Gen Con is always full of gaming and this year I think I demoed more than ever before. These are all the games on the second day that I got to demo. That doesn’t mean that I just heard about the game, no, these are games I got to sit down, or stand up, and play at Gen Con. And for day two, that is a lot of games.

Gen Con Day 2 Gaming

17. Everything Ever

This is a game that I own, and it’s at the bottom of the list. It’s a game I got for going to the Floodgate Games Celebration. Unfortunately the game is not that great. It’s a one trick party game where you are answering two prompts and trying not to repeat anything or take too long. How long is too long, who knows, there is no timer in the game, nor would a timer work. And answering stuff is not that exciting, it’s one of those games where you, unfortunately, are more laughing at people versus with people when they can’t get an answer out in time.

16. Fish & Katz

I tried a lot of games with cats, not many of them, if any, were all that interesting, Fish & Katz is definitely one of those where you have cute little cat foot sock puppets that you use to try and get fish. It is meant to be a light game, it is that, and I think that there will be people who like it, but for me, there isn’t much game there. It’s interesting to see two games, next one up, that use some similar things. The next one up, though, I’d play again.

15. Ahoy! Kitten

Another kitten game. And another game where you are pointing at things. In this one you are also getting fishes and collecting sets of them. Honestly, not a huge difference but you get more fish, which more fish is good. I like the fact that you can steal and that you can cover and protect it forever, so that is fun as well. It’s a bit more in your face, but it works well for the type of game it is.

14. Catapult Castle

This is basically Coconuts. You are building up a castle and shooting a catapult at other peoples castles to try and land a rock into castle pieces. As you land stuff in, you stack, and as your stuff gets stolen you get powers. The game is pretty simple and fun, but I don’t need it with Coconuts.

13. Skyrockets

This is one that I’d like to try even more of, it’s low on my list because it’s a real time game. But I think I might enjoy this pressure compared to other games. It’s turn based with still being real time. And I think that turn based element is what saves the game for me. And you play through challenges which is another thing that I like. As you play more, you get harder and harder challenges to complete. Still, it’s real time, so is it really for me?

12. Codenames: Duet

I think if I were to play Codenames Pictures Duet I’d like it more. The issue is the same that I have with Codenames, when you can be clever is limited. But I do like that it’s two player and it’s cooperative. And what I might be giving a clue for might be a spy for you, so there’s just a lot of questions about what might overlap. The general concept is very much the same as the original game, though, which I find to just be okay.

11. Kingdomino Origins

I know that people love Kingdomino and Kingdomino Origins. I think that it’s a fine game. My play was fun, but I just don’t see the long term excitement in playing this game. You get a domino and put that into your tableau. And next time you get a domino and put it into a tableau. I think with my family or when my kid is a little bit older, it is a game that would be fun. For myself and my game night I don’t think it’s one that we’d come back to often.

10. Splintered Lands

Two player head to head battling game, this is one of the Gen Con event games. It’s a game that I’m not going to get, but I did like. Why not get it, because it’s a two player head to head game. In Splintered Lands you try and knock out your opponent by taking down their life, that is pretty standard. You build up defenses and attack, again pretty standard.

But the big thing is that your purchase power is your life. You bid life to make purchases from a row. I think that’s a fun and interesting thing, but it’s also less interesting in that you a bidding life on cards you can’t see. You could bid a bunch turn one but because you don’t get the right value of cards you might not be able to purchase anything. So fun, but not one that I think I’d buy.

9. The Red Dragon Inn: Battle For Greyport

This really is a huge jump from when I played it years ago. When it came out years ago it is a game that was almost impossible to win. Battle for Greyport now is a pretty light deck building game and a game that gives you a lot of fun stuff that you can do. I think I’d even buy it now because of that. Granted the boss monster might be hard to beat, but the deck you build should be pretty good, assuming you haven’t lost too much health. I now prefer it to regular Red Dragon Inn, I need to try the dungeon crawler still.

8. Fiction

Mastermind or Wordle as a game, but there is one difference. The person who created the word is giving clues and is always lying on one thing, of their choice. The guessers have three clues to use over both rounds, since it’s played over two words. That sounds very hard, but the upside is that you know where the word is coming from. You select a book, from a few options, and it’ll be a word from there. That makes it easier, kind of, in terms of what type of word it might be. It’s a good puzzle for sure.

7. Big Top

An auction game, Big Top is about building out the best circus you can by winning auctions. The interesting thing is that you don’t just get a card and get that for your circus. Instead, each card has money spots on it and those money spots need to be filled in. You fill them in by bidding that number. Once you fill in a card it goes into your scoring pile. So you are using coins to fill in those cards that you might be using them for bidding or wish you could be using for bidding.

6. Whale to Look

This is one that I picked up as it’s a small game. I like it because it’s a simple game of whale watching and trying to figure out where a whale and orca are going to be. And you don’t know for sure, you end up with six spots where it might be. And the whale goes to the highest and the orca to the lowest. But the surrounding ocean is all face down, so you don’t know what number it might be.

I like this game at four, I think it would work well at three. Two players is okay for it, but it’s still fun. You need to find those spots on limited information, which is just a bit less limited with more players. So I think it’s a game of reading players and hiding the information that you know.

5. Black Hole Buccaneers

You are space pirates scavenging everything that is getting sucked into a black hole. This is a card drafting game trying to load up as much as you can in your spaceship while not getting too heavy and sucked in yourself. This is a fun drafting game, and it is a game I could see getting. The only reason I didn’t get Gen Con is that I feel like there isn’t that much that made it stand out. I already own drafting games like 7 Wonders, Ecosystem, Sushi Go Party and more, so do I need more?

4. 9 Lives

Cat based trick taking game. And while the cats are cute and I’m glad I have them, this is not really cat themed, it’s just trick taking. But I like it as a trick taking game. You know what colors your opponent’s have, that’s different. I like that you bid on how many tricks you can take.

And I think one of coolest things is that you win a trick and you take a card from that trick. Not the one that you played, but the one someone else played. So you build up your hand over time still. Then when someone is out of cards that ends the round and you see if you got the right number of tricks.

3. Dandelions

I demoed so many games from Allplay at Gen Con this day. This, one more, 9 Lives, Big Top, and Fiction all were from one booth, which I had fun going around and playing all of those games. Dandelions is a dice placement area majority game. It’s a fast game, small box, and one that I think is pretty clever. It’s one that I’d like to get and when I went back on Sunday it was sold out. There are some good mechanisms with bouncing dice around, and solid ways to score. It’s one that I think people will enjoy who I play with. So I want to add it to my collection eventually.

2. Pollen

And Pollen is the other Allplay game. Pollen is about collecting as many bug as possible. The game is trying to control the flowers to get those different bugs. You play out tiles and place out bugs. Honestly, this is one that I think is trickier to explain, mainly you are collecting bugs. The game itself plays out very simply. But the pieces are cool and the aesthetic is nice for the game. I think it’s one that will be friendly for a lot of people.

1. Tesseract

This is one that I got to play as part of the OSCS (One Stop Coop Shop) meet-up at Gen Con. This is a cooperative game that feels a bunch like Pandemic. I think, however, that the games offers a few more interesting choices. You are trying to crack the code, place dice, of the Tesseract. And the Tesseract is trying to cause issues by loading up dice in areas. The system is fun and while the game is pretty abstract, much like Pandemic, you still feel thematic and you feel like you end up with great turns. Plus there is a cube of dice which is a cool thing to look at.

Day Two’s Gaming

It’s fun to look back now, over a week later, and see all oft he gaming that I did. Gen Con is, really, for me a chance to do so much gaming. And find games that I think will work well for my collection and gaming group. Day two’s gaming didn’t lead too many at Gen Con purchases, but has led to me picking up some games since.

Most notable, Tesseract is on it’s way. I say that, but on it’s way means that it’s pre-ordered, so it’ll get here eventually. I want to buy Pollen and Dandelions as both of them are light and fun game, and Dandelions comes in a small package. But otherwise, a lot of the games I’d put in the category of good, but I don’t need to own them. And Gen Con makes it so that I can try them.

Which of these Gen Con Day Two Games would you want to try first?

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