My theory was that it was so many teenagers traveling a long way to a big tournament who couldn't afford to just get a hotel room the night before. So they'd sleep at their friends house or whatever, and then just show up in whatever condition.

But having the problem at the local game shop kind of defeats that theory.

The thing is you can smell yourself. I can smell when I stink. How can you not notice that rancid smell following you is you?

Went to PAX, the rest of the convention floor smelled fine. The smell at the tabletop game floor hit hard.

Pre-pandemic, we had a couple (as in they are together) over for supper. They've been friends with my wife for over twenty years now. They've always been into board and video games (each has their own gaming rig and every console), and overweight. Something had recently changed because their higiene had been ok so far. At some point in the conversation, it came up that they had done some research and found that IT WASN'T HEALTHY TO SHOWER EVERY DAY. They were now doing it once a week since "they didn't exercise anyway". Obviously, they smelled and I made that clear. We didn't hear from them for some time after that. These were two adults who had jobs and owned a house. Mind you, their house cleaning habits had also deteriorated.

Gamer boys are TERRIBLE at self-care and hygiene.

I'm so curious about this. Why are they like that? I don't understand how that happens, and what specifically about gaming makes it more prevalent.