This is going to be the whole week and probably into next week. I am going to be talking Gen Con for a little while here, because, there is a lot to cover. Gen Con just wrapped up on Sunday and I had three full days, Thursday through Saturday and managed to get in three hours or just a touch more on Sunday. So let’s talk about the Gen Con Highlights

Gen Con Highlights

Man vs Meeple Dinner and Gaming

This one has a lot with it because it’s a channel I’ve followed for a while. Then I joined in with their discord. There I got to chat with them but also with the community. So when a community get together was put together, I wasn’t sure I’d go but I’m glad that we did. We had a nice dinner which really was a ton of fun chatting at the table.

Then, I could put this as a separate highlight, we went to the JW Marriot and played Ready, Set, Bet. I almost went and tried to find the game right away. But from AEG, this is a real time betting and party game. It is just a great time as one person (and this can rotate) is the caller of the race. Everyone else in real time is betting and having a great time trying to get their bets in. This game just has so much excitement to it and worked really well.

Walking The Hall With Tablenauts Crew

This was different but similar to MvM (Man Versus Meeple) where it is another channel I really enjoy. But instead of a meal, though they did do that, I was playing a game further down on the list, we just wandered the halls and played game. And one of those games is on the list as well. But it was just fun to have a group of three or four and just be able to sit down and demo as a group.

If there is one thing I missed about not having someone with me the whole time is that it was sometimes harder to demo. Two people you can do a demo of most things, but with one person you are often waiting for more people to show up. So we got in four games that day, but three of them were full plays and it was just fun to hang out, play games and chat.

Dice Tower Live “Top 5”

I really enjoy yet another board game YouTube Channel, The Dice Tower. I talk about them more often because they have a larger team. But at Cons they do live Top 5 lists. Generally for things that are a big sillier, or a bit more negative than their normal ones. I’m not sure why, but they go over the top for them.

This was Top 5 turn offs for games, and bad rule books was on the list, so I agree with that one. It was good for a lot of laughs and generally just nice to sit there and relax. It is in the middle of the day on Friday, but it was a chance to get off my feet from the dealer hall. Which was nice because after that I went and got a heavy game, purchases tomorrow, and well, I was tired after that.

Batman: Everybody Lies with Designer

So the last two are game plays. They are close to being my favorite games played, but they were just fun experiences that stood out. Firstly Batman: Everybody Lies with Ignacy. He went over the rules and we played the prologue scenario. It is a very easy prologue but had so much fun with it.

Plus, since the boxes were opened, we could buy the game cheaper, so we did. And we got Ignacy to sign he inside of the box which is cool. Right now I have it here ready to get played when I have a chance, which hopefully will be soon. It seems like it’ll be faster to play than some of the other Detective scenarios, at least from the core box.

Paint the Roses with Designer

And then Paint the Roses. This was part of the walking around with the Tablenauts crew. And we got to play this deduction game, interesting that both specific games are deduction, in it’s deluxe form. And taught by the designer of the game.

Paint the Roses is a game where you are trying to figure out the conditions and cards other people have for getting the roses painted. You place a tile and then guess every turn. If you guess a card correctly, you move ahead that many spots and the queen moves one. If you’re wrong, you stay still and she catches up to take off your heads. A ton of fun and super pretty.

Final Thouhts

I had an amazing Gen Con. The two things I’d maybe do or change up for next year. Firstly, it is more fun to have people to go around with. Like I said, sometimes maybe could have had a demo with two people, but I just got the rules explanation because I was just one person. Wandering with more people is more fun.

The other thing is that I’d probably schedule another earlier event. I can easily make it there by 8 AM or 9 AM, so maybe on Thursday, schedule something early. Or even a couple of times. Get in a specific game play if they have the earlier time. Thankfully CGE and some of the company specific rooms open earlier, but they are slammed before the dealer hall opens at 10 AM. So having a two hour event before wandering the dealer hall would be fun, and let me pick more specific things.

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