table to talk to me about it. They would ask me ‘Is it normal for people to shout and get so excited during a game?’ And I would tell them, ‘Oh yeah, it happens all the time. People really get into it and have a blast.’ ”

The high energy, the hard work, and the fun were all worth it, the partners said, but the long weekend took its toll.

“I think the days when I could game all night and still get up the next morning are long gone,” Mitchell said with a weary grin. “I had a great time, but I’m glad it’s over. Now we need to sit back, regroup, and work on the next step of getting Gutshot out into the stores.”

Both Mitchell and Murphy are working on longer convention reports, including news about prize winners and the game reports for the two demo games. In the meantime, check out this Photo Gallery of convention highlights.