CO.CON 2023

For one day, the Pilsen cultural and creative zone DEPO2015 was engulfed by the world of science fiction and fantasy. On January 28, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the second year of the CO.CON festival took place here, which provided fans of these genres with an environment full of board and PC games, Cosplay, WarGames, arcade games, retro games and racing simulators, virtual reality, robots, comic book heroes, sales stands, interesting guests and, above all, great experiences. There was also Pokémon or the Czech Repubrick exhibition, which presented a giant construction of Hogwarts Castle made of a million LEGO® bricks, a playroom with DUPLO® bricks for the little ones and a construction workshop for older children. Those interested could also visit an escape game or try augmented reality.

CO. CON is the largest event of its kind in the west and therefore really took over the entire areaDEPO2015. The large-capacity bus hall has been transformed into a giant game room. Visitors could try out both the current PC games, so immerse yourself in history and "steam" on the old onesarcade machines whosePinball. They weren't missing eithergaming console andtop racing simulators. The program was enriched with lectures by experts from the field of computer games such asPavel Dobrovský (magazine editorLevel),Viktor Bočan, Radim Jurda whoseJan Chlupa. Modern technologies were not neglected either. It was visible on several surfacesvirtual reality and visitors could also try using their mobile phoneaugmented reality. The big attraction was the performanceBoston Dynamics SPOTy's robotic dog, which is a pet of PilsenSITPort. He made a robotics companySPOTym legendaryR2D2 thatStar Wars.

For visitors who prefer classic games to computer games, Tržnice has prepared a large onearea with board games. They could playplates andcard games from big companies likeAlbi orblack fire, but also from smaller independent studios, e.g.Maty Moves or Pilsen communitiesKaven. In addition, they could try very special boardsWARGAMES taking place on several large tables full of environment models, and even painting your game figure to go with them. The program did not neglect the hugely popularPokemons. This Japanese phenomenon had its own stand at the festivalPokéMaster with an offerdecks of cards,by selecting merch andpossibility to play.

Families with children were thrilled by the game exhibition of models from LEGO® Czech Republic bricks in the Klempirna premises. She introduced visitors to the worldHarry Potter, where, among other things, they found a giant structureHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is the largest building fromLEGO® bricks in the world created by one person. It took almost two years to build it and it swallowed around a million bricks. In the play area, older children had fun in the construction workshop, and for those younger than 18 months there is a playroom withwith DUPLO® cubes,mazes and pools with piles of LEGO® bricks. Those interested could also visit the new onethe family escape game Mystery of the Pilsen Metro.

WithinCosplay subcultures, visitors could meet characters in elaborate costumes throughout the day. They could encounter heroes from Star Wars representedCzech Garrison 501st Legion andThe Rebel Legion Lion Basev, characters from lord of the rings presented by the groupLotterversealso on other popular heroes and villains from the world of comics, science fiction and fantasy. Some visitors also arrived at the festival in costumes.

The program was also enriched by examples of student game creations fromSUTNARKS with the introduction of a new follow-up master's field. In the gallery spaces, visitors could then go through the exhibitionsComic pel-grinding studio Media illustration FDU LS and Abstract character design important Pilsen graffiti and comic creatorsObras and Akrobada. The artistic theme also resonated in the cafe, where it took place in the afternoonillustrator battle among the comic creators from the groupDRAWetc.

The sales part of the festival offeredmarketplace, where visitors bought everything fromcomic books over computer and board games aftercollectibles.

Pro návštěvníky, kteří dávají přednost klasickým hrám před těmi počítačovými, byl v Tržnici připraven velký prostor s deskovými hrami. Zahrát si mohli deskovky a karetní hry od velkých společností jako Albi nebo Black fire, ale i od menších nezávislých studií např. Maty Moves nebo plzeňské komunity Kavenu. Navíc si mohli vyzkoušet velmi speciální deskovky WARGAMES odehrávající se na několika velkých stolech plných modelů prostředí, a dokonce si k nim namalovat svoji herní figurku. Program neopomenul ani obrovsky populární Pokémony. Na festivalu měl tento japonský fenomén vlastní stánek PokéMaster s nabídkou balíčků karet, výběrem merche i možností si zahrát.

Rodiny s dětmi nadchla herní výstava modelů z kostek LEGO® Czech Repubrick v prostorách Klempírny. Ta zavedla návštěvníky do světa Harryho Pottera, kde mimo jiné našli obří stavbu školy čar a kouzel v Bradavicích, která je největší stavbou z kostek LEGO® na světě vytvořená jedním člověkem. Na její stavbě se pracovalo téměř dva roky a spolkla okolo milionu kostiček. V herní části se starší děti zabavily ve stavitelské dílně a na ty menší od 18 měsíců čeká herna s kostkami DUPLO®, bludišti a bazény s hromadami kostek LEGO®. Zájemci mohli navštívit také novou rodinnou únikovou hru Záhada plzeňského metra.

V rámci Cosplay subkultury mohli návštěvníci v areálu po celý den potkávat postavy v do detailu vypracovaných kostýmech. Narazit mohli na hrdiny ze Star Wars zastoupené Czech Garrison 501st Legion a The Rebel Legion Lion Basev, postavy z Pána prstenů v podání skupiny Lotrverse i na další populární klaďase a záporáky ze světa komiksů, sci-fi a fantasy. V kostýmech dorazili na festival také někteří návštěvníci.

Program obohatily také ukázky studentské herní tvorby ze SUTNARKY s představením nového navazujícího magisterského oboru. V galerijních prostorech si pak návštěvníci mohli projít výstavy Komiksové pel-melení ateliéru Mediální ilustrace FDU LS a Abstract character design významných plzeňských graffity a komiksových tvůrců Obrase a Akrobada. Výtvarné téma rezonovalo také na kavárně, kde v odpoledních hodinách proběhl ilustrátorský battle mezi komiksovými tvůrci ze skupiny DRAWetc.

Prodejní část festivalu nabídla tržiště, kde návštěvníci nakoupili vše od komiksových knih přes počítačové i deskové hry až po sběratelské předměty.