All the Food Games & Plushies You Missed at Game & Geek Expo

At my first Game and Geek Expo, I scored some really cool food-related games and accessories!

This is a recap of Game and Geek Expo 2026, a two-day video gaming convention in Raleigh, NC.

What’s on my gaming list?

I’m more of a retro gamer, so although I’m interested in Switch games, my focus was on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS games.

Bonus points for Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color games.

For Nintendo DS & 3DS, I was looking for (some are food-related and some aren’t):

• Cookie Shop
• Any Cooking Mama game including the gardening one
• Cake Mania
• Any Harvest Moon game
• Any of the Tamagotchi Corner Shops
• Princess Debut
• Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer
• My Little Pony: Pinky Pie’s Party

This is a great time to tell you that before the expo, I did NOT own a DS of any kind.

But I was prepared to buy a few games anyway.

On Game Boy Advance and Color, I wanted (some are food-related and some aren’t):

• Harvest Moon
• Grimace’s Birthday
• Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Assault
• Hamtaro Ham-Ham Heartbreak
• My Little Pony Crystal Princess
• Tamagotchi games (Japanese imports)
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
• Kirby & The Amazing Mirror

My gaming list is a lot longer than this but I’ll spare you.

For now.

What I ate and drank

Let’s take a quick break to talk about the food.

This expo didn’t have as many food options as other events.

For example, there weren’t food trucks outside the convention nor did I see any restaurants or cafes create special menu items.

The turnout for Game and Geek Expo 2026 was pretty good, at least in my eyes, so I’d love to see downtown Raleigh businesses get more involved in 2027.

Oma’s Cafe + Wine is one of my go-to cafes for downtown Raleigh events like Animazement and GalaxyCon.

I ordered an iced Apple Chaider off their new fall menu, and it was the pick-me-up I needed after walking the full expo at least three times trying to decide on what games to buy.

One street over, the African American Cultural Festival was taking place, so I bought a spinach patty and a side order of plantain from Lee’s Kitchen.

Although delicious, you’ll see in a few moments, that I made a mess of things. Literally.

What I bought at Game & Geek Expo 2026: food-related edition

Now for the best part: what I emptied my wallet for!

Video games

• Harvest Moon (DS): $27 (need to find the company name)
• Cooking Mama (DS): $20 (need to find the company name)
• Hello Kitty Party (DS): $15 from Video Game Empire
• Barnyard (GBA): either $5.99 or $7.99 from Rocktown Games

Earrings, plushies and accessories

• Pompompurin ice cream plushie: $7 (need to find the company name)
• Nana pin: I think this was $4 from Starlight Moonbrite
• Strawberry ring: $5 each or 3 for $12 from Starlight Moonbrite
• Pompompurin ice cream cone earrings: $10 from Mikki’s Crafts
• Tamagotchi stud earring set: $18 from Mikki’s Crafts
• Hello Kitty and My Melody dessert phone charms: $4 each from Janiya Breeden Art

About being messy.

I decided it was not only a great idea to save some plantain for later but to keep it in the same bag as all of my convention goodies.

This was fine. Until it wasn’t.

You might notice that the label on the Barnyard GBA game looks…off.

That’s because it’s covered in whatever oil the plantains were fried in.

I’ve since cleaned it but I’m hesitant to put this game in my Game Boy Advance.

I’ll check Reddit to see what they have to say.

I can’t be the only one who has spilled grease or oil on their game.

But maybe I’m setting a record for how fast I got the game dirty after buying it.

What’s my verdict on Game & Geek Expo? Will I be back?

Absolutely!

I had such a great time and this event will always be special to me because I was able to get my first DS here from NivedTech.

Of course, I could have ordered one online, but it’s so much more fun to test (and inspect) games and handhelds in-person.

Next year, I hope to see more DS and 3DS games.

Tickets

Saturday tickets were $40.32.

Sunday tickets are $34.60.

VIP tickets for both days are $51.74.

With a VIP ticket, you can get into the event 30 minutes earlier on both days.

Kids ages 12 and under are free but if they are between the ages of 13 and 17, they’ll need a Youth Single Day Pass for $17.47

All prices include taxes and fees.

More about Game & Geek Expo

Game and Geek Expo is a two-day fandom event focused on gaming and geek culture over Labor Day Weekend, Sept 5 and Sept 6.

It’s produced by Raleigh Retro Gamers and presented by Hidden Block Games.

Celebrity guests included voice actors like Samantha Kelly (voice of Princess Peach and Toad) and WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley of the Dudley Boyz.

Activities included:

• gaming tournaments for Tekken 8 and Mario Kart World
• a Rock Band Stage
• free photo booth
• Beyblade tournaments
• main stage panels
• cosplay runway fashion show

Saturday hours are 10 am to 6 pm while Sunday hours are 10 am to 4 pm.

The Atlantic Union Bank Convention Center, formerly known as the Raleigh Convention Center is where this expo is held.

Address: 500 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601 in downtown Raleigh.

The official Instagram account is @GameAndGeekNC.

Other fandom events & conventions in Raleigh, NC

What I Ate & Bought at GalaxyCon 2026 Food Edition