Lock and Load 2012 is officially behind us, but man what a Lock and Load it was! As I’m sure many of my fellow staffers will attest in coming blogs (or already have depending on when Lyle decides to post this entry from yours truly) this year’s Lock and Load was an absolutely amazing event. There was just so much to do and see from WARMACHINE and HORDES gaming, to fantastic seminars by our talented staff, to some really fun surprises including the pre-release of Heap (games of which took place all over the con, from the floor of the line to the store to any table that wasn’t being occupied by WARMACHINE and HORDES miniatures) and the surprise that I was most looking forward to announcing, an exclusive first hands on look at a prototype version of the first game in our newest setting LEVEL 7, LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE].

LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] introduces a whole exciting new line of games we will be exploring under the LEVEL 7 setting, and boy what an introduction it is. LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] is at its core a tile exploration game, but it takes this well known genre of games and really turns it on its head.

There is a common trend among pop culture and specifically movies where the Joe Everyman is put into extraordinary situations and suddenly develops what I can only explain as miraculous superpowers. I don’t know about you, but as entertaining as this trope is to watch, I highly doubt that your average NYPD officer is going to be able to take down a group of highly trained international criminals who decided to crash his wife’s company’s Christmas party.

Unlike most games of its kind, LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] is not about laying waste to your enemies as you battle your way to freedom or to grab the treasure and kill the monster. It is about a desperate race for survival against impossible odds featuring you. And to me this is what makes LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] a game I want to play over and over. LEVEL 7 [ESCAPE] forces you to make difficult decisions at every turn, and while you can engage enemies in combat, such action is almost always a last resort.

Of course given my excitement for this game, I jumped at the chance to demo the game to some brave Lock and Load attendees and even when I wasn’t running demos I made sure to stop by and watch every chance I got. There are few experiences better than seeing the same excitement spark in someone’s eyes that you have for a game as they take their first steps into it. It was a blast to watch how different groups reacted to the challenges they faced in the game and I absolutely can’t wait to show the game to everyone who is brave enough to take on the horrors that lurk within the sinister world of LEVEL 7.

As a close let me say thank you to everyone who attended Lock and Load 2012, and to my fellow staffers and our fantastic crew of P.G. volunteers who worked their butts off to make this year’s con a smashing success. I look forward to seeing you all and even more of our fantastic community at Lock and Load 2013! While it’s too early to talk about all the great things we have in store, I promise that you won’t want to miss it!