So, I covered some of what was coming at GenCon last week, talked about Pop-up GenCon the week before, but now GenCon has come and gone and I still need to do a write-up on the Fantasy Flight In-Flight report, likely coming later today, but I went to Pop-Up GenCon at the GameZenter, connected to the Asmodee and Fantasy Flight and I got to see some fun games there. Let’s talk highlights.

Pop-Up GenCon Itself

Honestly, it was just fun to game with strangers again. Yes, it wasn’t the same as GenCon, but I got to sit down on three separate occasions and play games that were new to me with complete strangers. And not only that but to play out at a game store again was just fun.

It’s one of those things that I don’t think I’d completely realized how much I missed. There is just a level of excitement and fun being around people who are excited to be gaming. They are excited to try new stuff, see new games, and just have a good time. The energy is infectious in a good way. And I’m someone who really loves being around people so just being around excited gamers is amazing.

The Games

Don’t worry, I’m going to talk about all four of the games that I played there, plus the ones I saw, but I didn’t want to make them each their own thing. Because I got to play four new games to me.

My Farm Shop

This is one I actually knew about because I’d seen it on the Dice Tower. They played through it live and did a review of it. The game looked fun to me so when that was one of the official Pop-Up GenCon games I wanted to play it. And I have to say it is a very good game. I actually ended up picking it up.

The game is a style that I like, which is in the veins of Machi Koro. If you’re not familiar, each turn you roll some dice and activate something. Your opponents also activate stuff on your roll as well. In Machi Koro what activates is limited. But for My Farm Shop you always activate something. So you roll three dice, one determines what card you get and two determine what is activated. The turns go really fast and you are always engaged doing something.

Unfathomable

Another one that I knew about but I hadn’t seen played. This game I know I’ve talked about before because it’s the new version of Battlestar Galactica. It’s a big game and also a hidden traitor game.

Normally I don’t gravitate towards hidden traitor games. Not because they can’t be fun, I do like Dead of Winter and BSG. But something like Shadows Over Camelot I thought was just okay. I want more game going on with it, otherwise it feels too close to social deduction.

Because Unfathomable builds off of what was done in BSG, I thought I’d be interested. We got to play a whole game, the hybrid won. But it was a blast. The core of the game is very similar to BSG, but I felt like it make a ton of sense how it worked. With BSG, there was just more going on with two expansions making the game very big. This keeps some of the expansion stuff, but trims off some of the fat.

Catan (Yard Game)

This one is not a real game. Well, it kind of is one but not really. It plays like bags but you are aiming for areas to get resources. Then you use resources and are racing to 4 points. The person at the end of the round when someone makes it to four who has the most points wins.

Super simple game, but it is fun. They have little figures for wood, wheat, brick, ore, and sheep, as well as the robber. So you get double resources if you throw the right figure into the right spot. And the nice thing too is that the game maybe took 15 minutes, maybe 20, with four players. But it’s more a convention game versus a real game, not one you can go out and buy.

Descent: Legends of the Dark

Finally, I got to play a game I already own. Descent: Legends of the Dark is a big dungeon crawl, app assisted, adventure of a game from Fantasy Flight. I unboxed it a bit ago on the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel, which you can see here. But I hadn’t gotten around to learning the rules or getting to the table.

It was a great way to learn the game, I will say. That’s one of the best things that I really like going to conventions. Even with games that aren’t new you can get to see them and play before you buy them. Now, some games, Descent, I knew I wanted to get. But it was fun to actually play it. I really like the mechanics of the game, we definitely got some things wrong, but I can see bringing this game to my table pretty soon here.

World of Warcraft Pandemic

This, I thought, is an odd mash-up. But I thought it was really interesting to learn about it. Because it’s kind of like Pandemic Legacy Season 2 feel to it. And because while it feels like a Pandemic game from the mechanics it is going to play differently. In this game you are trying to survive and complete quests.

I think that’s the really interesting part, from what I remember some quests were in Pandemic Legacy Season 2, basically paying cards into completing things in specific orders. It makes a lot of sense for a World of Warcraft Game. Eventually you need to go fight a big boss as well. Very clever looking game and very accessible.

I also like it made the lose condition easier to track. The game funnels everything into the “outbreak” track. If you can’t place a figure, that’s an outbreak, your character dies, advances an outbreak, and outbreak happens, advances the outbreak. It’s only when that track, which is still short, hits the end that you lose. It’s one of those simple things that to me makes it more accessible for new gamers. You still need to pay attention to everything, but only the one spot causes the game to end.

Final Thoughts

I hope that they keep Pop-Up GenCons around. And I hope that I don’t go to one for a long time. Why, because this just makes me want to go back to GenCon. This year wasn’t the right year to go back for me for reasons I’ve talked about before. And it might not be right for you. Or maybe GenCon itself isn’t right for you. So I hope they keep the pop-up GenCons for the people who can’t make it to regular GenCon. And hopefully, next year, I’ll see you at GenCon.

Did you attend GenCon this year, let me know your thoughts. Or did you do a Pop-Up GenCon, how did yours go?

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