Spring is here! And it’s time for a trip to Washington, D.C., for Circle DC, an annual historical gaming convention held by Fort Circle in the nation’s capital! The event took place on April 10-12, 2026, at the DC History Center, but I of course came in a few days before to spend a whole day of sightseeing. I do love me some good museums! 

Wednesday

I flew in on April 8 and had dinner with friends before we headed out to Labyrinth Games and Puzzles, where I was able to catch Liz Davidson and Jason Matthews teaching some games for Wargame Wednesday! 

My friends and I then played a quick game of White Castle. Surprisingly our game took just over an hour, as we all knew how to play, and because the board game store was closing at 9 p.m. 

 Thursday

For breakfast, I stopped by my favorite D.C. bagel shop, Pearl’s Bagels, for a yummy lox sandwich. I love this place, and luckily it wasn’t too busy that morning. 

Then off to the Capitol Mall to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Pro tip: reserve your tickets ahead of time as the museum still requires a timed entrance and then you don’t have to wait in line. The museum was filled with class field trips and many, many visitors. This museum was equal parts heartbreaking, inspirational and beautiful. I could’ve spent the whole day there.

I then sauntered over to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History nearby specifically went for this exhibit called How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories, about Filipino farmworkers in northern California from 1910-1970.

Steamer trunks were recently discovered and gave a glimpse into the journey these Filipinos made to California to toil away in the fields while also celebrating their culture and joys in a new country. 

The museum had so much Americana memorabilia, including stuff from from pop culture artifacts to former First Ladies’ wardrobe. Afterwards, I met up with friends who were getting into town for Circle DC and we all had dinner at Cuba Libre. We did not have time to play Cuba Libre though. 

After dinner, we went to The Queen Vic for a Circle DC pre-convention mixer. This place felt like an old British pub and we had the whole upstairs for conventiongoers. It’s a chill environment to chat up a bunch of people and put faces to names you’ve been seeing online. 

Friday

Convention Day 1! Gaming at the DC History Center takes place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., when the Apple store downstairs kicks everyone out. While an 8 p.m. convention closure time is not ideal, we’ve figured out how to make things work as it’s our second year at this venue by going to an after-hours location. 

I ran into Volko and said hello upon arriving. We did not film a Tiktok this time around though. I know you all are disappointed.

The one game I had on schedule was Foxes and Lions, designed by Paul Wright and Liz Davidson, which is now on the P500. This was THE GAME I was most excited for playing here! It’s in the series of Here I Stand and Virgin Queen, but this one is set in the Italian Renaissance City-States in the age of Machiavelli during 1494 to 1527.  The game depicts the political, military, economic, religious and cultural affairs of five key Italian powers brought to life by players. If that’s your jam, go back this game! 

Many of these characters I am familiar with – some would say because I watched Borgias, which is a superior show than Showtime’s The Borgias – so it was so cool seeing their cards come up and seeing how this period in history played out in board game form. That Cesare Borgia is quite the killer! We had an epic time!

After that, I taught two quick games of Floral, a short pretty card game about building the largest contiguous flower bed. I taught a 2P game, which I don’t recommend at that player count, but the next game at 3P really shined. It became much more competitive and enjoyable. 

Next was dinner time at Rooster and Owl, a Michelin-star restaurant in D.C.

About 50 of us from the convention signed up for this dining experience, which Circle DC paid for half of the tab. Thanks, Kevin! 

This became my second time at a Michelin restaurant – the first was Le Bernadin when I was in NYC last fall – and, though the atmosphere was a little loud with the size of our crowd for what otherwise would be such an intimate restaurant, the food was delectable (I signed up for vegetarian options), and the drinks amazing. 

Saturday 

Saturday morning started with Alex Knight’s Hammer and Sickle. I’ve played Alex’s Land and Freedom before and was excited to try out his new game, which is also on the P500 to order. Hammer and Sickle is about the Russian Revolution, where players take the role of one of four factions during the Russian Civil War in 1918-1921: It’s a fragile alliance game – where the Bolsheviks and Anarchists are aligned, and the New Nations and White Army are aligned – but there can only be one faction who wins the game. 

The board shows a map from that time period (though Alex said this art is not the final version of the game), and hammer icons indicate industrial centers, which give powers firepower, and sickle icons produce food to feed workers who can then produce firepower. Gameplay is achieved through cards, which are used for initiative, action points or events. 

I then attended a group-teach of the game Fields of Fire, a solitaire game of commanding an army in battle from WWII to all the day to present day. There are many expansions to this game! I was most surprised that this game is all cards (there’s no actual board for the game), and all your gameplay happens on those cards. The designer, Ben Hull, showcased all the different booklets that will teach you the game, which gets progressively more difficult as you continue move toward present day with the different conflicts. Ben also gave out copies of his book, “Ready or Not: The Military Readiness Paradox.” Maybe one day I will try out this board game!

The last game at the convention premises on Saturday night was an 8P game of Sidereal Confluence. As you may know, this game is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES! It’s an asymmetrical game where players are different alien factions that create resources they don’t need – but can help run other factions’ technology. You’re wheeling and dealing, and running machines. It’s wonderful chaos, and I think we’ll be planning to run this at every convention we can. Who doesn’t wants to yell for green cubes for 10 minutes each round? Don’t worry, I set a timer. 

Our 8P game played in about over 2 hours, plus a little bit of time to setup and explaining the rules. Edward (in the back in the photo below) is a bigger Sidereal Confluence fan than I am, and he masterfully taught the game. Such a fantastic experience!

So then it was 8 p.m., and with the venue closing, we walked on over to Wunder Garten to hang out and play some more games! This place is large, and there’s plenty of picnic tables, alcohol and food trucks!  First up was Magical Athlete. This game is already absurd and fun, and then playing it in the dark under two cellphone lights just makes it even more magical. 

We then played Decrypto. It was my first time playing this – and this was such a clever word-association party game! Players are two teams, and you’re giving one-word clues to your teammates out loud in front of everyone, so that both teams can guess which three of the four hidden words in this spy billboard contraption are being referenced to this turn. As people write down more clues, they’re able to whittle down what the mystery words are, hopefully. Our game was very intense, and came down to the tiebreaker! And we closed out the bar. 

Sunday 

I only played one game on Sunday afternoon: A More Perfect Union. The designer taught us his game, which is getting a reprint from Catastrophe Games this summer through Kickstarter. It’s a card-driven 2-player game about ratifying the U.S. Constitution. Players can play cards for an event and to seize the initiative, and then they play 6 cards for their action rounds in order to campaign, call a convention, use the event or roll on the skulduggery table. It’s a tense push and pull!

And then after chatting with friends and having lunch nearby, I headed to the airport to fly back to Phoenix.

For me, even though Circle DC is one of the shorter conventions that I go to — as I only get two full days of gaming because of Sunday travel —  I still had an enjoyable time! Convention time and museum time make the longer plane ride worth it. It’s always good to see friends and play historical games.

And that’s Circle DC. It’s my third time attending, and it was the fourth Circle DC overall. I’m bummed I couldn’t make the first one! My next convention will be next month across the pond — literally! I will be attending UKGE in Birmingham, England, for one day, that Friday, as I will be in the area. I am beyond excited to attend an overseas convention, as well as enjoy a few days in London on the tail end of a trip I have planned. For those who have been to UKGE, please share your tips! Until next time, friends, cheerio!