ChiTAG was a (crowded) blast of fun

Last Saturday my sons and I headed to Navy Pier for a blogger/media preview of the Chicago Toy & Game Fair, where we were inundated by nearly every sort of game (and toy) you could possibly imagine. Given that ChiTAG is billed as the nation's largest (and only) consumer-accessible show of its kind, that's not surprising. Still, it was—to put it mildly—overwhelming.

In theory, we hoped ChiTAG would include lots of exposure to different games and toys. In practice, this turned out to be mostly true: The boys kids marveled at the sheer scope of the event, competed against inventors playing games they'd designed, found dozens of things to add to their already large wish lists and were tuckered out enough that they actually asked to leave before noon. Added bonus: They were in bed early on a Saturday night.

Though I had fun, there were moments of confusion. I'm not sure why the Chicago Tribune was there selling subscriptions or why there were so many home improvement booths. For a minute I thought I'd accidentally wandered into a different expo that happened to be in the same space. There were also cars on display—ostensibly as a sponsor of the toy-car test-drives happening in the hall. I can understand, I think, why these non-toy vendors were allowed into the event (someone has to pay the bills, right?), but it felt out of place.

My kids didn't notice this anomaly, though; they were too busy playing games. My nine-year-old son spent most of his time at two booths: EXIM Games, whose xPirate Game combines iOS devices with a traditional board game (we'll be testing it out at home and get back to readers with our review) that adapts to a variety of gaming situations (odd numbers of players, different age ranges, etc.); and Eternal Revolution, where he enjoyed the company's Table Gype—a combination of chess and Chinese checkers that includes a 100% hand-crafted game set.

My 14-year-old son was able (no, insisted that he be allowed) to wander around by himself and said only two things: "I want that water-bullet gun," and "I need to learn how to play Settlers of Catan."

By noon, ChiTAG had long since been opened to the public and had become just too crowded to stay any longer. While we enjoyed our overall experience, it would have been nicer if the capacity had been monitored or limited in some way so it didn't feel like such a free-for-all in the end. Take-away: get there early and leave before the "we take toys way too seriously" crowd threatens to ruin your peaceful weekend.