This morning I went to the post office to mail away my entry to the Lucca Game Contest.
At the counter, the postal worker was pleasantly surprised that I was sending something to Italy. She had me fill out my customs form and proceeded to ask me some questions about the content of the box.
“What’s in the package?”
“A gift,” I panicked and lied.
“You need to be more specific”
“Two games”
“Do you have any playing cards in there?”
“No,” I lied again.
“Italian customs agents have the right to open and inspect your package. If they find any illegal imports, they will confiscate them.”
“Alright.”
Apparently heightened security precautions have limited the sending of playing cards for fear they may be charged with mutant energy and explode. I wasn’t expecting that at all. I had to lie or else all the hard work I did would be wasted.
It makes me wonder about if the organizers knew about this when they opened up the contest to non-Italians this year. Somebody must have known the customs rules, especially if they are a publisher of games.
I only hope the customs agents have better things to do than confiscate my prototype. The box has the word game three times on the front, so if they have a vendetta against American card game designers they’ll know which box to open.