Spiritual Question Answered at GEN CON Indy

Over 10 years ago we saw people suffering for the first time with a new addiction. This insidious new substance caught on and spread first throughout the U.S. and then quickly the world. No one was safe. Children barely old enough to read and count were dragged into this obsession and hooked. Young adults and older and supposedly wiser men and women also succumbed to the addition, unable to resist the siren call of "just one more". I am not talking about a designer drug although similarities between this and crack have been repeatedly drawn. I am talking about Collectible Card Games (CCG).

The first and most famous is of course Magic The Gathering. Since it's debut there have been many other CCGs that have come and gone and game companies continue to work the lucrative trade in CCGs. That means that there have millions of cards printed for various games. Some rare cards fetch high prices from collectors. It is not uncommon to see some cards listed at over $1000. But the bulk of the cards are common, even worthless if the game is no longer played. So where do all those worthless cards end up?

The go to Cardhalla.

Yes Cardhalla. Land of lost CCG cards.



Every year at GEN CON, Cardhalla magically appears. It arrives with the first gamers on Thursday.



Little by little it grows. New buildings spring up.



Other buildings grow when more cards are added.



Some become mighty towers.



Others become cathedrals and castles.



The only limiting factor is imagination (and that divider belt thingie).



This year Cardhalla’s main components are Dragonball Z and Star Trek cards. But just about every CCG is represented here.



And anything that can be constructed from cards shows up here.

But on the last night, the attendees of GEN CON gather, their pockets bulging with...
change.

At the appointed hour a deadly hail of coinage rains down on Cardhalla. No structure is safe. None is left standing. And then it's done. Cardhalla is destroyed. And yet there is that good comes from this terrifying act. The coins that laid Cardhalla low are gathered up and given to charity. Last year the Make A Wish Foundation received over $500 because of Cardhalla. This year's charity is Boys and Girls Clubs of America. I rest easier knowing that all those lost CCG cards have something to look forward too. Something that will benefit (a small segment of) all mankind.