Catch up on the games to demo here.

What This Gen Con List Is

Let me make sure that it’s clear as to what this Board Game Geek list is. I think it can be a bit confusing if you just jump into it. Because if you find yourself plugged into the board game hobby like I do, you know a lot of these games already. Now, I know that most people aren’t, but if you happen to be one who is.

But this list isn’t purely a new games list. This is for board games that haven’t been at Gen Con before. So that means from August 7th last year up until August 1st when Gen Con starts, any game that came out then can make the list. So some of the games have been out for a little while. But a lot of them are not that easy to find, if they are popular. So Gen Con is going to be a chance to track them down.

That said, there are plenty of games coming out for the first time as well. These games will hit the list and look for games with that August 1st release date. Or even games that don’t have a release date.

Now some of them might not make it in time. That is one thing to be aware. Some of these games, I know 25th Century Games is doing this, fly over right before the con. Others might be on the boat and the companies hope it arrives in time. Just be aware that some things won’t be there to play or demo that are on the list. This is more than anything just a logistics situation.

Upcoming Streams

On Monday I play small solo game plays. The schedule is, right now, going to look like gaming every other Monday. A chance to see people in person came up for Monday and as much as I like streaming, it’s good to socialize as well. And I might do more deck construction with Star Wars Unlimited on Mondays as well or pack openings. Right now it’ll be more Slay the Spire.

On Wednesdays, I play solo campaign games. I plan on playing a campaign game coming up. Right now I’m torn between two games. Well, more than that if you watched through the end of the video. And that is more of The 7th Citadel. I plan to keep playing through The Drums of Desolation for a while so join me for that.

And if you want to know when I go live, the best way is to subscribe. When you subscribe, click that notification bell and you’ll get an alert whenever I’m going to go live. Follow the link – here – to subscribe.

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GenCon Events

Too Many Bones

This one is because I own the game. I own the game, yet I don’t play my copy because I know how to play but don’t know how to play. I like with bigger games, I’m thinking of Burncycle last year, Lost Ruins of Arnak and Dwellings of Eldervale the year before, it’s a chance to learn the game. Someone who knows how to play the game is going to sit down and teach you the game. And then, for me, that means that I now can more easily teach and play it at home.

This year for GenCon Too Many Bones is that game. Chip Theory games I think are good for the list. A lot of them are complex with pretty dense rulebooks. So GenCon is a chance to really be able to learn a game and get the experience. At four players that might not be ideal experience, but it’ll be a good first one and help me get the game under my belt.

Stardriven: Gateway

Next up coming from Rock Manor Games is Stardriven: Gateway. I wrote about this one when I wrote about the Gamefound Feast. It still intrigues me as a game that has story to it and going to feel like an interesting space adventure. And while it is supposed to still have the grand vastness of space to it, it’s more about managing your crew. You take care of yourself and focus in on that crew level and the big things will happen.

Star Wars Unlimited

You know I like Star Wars Unlimited. This is mainly for two reasons that I want to get into this event. It’s another learn to play event, I don’t need to learn to play. But I think you might get a promo card, which is Grogu. But even if you don’t, it’s going to be playing with the new set. Yes that set will have been out for under a month, but it’s still under a month. And for an hour long session, it’s going to be a fun time to play the new stuff that I haven’t seen much.

Rebel Princess

This is one that I can’t remember if I’ve already ordered the game or not. I just know when I saw the game announced I was intrigued. You’re a princess who is basically trying not to be a princess in the “traditional” sense. And to do that, you’re playing a trick taking game. I like trick taking games a lot, so it was an easy one for me to consider picking up. And when I’m considering picking it up (or maybe did) then it’s one that I’d like to try at GenCon.

Metrorunner

Metrorunner is one that I added to the list because it’s from Thunderworks games. I haven’t played anything from Thunderworks that isn’t part of their Roll Player setting. Metrorunner is not from that setting so it’s going to be the first. I’m intrigued by the sound of it. And it’s a chance to try a game that I passed on when they did crowdfunding. So I’m curious to see what it’ll be like.

16th Annual Dice Tower Awards

Last year I went to the Dice Tower Awards and it was fun. I almost didn’t sign up for a ticket again this year. And I might have passed, or I would have passed had I gotten into one time for an event. But I like going to the Dice Tower Awards. They are fun, and it’s a chance to make that first day of GenCon last a little bit longer. But it is also a chance to not be on your feet for the whole time which is nice as well.

Is there anything super special about the event, not really? But it’s a fun event. It feels like a chance to just enjoy and celebrate games. For people like myself, I know a lot of the games already, but for the people that I’m going with, it’ll be a chance for them to see what a lot of the big newer games are.

Mistborn Deck Building Game

Finally, the event that I only got into because one of the people was in the 400’s on the queue. Mistborn is a setting that I like, don’t love. It is from Brandon Sanderson, an author who I really love. When he is having a game made from Brotherwise Games, I am interested. Plus I like deck building games a lot, so even more interested.

Why did these sell out so fast? Firstly, it’s a preview of the game, it might even almost be somewhat of a playtest of the game. I am not 100% sure on that. So people like those events, and it’s the first chance to see a game that is coming to crowdfunding. But it is also Brandon Sanderson so people will be interested because of that. The fact it filled up fast was not a surprise for me.

Final Thoughts and What I Missed Out On

Firstly, I like the number of events that I got into this year. For me, this is about the sweet spot in number of events. A few more than sometimes overlap prime walking the dealer hall time, but don’t worry, I plan to do a lot of that as well.

I didn’t miss out on much. Two Mistborn deck builder events were full before i got to my sign-up. But I got in another way, so that is amazing. Then a Stormlight RPG Demo, it is Brandon Sanderson’s series I like better, I am not surprised. The Elder Scrolls, a game coming from Chip Theory Games, I am already all in on it. It is not out yet, so people want to see it. And with Too Many Bones, I will be playing the game it is based off of. Finally, SETI, another learn to play event for a new game. I think it looks interesting, but I don’t feel bad missing on it.

Did you get into the events that you wanted?

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The Basics of the GenCon Events Catalog

Let’s start really easily with the filters and what you need to know.

• Event Type: The type of event that you might want to play. The big ones are RPGs and Board Games. There are events like TCG’s, Seminars (Panels) and other events. But the big two people come for are RPGs and Board Games.
• Game System: What type of game are you playing. Might seem redundant, but if you want to track down a specific game, say Blood on the Clocktower, you can do that through this. So it simplifies some filtering.
• Day: Which day is it on?
• Start Time: When does it start?
• Company/Group: What company is running it. It’s a great way to say, I want to find anything that company X is doing because I’ll be interested in one of their games. I don’t care which one or when it is. So filter by that.

And there are a few other things that matter a bit later.  Has it sold out or already happened, doesn’t matter now, or when you sign up for events. The system will tell you that. The age let’s you know if there are age restrictions. And the level of experience, well, how much you need to know. Most of the RPG and Board Gaming events will be none because they want to teach you the game and get you to buy it.

The Events Themselves

So what do you need to know about the events themselves? I can go into this in detail, but most of the GenCon event stuff is self explanatory. But let’s talk about a few things of note on them.

• Tickets Available: How many people will be at this event. It is going to determine how likely you are to get into it. The more tickets, the easier it is to get into. The fewer, you get the drift. Also important to note if you want to get all the tickets or multiple tickets because you’re in a group.
• Get Tickets For: The big part of the GenCon event catalog is picking what events you want to go to before the events are live. If you are interested, select one of these, if you have a group, pick all or one additional depending on how many you need.
• Only Get Selected Tickets If All Are Available: It does what it says, but it’s important to see it’s there. Again, if you want to play with your friends, you don’t want to sign up only to get one ticket instead of all of them or two of them.
• Cost: How much does it cost? There are free events, but most of them cost. Why, the companies want to pay their people some and this is one way to offset it. Plus they are paying GenCon some as well
• Ticket Method: Another one that is important to note. If it’s electronic, easy, you just show up with your badge and they scan it. So the thing you need to get into the convention is what you need. But it might be paper tickets. And those you either grab at will call ahead of time or have shipped to you. I recommend the latter, skip the lines when you can.
• Duration: Another easy one, how long is this event going to take?
• GM(s): This is the person who is going to run the game. They use GM (Game Master) which is normally an RPG term, but it’s just the instructor/teacher for the game.

Wish List

Finally we have the Wishlist. As you add tickets for yourself and others it’ll allow you to order a wishlist. And I’m not toing to say that there are great tips and tricks for this. And I will get to how you process this in a minute, but order them how you want. It’s meant to be the one that you most want to make it to at number one. I use it slightly differently. Sometimes the GenCon event I’m most excited for has two hundred or five hundred tickets. I don’t need to put that one as high.

Instead, I use it to rank the ones that I’m most interested in with that lower 4-5 person count higher. It theoretically let’s those process first because of how GenCon processes everything, I say theoretically. So let’s get to that day of signing up for events.

How to Actually Get Events at GenCon

GenCon’s main system is on the day that events go live, May 19^th in 2024, it is going to kick off at 11 AM Central time (noon Eastern). You want to be on right then and you want to be on your wishlist page. When the time comes the page will change and you’ll be able to process your wishlist. Keep in mind, mobile, it’s okay for using the site. But that’s only so relevant.

Your wishlist is going to drop into a queue. I clicked within a minute of the go live time last year and was about 5,000 down on the list, maybe slightly further. So events get processed through as you go through the queue. This is why I say the wishlist only kind of matters. I’m assuming that their backend system processes X number of wishlists at a time. So if they go through ten at a time, which seems possible, your wishlist is going to be ranked and compared against the others to make it more likely that you get yours. I want to explain how they do this programmatically, but that’s not going to be useful.

So the processing will take a while. But you don’t need to babysit it the whole time. Check every 15 to 20 minutes to see where you are in the queue. And once your list processes you can go through and update any that you might not want anymore. And you can buy all your events at once. Then after the fact if you want to add more or you missed out on something you really want but there is another event for it, you can add those in and process them separately. Only that first four hours, maybe, is it going to be that hectic and slow a queue.

Additional Tips and Tricks for GenCon Events

Overbook when you create your wishlist. I don’t do great at this, but add in multiple times for a game that you might want. And at the same times that you have other things. If you’re planning on an event at that time,  make sure you have an event at that time.

The other one is book early events. A lot of people get together at GenCon and stay up until midnight or two in the morning every day. It’s fun to do, it’s fun to play games late into the night. It’s fun to have a beer or two while you do so. But I don’t do that every night, maybe one time. Two reasons, it helps avoid con crud, but also it lets me schedule early events. Events that start at 8 AM or 9 AM, less likely to have people sign up for them because it’s early. And especially on the first day when the dealer hall opens, sign up for events starting around then.

Buy generic tickets. This is something that I haven’t really done. But it’s possible to buy generic tickets. The minimum amount is $2 for an event (unless it’s free). So if you want to play a game and it’s at an odd time, say that 8 AM or Sunday, but you  miss out on tickets, you can show up with generic tickets. If someone doesn’t show up, you can get into those events. Now it’s a risk, you might be sitting there with a generic ticket that you can’t use at the end. And you need to plan on enough, so a $8 event, 4 $2 generic tickets, to do the event.

There is playtesting and new things. Sometimes they are trickier to find, but if you know a company is coming out with a new game, search that company or game. You can sometimes get in on playtesting a game which is fun as well.

Finally, you can add friends. The good thing about adding friends is that you can buy for your friends then. This allows you to coordinate events better. If you both or all in your group want to do all the same events, add them to both persons lists. Then process, and whomever is higher in the queue is going to get more of them and sign up there. Just don’t sign up with the other persons.

Final Thoughts

You won’t get everything that you want. But the good thing about GenCon is that there are several thousand events and more will be added. So there are always going to be interesting things to play. And if you’re like me, you don’t overload with events. I generally pick early and later events. Then I’ll wander the dealer hall during the day demoing as many games as I can. But that’s what works for me. You might want more consistent events.

Hopefully this is interesting and useful for  you as you attend GenCon and start browsing the event catalog.

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The 6 – 2 – 1 Rule

So what is this rule that I’m talking about? 6 – 2 – 1 must mean something and it does. It’s the number of hours you should try and sleep, meals you should eat, and showers you should take, per day at the convention.

Try and get 6 hours of sleep per day, you’ll have more fun when you do. Eat two actual meals per day, though even I cheat on this one. But I set aside time every day, one real meal either lunch or dinner. For breakfast I do a granola bar. And for the meal that I skip, I don’t skip. I stop and get out jerky, fruit, trail mix, and basically make a meals worth of food out of foods like that, easy to carry and non perishable. And then shower, once per day, don’t care when you do it, if you’re an evening shower, or morning, or you go back to your hotel at noon. Shower once a day.

Why You Don’t Skip

I think this one will be pretty obvious for some of them. And the one that is the least obvious or the most flexible, I think it also makes sense.

Let’s start out with showers. I don’t care who you are, you won’t smell good after a day of walking around a convention in the middle of the summer. I know that I don’t so every morning I take a shower. It’s a curtesy to your other con goers. I don’t go to Gen Con to smell other people’s body odor.

Then food, again, I think this makes sense. Food helps you focus, it’s the energy you burn throughout the day. Even if you think you’re going strong, being hangry is a thing. Or just not focusing like you should while you learn rules to a new game at an event. So get two meals in, and bring snacks.

Now the one where you can fudge it a little bit. The issue is for the people who fudge it a lot. Try and get 6 hours of sleep a night. That’s not that much really. If you go to bed at 1 AM that’s sleeping until 7 AM. And the dealer hall doesn’t even open until 10 AM. But if you fudge it, try and make up time. One night you go out and drink and party with friends and you get 4-5 hours of sleep. Try and get a good amount of sleep on either side of it. Again it’s about not being cranky, not being unfocused, and not ruining others times.

Final Gen Con Thoughts

Let’s face it, those are probably good rules in general for life. If you’re getting less than 6 hours of sleep it catches up to you eventually. And if you’re showering less, people will want to be around you less. But for an event like Gen Con, I do think there are strong reasons to try and live by these rules. I also understand, it’s that one event per year, possibly, where you can go crazy gaming and seeing people.

But it comes down to something a podcast I like says, The RPG Academy.

If you’re having fun you’re doing it right.

The RPG Academy

And when it comes to things like hygiene, what you do or don’t do can affect how much fun someone else is having. And when you pay for ticket, travel, and events and that can cost a lot, don’t step on someone else’s fun. And really, don’t ruin your own fun by pushing yourself too far.

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5 Board Games to Bring to Gen Con

Each one of the games is going to be for a specific situation. Some might overlap what they can cover but you want a variety of games. The other big thing is that they need to be small enough. They might not all fit in a backpack at once. But if you know your plan for the day, you’ll know which ones to have in a backpack.

The Drop In And Out Game

This game is one that people can join or leave as they come and go between events. One that could really be set-up on a table and as people are able, it just continues throughout the day. But, again, it needs to be a small enough game to easily fit in a backpack.

My choice for this game is Just One. This is not the smallest box on the list. But, and this might be sacrilegious to you, you don’t even need the box. All the components could fit in a Ziploc bag half the size as the box.

But Just One works well for people to drop in and out of. You play cooperative in this party game of trying to guess the word. Rounds take three to four minutes. And at the end of the day you’d just have a pile of words that you got, or didn’t throughout the day.

Waiting by Yourself Game

Sometimes, though, you have a few minutes where you have downtime. Normally I just wander a random part of the dealer hall. But that’s not always an option. And you want to play a game that takes the five minutes between when one event has ended and your next one starts. That is what this game is for.

Grove is the solo game that I recommend. A lot of people would say any Button Shy Game as well. Which that’d be high up there for me because Sprawlopolis fits into a pocket better. But I always have a backpack at Gen Con, so Grove fits in there and it’s a fast solo game of layering cards. There are other small games, so it’s more, what small solo game do you like.

Everyone Can Play Game

Next up is a game that everyone can play. Doesn’t matter if you have two players or fifteen players or thirty players, everyone can play. For this I want a game that isn’t too difficult but there is no requirement that this game is short or just a party game. Something like Wits and Wagers works well as a team game. That is if you want to go the party game direction.

But I am think that Cartographers (though owning the big box makes it harder) is a great option. This is more of a game and a bigger roll and write experience. You are making a map, as the name would suggest, and scoring based off of the season that it is. The cool thing with this roll and write style game is that there is player interaction. A monster card is flipped, we all pass our sheets and you put that monster on my sheet. That way you can mess over your opponents as you can.

Brain Burning Filler

This category is probably an overlooked done. And I think some of that is for fair reason. But last year I got to play a game that probably should have been a crunchy filler length. This is a game that won’t take too long, doesn’t need to play a lot of people, but it has meaningful and tough decisions.

My brain went to a roll and write game where everyone is playing stuff out at once. But one with a higher complexity and shorter time than Cartographers. But I ended up with Hanamikoji as the game. This won’t always work as it’s a two player game, So an honorable mention is Ganz Schon Clever or one of the games in that type. But either game can play fast, there are good decisions. And with Hanamikoji it’s a ten minute game or a twenty minute game, rarely more. And it’s a brain burner with the amount to read your opponent and what they want.

The Let’s Play A Game Game

Now, the final category is a game where you just want to play a game. One that doesn’t need to take twenty minutes or less. One that doesn’t need to handle a large crowd of people. This is for when, in the evening, you want to play a game, you don’t want to learn new rules, so you pull this one out of your backpack and you’re good for an hour or so.

My choice is Floriferous a set collection, card drafting game. It’s a small game, smaller than some of the other ones on the list. In it, you are collecting flowers and scoring cards to see who can score the most points. It’s not a complex game, but there are some fun twists on it. When you draft a card from a row that determines what order you draft next turn. And you choose between drafting or maybe more when you draft scoring cards. So you might not have many and just flowers that work well, or will you get higher scoring?

Games at Gen Con

Now, you might be done with gaming by the time your day ends. So you might not need more games for playing at Gen Con. But I find that I often have that group to play with in the evening, though, not every evening. And some evenings are just earlier to bed, because, well, sleep is needed.

The other reason you might not want as many games is that you’ll buy games. Maybe this is more of a buy list for you at Gen Con to fill in those categories. That way, as the weekend goes along, you find more and more games to play with people. I know that’s some of what happened last year. I played Mythic Mischief was a game game because someone picked it up that day. And I played Ready, Set, Bet as a bigger group game as someone had that one.

So, determine what you need. Determine, if you meet up with a group who is bringing games. It’s a little bit awkward to be at a gaming convention and for no one to have a game on them.

What games do you find work well to carry and play at conventions?

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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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Knights of the Hound Table

Knights of the Hound Table is a battling game for two to four players. In my opinion, it’s a two player game, but that’s besides the point. In it, you are building up a deck of cards to get more and better powerful cards. But the crux of the game is not really that deck building, it is playing the cards.

One each round you play out three hounds. One hound you will use for attack, one you will use for defense and the other one is used for it’s special ability. You’re trying to get more attack then your opponent has defense to try and cut down their life total to 0. It’s not that complex a concept.

But what stood out to me is that the decision making space was better than I expected. That’s because I expected a “take that” type of game. And the powers certainly do have that element. But as a battler game, I also expect it. So when I look at my cards, I realize I want to use everything

. And whose power activates first is all off of a singular number. If it is very high, it’s great for attack or defense but your power will activate first. But on slower cards the power is often better. But if your opponent can mess with your hounds too much, it might not matter. So now you have a tough decision less attack or defense to get that faster power or not?

Who Is It For?

I’m changing up how I write the Beyond the Box Cover to be less in depth than the reviews. But I want to keep this in here, because initial impressions do help you know if it might be for you. And I think that Knight of the Hound Table is for casual gamers in a great way.

It gave me a experienced gamer a good decision making space. But for a more casual gamer, it’s not an overwhelming space. You pick for three cards and then you choose which card you add to the deck later, if any. And that space is very tight and limited, which makes it accessible.

I think this game reminds me of a number of other battlers. But while those can either come out of the box with a lot of rules or a million rules if you are Magic: The Gathering, Knights of the Hound Table is much simpler.

Highlights

Now, to build off of what I said above about who it is for, Knights of the Hound Table is simple in what it does. And that is one of the major highlights of the game for me. Turns go quickly, and everyone goes at once. I play my three cards, you play your three cards. The only time we don’t do everything at once is buying cards. But the market is limited, so that is fast as well.

Another thing is the speed of the game. Now, at GenCon I got to demo the game, that is not the same thing as a full game. The full game is less snappy in terms of length, but doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. When I place it in a weight, I think Munchkin for a light card game. But unlike Munchkin which overstays it’s welcome through luck, Knights of the Hound Table offers real decisions every turn.

Finally, I like how simple it keeps the card. I talk about attack and defense but that is a singular thing on the card. There is one number, so you use one for attack and one for defense. And the one on the hound you use for the power determining who activates their power first and who buys first. So one number is used for three things.

Final Thoughts on Knights of the Hound Table

This is not going to be a game for everyone. But I want to call attention to it because I find it really fun. I think a lot of people looking at the game would assume that it’s just another take that dumb game that is meant to sell a lot of copies. Knights of the Hound Table, that is a silly theme. But, in my opinion it is more than that.

And for that reason, I want to call it out. I want people to find this game and dive into a fun and light experience. Yes, it is a game that won’t offer all the decisions all the time. But it balances a few limited decisions every turn to get fast game play. And I want that tradeoff a lot of the time because not every group I play with and not every game I play needs to be 90 minutes or more.

I doubt many people have heard of this. But let me know if you are familiar with Knights of the Hound Table. Is it a game that you enjoy? If you haven’t heard of it, did i sell you on trying it?

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Gen Con Prep List

• Badge and Tickets
  This is only the case if you had them shipped to you. I generally do, though I’m debating about adding one as a will call, but we’ll see. I think I might want something to do Thursday morning is the big thing.
• Backpack
  People travel around Gen Con with a lot of different things. I suggest bringing a backpack versus say a cart that you pull around or a little dolly. Con goers tend to pay less attention to those and they can trail behind so people bump into them more and harder. And sometimes people have big things like that, which just blocks up an aisle because they aren’t paying attention. Be considerate, bring a backpack and not a huge one. If you buy a big game, take it back to your car or hotel.
• Small Games
  It might seem odd to pack in some small games, but these are your waiting games. Think something you can sit down with a play quickly. Roll and writes, or small card games work well. You buy more at the con, but it’s not a bad plan to have something for just hanging out and chatting.
• Snacks
  Also important are snacks. I tend to make my snacks hearty enough that I don’t need to buy a lunch, so trail mix, jerky, dried fruit, and more. I can make a lunch out of that, I probably will even run out and get some apples one of these evenings. The idea is save yourself some money, but also, don’t let yourself get hangry and run down.
• Water
  Another obvious one, but bring a bottle for water. Or buy a water bottle and fill it up with water at least once per day if not twice. Stay hydrated.
• Masks
  Hopefully this will be the last year we need to do this, unless you want to, but bring masks. I am saying plural, again this is about staying healthy. My plan is one mask each day just to reduce touching and breathing on the same mask.
• Hand Sanitizer
  Even pre-COVID, I’d recommend this. Keep your hands clean, this is again is to fight off con crud. It’s easy to get run down because it is a busy event and there are a lot of chances to play games later into the night or early into the morning. Plus, probably eating worse than normal and sleeping in a new bed or location.
• Comfortable Shoes
  I know, I said I wasn’t going to say things that you would normally pack, but really, pack comfortable shoes. I think in the four days in 2019, I averaged 7 miles of walking per day. That is a ton of walking, so good socks and shoes.
• Notebook and Pencil/Pen
  I will bring this so I can take notes on what I play for this website. You don’t need it for that, but it handy to take notes on what you’ve demoed. If there is something you are interested in or not. It’ll help you remember everything that you played. And what you might want to buy later.
• A budget
  Yes, you can physically bring a budget. It is simple, you get cash, when the cash is gone, you buy no more games, swag, artwork, anything. Now, you don’t need to bring cash, and there are some downsides to bringing cash and risks with it, if you lose it is it lost. But set a budget, very important.

What Not To Bring

• Big Containers
  This goes back to the backpack. Carry something small with you. If you buy a big game, walk it to your car or hotel and then come back. Don’t plan and carrying around 30 lbs of stuff all day and bumping it into people. Don’t take a cart with you everywhere blocking up the aisles.
• Strong Smelling Cologne or Perfume
  Firstly, it won’t mask the fact that you didn’t shower. So shower. But also, especially right now, no one wants people sneezing around them. People have allergies, it is unrelated to being sick, but everyone is going to freak out. So leave your strong smelling perfumes and colognes at home, in general, but for sure this year.

Final Thoughts

Pack smart, some of these things might not make sense for you. Maybe you have enough disposable income you can buy what you want, so skip the budget. Or you will each somewhere for lunch every day so you need fewer snacks. But be smart about what you do and what you bring.

I recommend making a checklist, I did that. The point of this is to call out some things you might not think about. Basics are important but remember the other things as well that you might need. I hope I brought up some less obvious ones for you. And it’s not really something to pack, but remember to shoot for a 5-3-1 – five hours of sleep, three meals, and one shower, every day. It’ll make your con going experience better and everyone who is around you will enjoy theirs more too.

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Top 10 GenCon Games

So, this list is going be games that I don’t own. I loaded this up and I immediately saw Kohaku, but I already own that. It’s a gorgeous looking game that I still need to get to my table. But beyond that, I didn’t put these in a super specific order, it is just the 10 that are jumping out to me. Also, note that if you are there, not all of these games might be there. In 2019 the list was fairly off, and with shipping I suspect that some won’t be here.

10. On The Rocks

I almost backed this one on Kickstarter. And I’ve almost bought it from Miniature Market a few times. Why, because the theme is just fun, I like the idea of mixing up drinks. I also like that you are picking groups of marbles to store or add to your drinks. It feels like a good combination of something like Azul and Potion Explosion but with a theme that more people will enjoy. The reviews on it thus far have been pretty good, so it’s on my radar to pick-up.

9. Kabuto Sumo

I always need to put a dexterity game on the list. Kabuto Sumo though is kind of a different sort of game. You will be up around the table doing bug sumo wrestling as you push discs onto the board to try and knock off your opponents disc. Silly game but man does it look like a lot of fun. But I’ll say decide for yourselves and checkout the videos that Man vs Meeple did as well as Tablenauts, which I have below.

8. The Dragon Prince: Battlecharged

This is one that I’ve talked about before. It’s really one that I want to checkout mainly because I love The Dragon Prince. The show is just amazing and I love it. That said, a skirmish game, while I do trust the company, Brotherwise Games, to make a good game, it is still a skirmish game. I’d love to try this one, but I think it’s going to be a good game.

7. Mazescape: Labyrinth

Escape room games are all the craze. The fact that this one has “scape” at the end of it means that it’s going to be some sort of an escape room style game. But to add in a Maze, now I’m very interested. I loved mazes growing up, I still love them now. And while the mazes on kids playmats at restaurants are fine, I imagine this is going to be more like the mazes in Labyrinth of Time and other video games, which is going to be cool.

6. Dinosaur Island Rawr ‘n Write

Out of all the ones that I think will be at pop-up GenCon, this is the one I said I was looking forward to most. I love my roll and write games, so this isn’t the only one on the list. It’s building a dinosaur park, I’m interested in it for sure. I’ll hopefully be getting this one myself, but if you think it sounds interesting, I’d probably check it out pretty quickly at GenCon.

5. Sleeping Gods

BGG (Board Game Geek) has it listed but I imagine this might not be a ton of copies. In fact, this would be one that I wouldn’t be shocked if it wasn’t there. But I really want to get this game, and I think most people will like it. It takes the world style of Near and Far and Above and Below and puts it into a cooperative game. But a game that has a ton going on and a ton of great views. I really want to get my hands on this one, but it isn’t that cheap. Right now I’m kicking myself for not backing it on KS.

4. Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers

Another roll and write on the list. I like the idea of this one, a Dungeon Crawler with Dungeons and Dragons tied to it, that sounds cool. I just hope that it isn’t too simple (or too complex). Some things like character class specific powers for your hero, that sounds cool. But I’m not sure if it’s in there or not.

3. ArchRavels

Honestly, I’m mainly curious about this one because of the theme. And not because I love the theme so much but because it is an odd and accessible theme. And my wife likes to knit, so it’s maybe a theme that would interest her more. She doesn’t love a lot of games, by that I mean she won’t suggest or pull of the shelf a lot of games. But this might be one if it is easy enough that she’d want to play and learn.

2. Picture Perfect

This is an odd game. In it you are drafting characters and items to set them up to try and match up your picture as closely as possible. At the end you take the picture with your phone and compare it to your card. I don’t know precisely how this all works, but it’s one that I’m really interested in. Why, because it’s weird. That said, it’s one that I’m really interested in trying it. I’d definitely need to play it before I’d buy it.

1. Windward

Finally a game that has been out for a little bit, at least to Kickstarter backers. This one GloryHoundd has a playthrough of it, and game looked interesting. Things like sky whales and going out on your sky ships to get them, that is cool. Another that I really want to try before I’d buy it. But the theme is interesting, the mechanics seem good, and I think it should be a fun game.

All The Games

If you want to see a list of everything that Board Game Geek has complied, you can go through the whole list here. Right now it’s a pretty solid list and I have it filtered for the ones that will be for sale. You can clear that filter and see all the demos, or you can wait for tomorrow. I’ll be posting the demos that I’d want to try.

Let me know what game you’ll be picking up at GenCon, or if you were going, which one you’d want to get.

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What Is Pop-Up GenCon?

On the same weekend as GenCon, FLGS across the country are going to be doing Pop-Up GenCon. This is a kind of like a mini GenCon, but much more limited than that, obviously. There are going to be games to demo and probably some special events that the different stores might put on. But it’s mainly a chance for the board game companies to put out some games to a larger audience.

You can find more details about it over on the GenCon website.

What Games Will Be There?

As GenCon says, it is subject to change. And with shipping, I fully expect that some games might not make it in time. But other games, they might show up that companies haven’t talked about yet because they aren’t sure they’ll make it, but let’s take a look at what is announced.

Dungeon Party

This is a fun, light looking game that uses dexterity to go through a bunch of dungeons. I know I saw this game, by Forbidden Games, when it was on Kickstarter because it was something different. You are tossing or flicking coins onto coasters to fight monsters and have a good time. A game that is definitely built for the bar or a really casual game night of relaxing and drinking.

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

This is a roll and write style game, with a fun play of words on it. You are building out your own Dinosaur Island, kind of Jurassic Park style but with maybe fewer park goers getting eaten. This reminds me of the roll and write, Welcome to Dino World, but I think that this going to be a bit more complex as you build out your park. From Pandasaurus games and the roll and write version of their game Dinosaur Island.

Captured Moments

I won’t lie, I know nothing about this game. It’s based on Downton Abbey which is a show that I haven’t watched, nor one that really interests me. It seems like a set collection game, but honestly, like the show, not a game that interest me that much. It looks like a fairly simple game that would be a good gift for a fan of the show.

Taco Bell Party Pack Card Game

Why is this a thing, I don’t know. This is a game that has been out for a little bit, I think it was part of the Target July release, if I’m not mistaken. But it’s a game, like the Captured Moments game above that is for a big fan of Taco Bell. This isn’t a complex game, you play down cards to get fans of Taco Bell to your scoring pile and the person with the most points wins. That might be simplifying the game slightly, but it’s not one that interests me.

Gravwell 2nd Edition

This is a game that I do know something about, mainly because I have the first edition. This is a really fun game and pretty easy to play. You draft different elements to power up your ships engines as you try and escape a black hole and get back to your dimension. The trick is you don’t know how the elements will work. You play them out and they activate in alphabetical order for each player.

But some will pull you towards the nearest object, repulse you away, or draw other objects towards you. So there is some thought that goes into what you play. Q might push you away from the nearest object 10 spaces but it’s later in the alphabet so that might be towards the black hole. It’s a really fun game and once you get it down, it’s very easy to play.

Dungeon Decorators

From Slugfest Games which made Red Dragon Inn, this is going to be another lighter and sillier game. You are building out a dungeon with, as they say, some light euro mechanics to score points and have the best dungeon at the end of the game. It’s not really a theme that interests me, but Slugfest Games makes some really accessible games, so one that probably would work for a lot of people.

Godtear

This is going to be a skirmish game, one that I think was on Kickstarter. It looks like it’s minis heavy and while the minis seem pretty cool, I’m not sure this is the type of game for me. There are going to be two different factions, it looks like, at the Pop-Up GenCons, so that is cool. For me I look at this and go, do I need another game like that if I have Super Fantasy Brawl?

Disney Mickey and Friends Food Fight

I don’t have a Board Game Geek link for this one coming from The Op (Usaopoly). This, not shockingly, doesn’t seem like a theme for me, and I’m guessing is going to be a nice light kids game. The Op does a solid job on their games, so I don’t think it’ll be like a Hasbro kids game but should offer a little bit of game play to it.

Bayou Bash

This is described as a chaotic racing game. Which, I don’t mind a good racing game and racing games should have some chaos to them. I am also interested in this one because it does have some drafting. Drafting and the ability to pick some of what you want to do always interests me. It makes me feel like it’s less luck driven than something where you are just rolling dice. And it sounds like it’s less about winning but about how cool you can look in the race, which is an interesting concept.

What Am I Looking At?

Well, you can probably eliminate a few of them. I’m not interested in the Disney, Downton Abbey, or Taco Bell Games at all. Godtear, since it is a hex skirmish game is also not that high on my list. In fact, most of these are not that interesting to me, but I’m curious about Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write. It’s one that I considered backing on Kickstarter when it was there with Dinosaur World. I like a good roll and write game, and I think it’d be interesting to compared to Welcome to Dino World.

What games interest you? I hope that there’ll be more, and let me know about your Pop-Up GenCon experience or GenCon experience if you are going this year? I’ll be curious to hear about the events and if the Pop-Up ones are fun for people. Plus, I think since I am going to to the GameZenter, formerly Fantasy Flight Game Center, maybe we’ll see some Fantasy Flight Games there to demo.

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