Gen Con is coming up fast, 16 days until I’ll be on the road. So time to ramp up the Gen Con coverage, which will be mixed in with other things as well. I’ll cover those in a second but today my plan is to talk about what I signed up for. Why I care about those events, and while we’re at it, let’s have them rated in order of least to most excited. What events am I going to this year?

Upcoming Gen Con Coverage

But before we get to all of that, let’s get to what my coverage is going to look like this year. Both leading up to Gen Con and post Gen Con. I did a video, two actually, of all the Board Game Geek listed games for sale and demo. I plan on doing two videos on that again this year. Those can be fairly long so likely will take the place of campaign games the next two weeks.

Beyond that, I like to put up my Top 10 games to demo and my Top 10 games to buy. The other look is more about everything, this is specifically what I’m most excited for. Slightly different, also fairly similar.

Finally, when I come back from Gen Con, I like to list off what I’ve played and talk about those. Write a “Point of Order” for the new games that I got. And then highlight some of the best experiences at Gen Con in another article. So expect that for the coverage leading up to and around Gen Con.

My 2023 Gen Con Events

7. Beacon Patrol

Beacon Patrol is a small tile tableau building game from Pandasaurus Games. I like that style of game with Carcassonne and I am curious to see what this one offers. It’s a shorter event and a cooperative game, so I want to know how this game comes together. And how as a cooperative game it is building in meaningful decisions for the players.

6. Splintered Lands

I like to find games that are in playtesting if I can. Something that is new or still in the works that I can sit down and get a look at first. Splintered Lands is one of those games. A deck building game in a post-apocalyptic world. Two things that I like there. I want to see how that works in a card battler game of building defense and attacking. It could be great, it could feel like what’s been done before. I am just curious and need to know.

5. Burncycle

One thing that I like about some events at Gen Con is sitting down and playing a game that I own. If I already own it, why do I need to play it there? Because I have yet to play it at home. Burncycle is maybe the only purchase from Gen Con 2022 that I need to play still. The rest I’ve played, and Burncyle is the biggest and most intimidating. So might as well learn the game at Gen Con and be able to take it back home, the knowledge, and play easier at home.

4. The Dice Tower 2023 Awards

First of two event ones here back to back. I enjoy the Dice Tower and while I really liked their Top 5 last year, this year they are doing an awards show. I haven’t watched their awards shows in the past two years. But I figure that it will be a fun time. And it’s part of an evening that should be a very good time with some laughs and hear about some games that I might have missed over the past year or what people are touting as the best.

3. Floodgate Games Celebration

The other event with Floodgate Games Celebration. I missed it last year, I think I maybe had an event scheduled over it. I just know that they had an ambitious event for their legacy game which they took down. Then this event replaced it. But because it came up later on the schedule in 2022, I missed it. This year, on the look out for it. A chance to learn about new Floodgate project, I’m excited for that and to just celebrate the games that they have put out already.

2. Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition

If it weren’t for a late added event this would have been #1. I really like Lost Ruins of Arnak. The system works well, the adventure, for being a worker placement game, is there. And there’s enough going on with buying cards to add to your deck, exploring, and fighting monsters to keep me entertaining.

The Missing Expedition expansion is going to make the game cooperative. That to me is weird and I need to know more. Also it is for a game that I love, so I want more. I already pre-ordered for Gen Con pickup the expansion. So that will b great to be picking that up. But like Burncyle, while I am at it, why not learn the game. So I signed up, on the first day, for a slot to get to play the game.

1. Star Wars: Unlimited

But my #1 event is a trading card game. Danger Will Robinson for that. I got pulled back into TCG’s with Magic the Gathering’s set for Lord of the Rings. Now there is a Star Wars set and I like Star Wars. This is a game that won’t even come out for a year, I would guess. But they are demoing it here. And if you demo it, you get some exclusive cards, Vader and Luke Skywalker. Don’t worry, they will be in the set as well, these are just special versions.

This one really interests me though because I like Star Wars. And I like a few things about what they said for the game. Firstly that you are battling on two fronts to take down your enemy. Both with land and space, so you can lean into one or the other. A balanced approach might mean you can get damage through on both, but if you lean heavily land or space, you might be able to overwhelm with more force. Of course, leaving yourself then vulnerable as well.

Final Thoughts

I often have a weird combination of events. And sometimes I don’t even make it to all the events. I was intentional about what I signed up for this year, a bit more than last year and less than the first year. Also shorter events.

It’s easy to overwhelm a schedule y signing up for a ton of things. And then you find that you don’t want to play them all. You want to spend time on the floor and demoing more games. On the flip side, it’s easy to just play a little bit and find yourself done every day when the dealer hall closes. Or find that you don’t sit down at tables and play. I play with random people all the time at Gen Con, that is part of the fun. But I get why it is hard for some people.

Overall, I like the events that I signed up for. There are definitely some less interesting ones to me on the list, mainly the bottom two. However, they are still interesting and I want to explore and experience them to see if they are a game that I will just fall in love with. There is certainly the chance so I got to try and take that and see what happens with them. Because one thing I love about Gen Con is trying new games.

What event sounds more interesting to you? And if you’re going, what event are you most excited to attend on your list?

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