Even though I have a few thousand comics in long boxes in my basement — an artifact of a particularly voracious period from 1996 to 2001 — I've never attended a convention that was primarily about comic books.

But while looking for local activities during a one-month layover in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I saw a poster for 3 Rivers Comicon. It was a one-day event with tickets under $20, which seemed like a good way to spend a Saturday.

I was right! Although comics were the focus, with many wheelers and dealers both buying and selling rare books, there were also plenty of local purveyors of illustrations, crafts, and accessories — and, of course, cosplay. It was fun to see so many creative artists rendering their art across such diverse media.

Video games were also in full force. From one game retail booth, I went home with a cartridge of Little Nemo the Dream Master for NES, which I rented as a kid and was surprised to realize was not already in my collection. The addition was $15 well spent.

More memorably, the co-host of the Arcade Bookshop podcast was staffing a booth. Though I hadn't heard of this show, I'm a big fan of story-driven games, from Gone Home to Life Is Strange, and I'm on the cusp of attending next week's NarraScope, a convention dedicated to narrative in gaming — so Bryce's pitch for his show was right up my alley:

In Arcade Bookshop, listen to Bryce Johle and Caleb James blab about the stories in video games and books. As writers and gamers, the co-hosts want to emphasize the importance of stories told in all forms, as well as the artists behind them. Play and read along every other Monday!

Bryce was at 3 Rivers Comic Con interviewing con-goers about their favorite games and books. I was the first person who volunteered to be recorded; my response to his question, in which I opine about Firewatch and the value of stories, can be found at 12:09 into episode Arcade Cafe #15, seen in the video embedded above and heard on Podbean or Pocket Casts.

Although the show's hosts had not played Firewatch before, they compared it to Oxenfree, a 2D supernatural thriller that's very different in tone, art style, and interface from Firewatch. But they're not wrong when they say the gameplay in both essentially boils down to dialogue choices, which perhaps is why I've recorded Let's Plays of both Firewatch and Oxenfree. (Oxenfree's sequel, released 11 months ago today, remains in my Switch backlog.)

If you like podcasts about stories, I also recommend The Moth. Ten years ago this year, I appeared on The Moth stage, telling the story of how I accidentally launched a YouTube channel that now has 82,000 subscribers and 17 million views.

My thanks to Bryce and Arcade Bookshop for giving me something fun to remember 3 Rivers Comic Con by!