Latest news with #GenCon
Geek Dad
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Find Fame in ‘FlipToons'
Everyone wants to be the next big breakout cartoon—assemble the best cast of characters and find fame! What Is FlipToons ? FlipToons is a deck-building game for 1 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, and takes about 15–30 minutes to play. It retails for $19.95 and will be released at Gen Con 2025, with pre-orders open now that will deliver in August. The game is a mix of deck-building and auto-battler (more on that below), and is pretty easy to learn, so the game is family-friendly but isn't just for kids. FlipToons was designed by Jordy Adan and Renato Simões and published by Thunderworks Games, with illustrations by Diego Sá. FlipToons components. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu FlipToons Components FlipToons is entirely cards: 24 Starting cards ( 6 per player) 4 Fame cards 4 Reference cards First Player card Critic's Choice card 53 Toon cards 5 Price cards Big Button mini-expansion: 4 Big Button cards 2 Axolotl cards A sampling of the toon cards. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu The bulk of the cards in the game are toon cards, done in the old rubber-hose style and depicting various animals. Each card has a rank and indicates how many are in the deck. Below that is a fame amount, and often some additional card effects. For the most part, the card effects are pretty easy to understand, but there is a section in the rulebook that provides further details about specific animal abilities. The fame cards are a simple double-sided chart, two columns per side, numbered 1 to 40. The player reference card has a turn order on one side and an icon glossary on the other, but also includes an arrow at the top of the card—you use it with the fame card to indicate your current fame each round. Other cards are pretty self-explanatory: price cards just have a big number on them from 3 to 15 indicating the price of a card in the market, and there's also a first player marker and a Critic's Choice card that shows a '+3' on it. If you order FlipToons from Thunderworks Games, you'll also get the Big Button mini-expansion—I'll explain how that works at the end of the 'How to Play' section. The whole thing comes in a box with a small footprint, just big enough to hold two decks of cards side-by-side, with a little extra room in case you sleeve cards or they come out with several more mini-expansions. I usually associate deck-building games with big boxes and hundreds of cards, so it's always fun to see something like this that's very compact. How to Play Fliptoons You can download a copy of the rulebook here. The Goal The goal of the game is to score the most fame in the Final Flip, which happens after any player reaches at least 30 fame. The card market, where you can hire more toons for your show. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Setup Lay out the price cards in order. Shuffle the toon cards and reveal five cards below the price cards for the market—arrange them from lowest to highest rank so the lowest rank card costs 3 and the highest rank card costs 15. Set the Critic's Choice card nearby. Give each player a set of 6 starting cards, as well as a fame card and a reference card. The player who most recently watched a cartoon takes the first player card. Gameplay Each round has four phases: Flip, Check Fame, Market, and Cleanup. My first flip of the game, I earned 5 fame. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Flip : The flip phase is done simultaneously by everyone. Shuffle all of your cards, and then play them out face-up in a grid: two rows of three cards each. Some cards have abilities that are triggered immediately when played, though none of the starting cards do. These could result in more than 6 cards being played. Once you complete the grid, you stop flipping cards even if you have cards left over. If you run out of cards before you fill your grid, you just stop. During this phase of the game, you don't make any choices—you just play the cards in the order they come up. Check Fame : Everyone checks fame simultaneously. Add up all of the fame shown on all of your face-up cards. Some card abilities will let you stack cards—all face-up cards count, even if they have other cards stacked on them. Mark your fame using your reference card and the fame card. If anyone generated at least 30 fame, the player with the most fame this round takes the Critic's Choice card, and the next round will be the Final Flip. Market : In turn order, each player gets two market actions, which can be used to hire or dismiss toons. To hire a toon, pay the fame cost shown above that card in the market. To dismiss a toon from your grid, pay 5 fame and then place it in your own personal 'dismissed' cards pile. (You may only dismiss face-up cards in your grid; cards that have been turned face-down or that are still in your deck cannot be dismissed.) Note that unspent fame does not carry over to the next turn, so use it or lose it! After both of your market actions, refill the market if needed, making sure to arrange all the toons by rank order. Cleanup : Collect all the cards in your grid and add them to your deck, and reshuffle your entire deck. (In a 2-player game, you also discard the leftmost and rightmost cards in the market and refill.) If nobody reached 30 fame this round, pass the first player card clockwise and start a new round. Got a little closer this time—20 fame! Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Game End When a player has achieved at least 30 fame, the next round will be the Final Flip. The Critic's Choice card, which is given to the player who had the highest fame during the round, is worth +3 fame in the Final Flip. The player who earns the most fame during the Final Flip wins! In case of a tie, tied players collect all their cards and flip again. Continue until there is a winner! The Big Button card, front and back. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu Big Button Expansion If you order FlipToons from Thunderworks Games, you'll get the Big Button expansion included for free. During setup, give each player a Big Button card, and shuffle the 2 Axolotl cards into the toon deck. Once during the game, you may push your Big Button (flipping it over to the broken side) to redo your flip phase. Shuffle your grid back into your deck and flip again. The Axolotl is a Rank 26 card (the highest so far) worth 7 fame; when you hire it, you may immediately reset your Big Button if it has already been used. FlipToons is GeekDad Approved! Why You Should Play FlipToons FlipToons hasn't been released yet, but since I got an early copy back at the end of April, I've already played it over a dozen times. It's a quick, snappy game that takes a popular game mechanic—deck-building—and combines it with one that may not be as well-known: auto battler. Auto battlers are games in which you make some decisions about how things are set up, but then there's a portion of the game that just plays out on its own. Challengers! is another example of a favorite game that uses a similar mechanic—you add cards to your team, but when it comes time to play a match against another player, you both just play out your cards in order. There are 25 different animals represented in the toon deck, and I like the variety of powers, which can make for some cool combos. There are a couple that will flip other cards face-down, nullifying them, but they usually provide a lot of fame themselves. The Rabbit can stack on top of face-down cards (and each other), giving you several cards' worth of fame in a single grid slot, and the Bull gets an extra 7 fame if there are face-down cards. The Cat and the Tiger both get fame boosts based on how many cards you've dismissed—these can be particularly good with the Alligator and Snake, which will both dismiss cards randomly from your deck or grid. It can be a bit chaotic and unpredictable, but if you get that going early enough, those felines can be quite formidable. Several animals provide extra fame based on their positioning, so you're hoping they turn up in the right place: the top row, the bottom row, the middle column, or next to particular animals. A possible but improbable grid that scores a whopping 53 fame. Photo: Jonathan H. Liu As an example of how cards can combo in ridiculous ways, I set up the above photo with a whole lot of combos. We start with the Elephant, which flips the previous card face-down—but since it was the first card, it provides 7 fame with no downside. Next is the Monkey—if it's in the top row, it moves up and creates its own row, leaving its original space open. Then comes the Turkey, which stacks on top of the previously played card so it's also in that extra upper row. Then the Dragonfly, a starting card that can still be valuable because it awards fame based on unique adjacent cards. The Ostrich is next—only 1 fame, but the next card played stacks on it. That would be the Bull, which gives extra fame if you have any face-down cards. In the bottom row, the first card is the Eagle, which flips the next card face-down. Then come two Rabbits—they stack up on the face-down card—the Dragonfly is now worth 6 fame! Finally, there's a Bear, which gives extra fame for every face-up card in the grid. Of course, it's unlikely that you'd be able to get this exact build in your deck, and even if you did, the cards have to come out in just the right order, but you can get a sense of how different cards can synergize. The cards are always arranged by rank in the market, so that the weakest card is cheapest and the most powerful card is the most expensive—but that does mean the specific price of any given card is not set. If you're lucky, the market is full of high-ranked cards, and you could get a rank 20 Turkey for only 3 fame. If you're unlucky, you might end up being unable to afford even a Rank 8 Camel because it has been bumped up to the higher prices. Dismissing a toon always costs 5 fame, so that's always an option if there isn't anything in the market that you want. And as with many other deck-building games, it also matters what you get rid of. If you hire a bunch of cards but don't dismiss anything, then your fame levels can vary wildly from round to round, particularly if you're only drawing a small portion of your total deck. And, of course, your starting cards are typically weaker and won't provide as much fame or powerful effects compared to cards you can hire from the market. I know that a lot of game publishers have made changes to their 2025 lineup due to the tariffs, with many of them looking for smaller, often card-based games that are cheaper to print and ship, so expect to see a lot more small games hitting the shelves this fall and winter. FlipToons is definitely smaller than most of Thunderworks Games' titles, but it has been a big hit with my gaming groups and I've had a lot of fun introducing it to folks. I think it can be both a nice introduction to deck-building for folks who are new to that, as well as a refreshing twist on the genre for experienced players. FlipToons is on the simpler side: you make decisions about what goes into your deck, but you don't have any control over the order that they'll come out. Flipping out your grid of cards feels a bit like pulling the lever on a jackpot, and hitting that perfect combo is a thrill! Visit the Thunderworks Games website to pre-order a copy of FlipToons ! Click here to see all our tabletop game reviews. To subscribe to GeekDad's tabletop gaming coverage, please copy this link and add it to your RSS reader. Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Forbes
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
New Pathfinder And Starfinder Books Pave The Way To Gen Con
Treasure Vault is one of four books ready to expand your Pathfinder and Starfinder adventures It's shaping up to be a big summer for tabletop games publisher Paizo with two big releases slated for Gen Con. The long awaited mass battle rules for Pathfinder Second Edition Remastered will be at the show. The new edition of Starfinder, which premiered as a playtest last year, will arrive in its final form as well. There's no rest for the wicked goblins at Paizo. There are books that have come out that expand options for players and Game Masters. Here are some highlights within these recent releases with thanks to the company for providing review copies for this article. Pathfinder Second Edition Remastered Lost Omens: Rival Academies The popularity of fantasy stories like Harry Potter have made wizarding schools a popular choice as a campaign setup. It makes sense to follow first level spellcasters as freshman through their graduation and beyond. Schools are chock full of potential allies and rivals that can cause drama in between dungeon runs. Lost Omens: Rival Academies provides six schools for playes to use along with the personalities that make each school unique. They have different focuses and philosophies that get into the intrigues of wizards for any game. There's even a runelord archetype for players who want to dip their toes into the dark side of villainous magic users that have been around since the beginning of the game. I really enjoyed the Convocation section which brings together the schools for a sort of convention and competition. There's a lot of politics and intrigue to explore here. It shows that Pathfinder doesn't have to be dungeon crawls all the time. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Pathfinder Second Edition Remastered NPC Core One of the joys of classic fantasy games is flipping through the monster book for inspiration. Sometimes it's to beef up an encounter while other times a neat monster with a clever ability can inspire a new story on its own. But what about obstacles of a less fire breathing nature? The NPC Core book focuses on humanoid adversaries from goblin raiders to infernal bureaucrats. Each entry comes with a full write up plus lore, setting information and special rules to challenge players above and beyond their usual battle tactics. These NPCs are perfect for city and town encounters. I'm glad Paizo decided to split this off into a separate book. Mundane adversaries like these often get a quick mention in the back because monsters are naturally more interested. Here, normal people the players encounter get a little more focus to help them connect with players and make story hooks more engaging. Pathfinder Second Edition Remastered Treasure Vault As Pathfinder Second Edition books go out of print, Paizo is taking the opportunity to bring them fully in line with their remaster project. Guns & Gears was the first of these books that updated some of the steampunk elements of the game. The inventor and gunslinger classes were refitted to make sure they interacted with everything else propeller. The most recent expansion to get this treatment is Treasure Vault. This book contains a dragon's hoard worth of magical items from the tiniest consumable to legendary relics. Players love getting new toys to play with and these are the newest. There are crafting rules in here that go into a little more depth for players that want to build their own epic sword than buy one from the local blacksmith. I really enjoyed the narrative questing rules for crafts and the advice on how to turn a magic item into something the players earn. There are some great examples that pair well with iconic monsters to slay. Starfinder Galaxy Guide Starfinder Second Edition officially released next month. But, thanks to the playtest, most fans have a good idea of what's coming in the core books. The last book on our list offers a bridge between the two eras of the game. The first official Starfinder Second Edition hardcover release is Galaxy Guide. For old fans, it catches up what's been going on in the setting with solid summaries of story points like the Drift Crisis and the Newborn. That also makes this a great jumping on point for new fans, too. The book contains six ancestries, which are my favorite thing in Starfinder. While I'm glad the new edition can easily port over ones from Pathfinder, the ones here embrace a fun sci-fi feel right out of Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm definitely going to make a character with the giant floating brain aliens called speculatives out of this book.
Indianapolis Star
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Some international visitors drop out of Gen Con. Does it signal problems for Indy conventions?
Maz Hamilton, who has flown to Indianapolis from their home in England to attend Gen Con each year since 2019, was preparing for their largest Gen Con yet later this summer. Hamilton, who co-founded Rowan, Rook and Decard, a role-play game studio and designer, planned a slate of events and had reserved a larger booth space than before. But Hamilton, who lives near London and uses they/them pronouns, won't be making the trip across the Atlantic to Indianapolis after all. In early May, Rowan, Rook and Decard, made the decision to not send their British employees to Gen Con, Indianapolis' largest annual convention that draws more than 70,000 people each August and is known as "the best four days in gaming." "Crossing the border into the U.S. simply isn't safe for us at the moment, and it doesn't appear to be getting safer," the company wrote in a letter posted online May 6 on their website. A handful of other exhibitors also won't be attending Gen Con, the largest convention for role-playing gaming, over concerns of immigration policy in the United States. Other Indianapolis trade shows and the city's tourism arm are cautiously monitoring potential safety concerns for foreign tourists as well as sentiment among international attendees. Local tourist officials say they are monitoring visitor counts, as large groups canceling travel plans could hurt the city's economy. While Gen Con attendees might not notice these absences among the crowd of more than 71,000 at the conference, the no-shows reflect concerns behind the scenes of Indianapolis' booming events industry, a billion-dollar economic generator for the city. Visitors like Hamilton are suddenly grappling with tough decisions on whether to travel to the United States as some foreign visitors face detention or deportation for even minor infractions or visa revocations. "The risk of our team getting detained while we are trying to run the biggest convention of the year is more than we can bear," Hamilton said. Hamilton knows of at least four other European companies opting to not travel to Gen Con or scaling back operations there. A Gen Con spokesperson said "a few" exhibitors canceled their scheduled booths at the convention. And several regular attendees are sharing their hesitancy about traveling to the United States and to Indianapolis on social media. Even though Rowan, Rook and Decard reached a deal to have some of their American friends staff a booth with their products, missing out on Gen Con still stings. "I love Gen Con and it's not Gen Con's fault," Hamilton said. "I'm really sad and really angry about having to make this call." One way international tourists legally register to work at conventions is through the ESTA visa, which allows foreigners from more than 40 countries to stay in the United States for 90 days or less for business purposes as long as they are not working in a permanent job. For the past several years, Hamilton attended Gen Con on an ESTA visa, but recent detentions at the border have left them wondering if traveling on a visa of any kind is safe. Hamilton said they were spooked by reports of a British comic book artist being detained in the U.S. for more than two weeks after allegedly violating an ESTA visa. "The risk is relatively low we think but there are still a few risk factors for us as an organization and as individuals," Hamilton said. 2025 tourism: A look at the biggest events coming to Indianapolis in 2025 A few international exhibitors and press correspondents canceled planned visits to the 2025 Gen Con convention, said Gen Con spokesperson Stacia Kirby. She declined to go into detail on why companies exited Gen Con this year or how many dropped out but said some companies did say they were "concerned about the environment" in the United States. Still, Gen Con is far from hurting. Vendor passes are already sold out, and one and four-day badges are on track to sell out, Kirby said. When an exhibitor drops out, Gen Con is quick to fill booths with names off a lengthy waitlist. More than 24,000 events are scheduled over the four-day extravaganza, far surpassing offerings in previous years. "The experience people will have at Gen Con should look and feel like in the past," Kirby said. "If people drop out, we have tons of other people that would love to exhibit at Gen Con." A few months later in December, up to 45,000 people are scheduled to descend upon Indianapolis for the Performance Racing Industry show, the premier destination for those in the motorsports industry. About 9 to 12% of them will come from overseas, said PRI President Michael Good. The trade show draws in large groups from Europe, Australia and Qatar — all regions with strong interests in motorsports. Good said many of the attendees also traveled to the Circle City for the Indianapolis 500 last month, so he is not too worried about a drop in convention traffic, but the organization will actively monitor the political climate until December. "Regardless of what's going on in the political climate, we are going to continue to be reactive to that change," Good said. A Visit Indy executive vice president said that trade show organizers are largely responsible for communicating travel guidance, but the tourism agency is keeping an eye on developments that could affect Indianapolis tourism numbers. 'We are constantly monitoring the horizon for any potential issues that might impact driving tourism to Indy,' Chris Gahl, Visit Indy executive vice president, said in a statement to IndyStar. 'Over the last few months, we've tracked a handful of tradeshows with large international audiences investing additional time in communicating best practices in traveling and the benefits of attending.' In mid-June, the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference — the largest and longest-running international hospitality technology event — offered an invitation letter for international attendees to request visas for the event. Convention center expansion: Once new Signia hotel opens, Indianapolis could host larger conventions or two at once Organizers of various trade shows are also cautiously watching the economy, as tariffs continue to complicate business operations for companies who manufacture products abroad and sell in the United States. Fallout over American trade policies could cloud Gen Con as products become more expensive to produce and sell since many products are not made in the United States, the largest country for sale of English-language games, Hamilton said. The industry has already felt the early impacts of American tariff policies, as several global tabletop game makers have halted new games or shut down entirely. "Tariffs are designed to prevent businesses like ours from operating in the U.S.," Hamilton said. Tariffs could impact business operations in the international racing industry, Good said, but registration for the trade show indicates positive momentum. As of mid-June, 1,000 exhibitors have booked space at the show. Last year, nearly 1,200 exhibitors set up. "There is some nervous tension among American companies, but we are hopeful things will calm down," Good said.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jim Irsay built everything we love about downtown Indianapolis
Some cities are shaped by rivers, some by railroads. Indianapolis was reshaped by sports. And no one left a deeper imprint than Jim Irsay. Walk downtown and you'll see the evidence. Children playing in new parks, runners gliding on protected trails and a sports district rivaling cities twice our size. There are tower cranes above hotel rooftops, patios full on weeknights and a steady hum of out-of-towners attending some unheard-of convention. Downtown is alive. People live here, work here and linger here. None of it happened by accident. This is very much part of the legacy of Irsay, who died May 21 at age 65. This transformation stems from a strategy Indianapolis adopted earlier than most: a belief that, while businesses create jobs, cities create places. One of the most pivotal moments came in 1984, when Robert Irsay's Baltimore Colts arrived in Indianapolis. The city had a vision. Leaders including former Mayor Bill Hudnut believed sports could be more than entertainment. They could shape identity, spur investment and give people a reason to come downtown. At a time when most American cities were watching their cores erode, Indianapolis made a bold choice: to bet on connection, culture and, yes, sports. But it wasn't until Jim Irsay stepped into full leadership and the team drafted Peyton Manning in 1998 that the Colts became an unstoppable civic force. The rise of the Colts mirrors the city's own. More from Jeffery Tompkins: Indianapolis makes construction too slow, expensive and exhausting The early 2000s marked a new chapter. The Manning Colts' playoff runs brought sellout crowds and national attention, but they also brought momentum. As Manning broke records on the field, the city was marking milestones of its own. The Indiana Convention Center expanded in space vacated by the former RCA Dome, allowing it to host larger events. Developers began investing in new housing and hotels near the stadium. Construction began on Lucas Oil Stadium, a major public-private investment that would reshape the city's event infrastructure forever. The Colts were no longer just a sports team. They had become part of the city's economy. Their sustained success helped elevate Indianapolis to a top-tier convention and tourism market. That progress culminated in Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, which brought more than $150 million in direct economic impact and gave the city an unforgettable moment on the national stage. The imprint of that era is still everywhere. Georgia Street, transformed ahead of the Super Bowl, functions as a civic plaza and festival corridor in the heart of downtown. Gen Con, once a niche gathering, attracts more than 70,000 attendees each year and ranks among the world's largest tabletop gaming conventions. Visit Indy estimates the city hosted over 800,000 convention attendees last year, generating more than $900 million in direct economic impact. Downtown hotels outperformed expectations, with major events pushing occupancy rates to more than 113% of projected demand last year. These wins ripple outward, supporting hundreds of small businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, hospitality workers, event crews and the countless everyday jobs that make a city go. It's an ecosystem built over decades, and Irsay was at the center. It's not just conventions brought by a new stadium. It's the Colts Canal Playspace, the expanded Cultural Trail, a new YMCA – all sponsored by the Colts. Few cities owe more to a team that relocated. But even fewer owe as much to a team that stayed and to an owner who saw his franchise not as an island, but as part of the city's fabric. Former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has credited Indianapolis as the blueprint his city followed to revive its own downtown. The fact that this year's NBA Finals could come down to those very two cities speaks volumes, not just about basketball, but about civic vision and the long arc of strategic investment. That story belongs to many leaders, planners, and institutions, but Irsay's role was singular. He understood that a sports franchise could be more than a team; it could be a partner in the life of a city. His investments extended into community engagement, philanthropic leadership and the kind of cultural presence that helped Indianapolis punch far above its weight on the national stage. As an urban planner, I think about how Irsay came to embody the state he called home. Indiana, ain't it troubled sometimes? But it's also strong. Resilient. A little weathered. Often underestimated. It's got heart. It's bold when it needs to be. It knows how to endure. And, when it's wrong, it knows how to make things right. For all its faults, you love it. The story of downtown Indianapolis rising from anonymity to become an event powerhouse isn't just a story of economics or infrastructure. It's a story of belief. And, in many ways, mirrors Irsay's own. It's not the LED horseshoes along the Circle that let me know Irsay's impact. Nor is it the state-of-the-art YMCA downtown that bears his name. It's the rising skyline, packed sidewalks, the roar of a fall Sunday at the House That Peyton Built – all of it carries the imprint of Irsay's long-term vision. Briggs: Indianapolis needs to raise taxes to fix its potholes Taylor Swift wouldn't be performing three sold-out nights in Indianapolis without the infrastructure, momentum, and yes, reputation sparked by the investments Irsay helped set in motion. Even now, his presence is felt not just in the past wins, but in the way this city continues to dream forward. Like his father before him, Irsay understood that a team needs a community just as much as a community needs a team. That relationship isn't optional. It's foundational. Rest in power, Mr. Irsay. And, yes, the roof will be open. Jeffery Tompkins is an urban planner. He lives in downtown Indianapolis. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: From YMCA to Colts Playspace, Jim Irsay built downtown Indy | Opinion
Indianapolis Star
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Jim Irsay built everything we love about downtown Indianapolis
Some cities are shaped by rivers, some by railroads. Indianapolis was reshaped by sports. And no one left a deeper imprint than Jim Irsay. Walk downtown and you'll see the evidence. Children playing in new parks, runners gliding on protected trails and a sports district rivaling cities twice our size. There are tower cranes above hotel rooftops, patios full on weeknights and a steady hum of out-of-towners attending some unheard-of convention. Downtown is alive. People live here, work here and linger here. None of it happened by accident. This is very much part of the legacy of Irsay, who died May 21 at age 65. This transformation stems from a strategy Indianapolis adopted earlier than most: a belief that, while businesses create jobs, cities create places. One of the most pivotal moments came in 1984, when Robert Irsay's Baltimore Colts arrived in Indianapolis. The city had a vision. Leaders including former Mayor Bill Hudnut believed sports could be more than entertainment. They could shape identity, spur investment and give people a reason to come downtown. At a time when most American cities were watching their cores erode, Indianapolis made a bold choice: to bet on connection, culture and, yes, sports. But it wasn't until Jim Irsay stepped into full leadership and the team drafted Peyton Manning in 1998 that the Colts became an unstoppable civic force. The rise of the Colts mirrors the city's own. More from Jeffery Tompkins: Indianapolis makes construction too slow, expensive and exhausting The early 2000s marked a new chapter. The Manning Colts' playoff runs brought sellout crowds and national attention, but they also brought momentum. As Manning broke records on the field, the city was marking milestones of its own. The Indiana Convention Center expanded in space vacated by the former RCA Dome, allowing it to host larger events. Developers began investing in new housing and hotels near the stadium. Construction began on Lucas Oil Stadium, a major public-private investment that would reshape the city's event infrastructure forever. The Colts were no longer just a sports team. They had become part of the city's economy. Their sustained success helped elevate Indianapolis to a top-tier convention and tourism market. That progress culminated in Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, which brought more than $150 million in direct economic impact and gave the city an unforgettable moment on the national stage. The imprint of that era is still everywhere. Georgia Street, transformed ahead of the Super Bowl, functions as a civic plaza and festival corridor in the heart of downtown. Gen Con, once a niche gathering, attracts more than 70,000 attendees each year and ranks among the world's largest tabletop gaming conventions. Visit Indy estimates the city hosted over 800,000 convention attendees last year, generating more than $900 million in direct economic impact. Downtown hotels outperformed expectations, with major events pushing occupancy rates to more than 113% of projected demand last year. These wins ripple outward, supporting hundreds of small businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, hospitality workers, event crews and the countless everyday jobs that make a city go. It's an ecosystem built over decades, and Irsay was at the center. It's not just conventions brought by a new stadium. It's the Colts Canal Playspace, the expanded Cultural Trail, a new YMCA – all sponsored by the Colts. Few cities owe more to a team that relocated. But even fewer owe as much to a team that stayed and to an owner who saw his franchise not as an island, but as part of the city's fabric. Former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has credited Indianapolis as the blueprint his city followed to revive its own downtown. The fact that this year's NBA Finals could come down to those very two cities speaks volumes, not just about basketball, but about civic vision and the long arc of strategic investment. That story belongs to many leaders, planners, and institutions, but Irsay's role was singular. He understood that a sports franchise could be more than a team; it could be a partner in the life of a city. His investments extended into community engagement, philanthropic leadership and the kind of cultural presence that helped Indianapolis punch far above its weight on the national stage. As an urban planner, I think about how Irsay came to embody the state he called home. Indiana, ain't it troubled sometimes? But it's also strong. Resilient. A little weathered. Often underestimated. It's got heart. It's bold when it needs to be. It knows how to endure. And, when it's wrong, it knows how to make things right. For all its faults, you love it. The story of downtown Indianapolis rising from anonymity to become an event powerhouse isn't just a story of economics or infrastructure. It's a story of belief. And, in many ways, mirrors Irsay's own. It's not the LED horseshoes along the Circle that let me know Irsay's impact. Nor is it the state-of-the-art YMCA downtown that bears his name. It's the rising skyline, packed sidewalks, the roar of a fall Sunday at the House That Peyton Built – all of it carries the imprint of Irsay's long-term vision. Briggs: Indianapolis needs to raise taxes to fix its potholes Taylor Swift wouldn't be performing three sold-out nights in Indianapolis without the infrastructure, momentum, and yes, reputation sparked by the investments Irsay helped set in motion. Even now, his presence is felt not just in the past wins, but in the way this city continues to dream forward. Like his father before him, Irsay understood that a team needs a community just as much as a community needs a team. That relationship isn't optional. It's foundational. Rest in power, Mr. Irsay. And, yes, the roof will be open.
