Thanks to the scheduling gods and the gracious invitation of InD20's Larry Fettinger to let me stay at his house (thus saving 900-1000$ in hotel fees), I'll be going to Gen Con again this year. This time, however, should prove to be quite a different experience, as I'll only be in a booth for a few hours of the convention instead of 8-9 hours a day like 2011.
Coupled with the fact that I'll be arriving at Larry's on Tuesday and sharing space with prominent and promising publishers (Seth and Michael from Tasty Minstrel, Josh & Adam from Chip Theory), reviewing royalty Ryan Metzler, and Ascension Archnemeses James and Jacob McCarthy. I'll have plenty of time to play games and wander around the vendor's hall and open gaming area. While doing so, I hope to meet up with some of the people with whom I interact frequently on twitter and play some of their games as well as some of the big name games that will be released at the convention. Listed below are but a few of the many games and things I hope to play and accomplish at this year's convention as well as the ones Scott hopes I bring back for us to play together.
GAMES TO BE RELEASED AT GENCON:
#1: Smash Up -- My main goal at conventions is not simply to pick up the hottest games for the sake of reviewing them, moreso they serve as a place to buy games that my wife and/or family can play together. Fortunately, AEG's Smash Up fits squarely into both categories. With it's intriguing "Shuffle building" mechanic, players can take a number of popular gaming tropes, combine them, and actively work to score bases and set off devious combos in hopes of scoring the most points. No, it doesn't look incredibly deep, but it does look insanely fun, and that's the most important thing in a game to me.
#2: Seasons - The visibility of this game seems to be growing by leaps and bounds (and hopefully, some of that visibility has come b/c of my efforts to tell people about it), and I think this beautiful title by Asmodee might end up being a sleeper hit of the convention. Using beautiful art from Xavier Durin, Seasons takes the resource management of Magic: the Gathering and the drafting of 7 Wonders and mashes them together with a dice mechanism that dictates the progression of time and duration of the game itself. I played a pre-production copy of the game at Origins and came away VERY impressed, so I can't want to make it a part of my collection.
#3: Dominion: Dark Ages -- Like many other tens of thousands of people around the world, I'm a Dominion addict; and this latest iteration from Donald X. has me salivating like Pavlov's dogs at any hint of a preview card or insider information. To date, we just know that the focus of the expansion will be upgrading and trashing. I was a big fan of the 3 card in Ascension that let you manipulate things in the graveyard/Void, so I'm waiting with bated breath to see what kinds of shenanigans can be pulled with these new kingdom cards and how the new Ruins card impacts play. I am not, however, looking forward to schlepping my big 3200-count box containing the entirety of Dominion collection through Hall D.
#4: Android: Netrunner -- (Scott) My gaming history goes back to the early days of collectible card games. One of my favorites from back then was Netrunner. I especially loved the cyberpunk-ish theme and I loved the two distinct play styles of the Runners and the Corporation. When I recently heard that Fantasy Flight was going to bring back Netrunner, I was extremely excited. I was a little apprehensive about it being rethemed into the Android universe. However, the Twilight Imperium reimagining of Dune into Rex seems to have worked well, so I have the utmost faith that Fantasy Flight has not hurt my baby. Also, I hope that it's successful enough that we see more than 2 sets for this edition.
Other published games I'm looking forward to playing:
- Farmageddon
- Alien Frontiers: Factions
- Morels
- Sentinels of the Multiverse: Infernal Relics
- Viva Java
- Libertalia
- Sheepland
- Libertalia
- Nefarious
- Chicken Casesar
- If I'm Going Down
- Timeline: Discoveries
- 7 Wonders: Cities
UNPUBs ON THE RADAR:
#1: Mars Needs Mechanics -- I met Ben Rosset briefly at Origins this year, and he seemed like a bright, passionate designer with whom I'd like to speak more. I, unfortunately, didn't get to play his game, Mars Needs Mechanics, but made a mental note to do everything in my power to play it at GenCon. MnM, from what I could deduce, is a set collection game that uses timing effects in order to allow players to build combos and be the most successful engineer. As a lover of engine-building games, the ability to build an engine (both literally and figuratively) in this game has be eagerly awaiting my turn to play it.
#2: Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge -- Loyal readers of this site will know that this game has been my White Whale since Origins 2011, when I fist saw it. I was within feet of multiple playthroughs of it at Origins this year, but never got the opportunity to play myself (though getting to play Princes of the Dragon Throne and Forge were pretty sweet consolation prizes) . Nonetheless, I didn't get to touch the martini glasses or the skulls, or the plastic monkeys... and that makes me a sad panda. In SJVL, players are hepcats in the club scene of the late 50s, and through careful usage of the cards they are dealt/acquire, they progressively build cliques in the four areas on the Lounge. It's abstract-y to a point, but still maintains a hilarious theme, (i.e. it's right up my alley.)
#3: King of Tokyo: Power Up -- Though I'm sad that the expansion to one of my favorite games of 2011 got pushed back from GenCon to Essen, I am pretty pumped that IELLO will have demoable copies at their booth. For those who haven't been obsessively following the news about this expansion, Richard Garfield has appeased the throngs of players clamoring for individual character powers. In Power Up, characters may activate a specific character power by rolling 3 heart symbols. After this is done, one of the character's cards is flipped up and subsequently gives them powers to use throughout the game: The Kraken might make a player lose health and VP, the Cyber Bunny may steal energy cubes with an attack, etc etc. And, while all this sounds pretty cool, the inclusion of an additional character named Pandakai ups the "want" factor on this game to 11.
Other UnPubs/Not Yet Released games that should be on your Radar:
- Empire Reborn
- Dominare
- Innovation: Figures in the Sand
- Chaos & Alchemy
- Forge
- Heartland Hauling Company
- Hexploration
- Take The Bait
- Compounded
- Fleet
- Mice & Mystics
- Biomechanical Dino Battles
- Castellan
- Crude: The Oil Game
- SolForge
- #1. Find someone who can beat Christopher Badell in one of Heartland Hauling's infamous "Mustache/Beard-offs." I doubt this can be done, but I'm going to find someone who can; maybe George R.R. Martin.
#2. Get more visibility for my "Strip King of Tokyo" tournament scene. (joking, completely joking)
#3. Test some of my current prototypes, including Aches & Brains, Gyre, & Slide Rulers
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