Games Played at Gen Con 2022

Lost Ruins of Arnak

There are a few games that I have had on my shelf where I need to play my copy. Lost Ruins of Arnak from CGE was one of those games. And I got to play two games of it at Gen Con, including one full game. Needless to say, and if you saw the video, I liked it. It is a good game with interesting worker placement, light deck building and a great theme. I was worried that it might be more worker placement than I want, and while everything is mechanical, the theme makes it fun.

Ready Set Bet

This is one that is new, not even out yet. Ready Set Bet is a real time horse racing and betting game. One person is the caller who rolls the dice and shouts out horses as they move forward. The other players, in real time, are putting down bets on horses and trying to make the most money. You can rotate who the caller is, but the game goes so fast, and it is a fun role, that when I played it one person called.

This is a great con game. Everyone is around the table getting excited and shouting or getting into it. And you almost need to stand around the table so you can toss in your bids. It’s clever and fun and plays fast. And I could see getting this one and playing it a few times in an evening and having a great time.

Jekyll vs Hyde

This one I played twice as well. Jekyll vs Hyde is a trick taking game but with a twist or two. Firstly, it’s two player with one person being Jekyll and the other Hyde. The person who is Jekyll wants to keep the number of tricks as even as possible. Win too many or lose too many and Hyde advances on the board to the monster side. The Hyde player wants to get that difference up to get across the board. It is a fun idea and feels different, plus who top suit is determined for a trick is interesting as well. Not a two player trick taking game I need, but one I’d gladly play.

First Rat

First Rat has a silly but great theme. The moon is obviously made of cheese and you are rats trying to build a rocket to get to the moon. It is an interesting game where you are pushing your rat meeples up a track. You can push one up fast, unlock more rats or you can go slower and try and combo getting resources to build your rocket.

What you do on your turn is simple. You move one rat up to 5 spaces, or two rats up to 3 spaces as long as they end on the same color. But just that is a great puzzle. Plus how you pick what you do and what you’re going for works really well. It is a game that I wouldn’t have tried if it weren’t for Gen Con.

Draftosaurus

A game I already know I love and I own everything for. This was later one of the days at the con. I wanted to play a game but most of the bigger ones were either shut down as they take too long or already in the swing of things. Draftosaurus was easy to just sit down and play. The game is so light, but still it’s a lot of fun to play.

NFL Five

One that I demoed and came home with because if you demoed you got a demo copy. This is basically a way to sell packs of football cards, and specific ones, for the game. I describe it was rock paper scissors but instead of there being a tie option, you just need to watch. So it’s a guessing game that you can mess around with a little bit. It’s very light and just fine, but it was free and it was open for demoing so why not give it a shot.

Catapult Feud

Another one I own, this was me wanting to set down my bag after I bought Burncycle. Catapult Feud is fun, it’s fun building the castles and launching balls to try and knock it over. The game is barely there, but the toy factor is so high, who even cares.

Fit to Print

This is one that I believe was on my too demo list. Fit to Print is about making your best front page for a newspaper and scoring points based off of that. It was fun, and interesting because of the real time aspect to it. You start out picking out tiles which are articles, pictures, and ads for your paper. Then when you’re ready you try and set-up your layout as fast as possible to score the most points.

The game is simple and fun, and the real time element that didn’t bother me. I think because the feeling wasn’t intense. I had three minutes to do everything. But I never felt like there is too much time pressure on it. Nor is it like Fuse where it is always counting down. It’s fast moving and light fun, but the real time doesn’t add stress.

Spicy

Spicy was a bit of a miss for me. This is a bluffing game where you put down cards of different spices and they need to go up in numerical order, though you can skip numbers, but always ascending. You need to call out when someone lays down a bluff. Playing with masks makes the game trickier. And at three it was just okay. For me, the concept of the game and what it pulled off was less interesting than a bluffing game like Skull.

Galaxy Trucker

Here’s another game with a real time element that I like. I wanted to demo the new version of it, which I did. And I don’t really feel the need to upgrade my copy. Nothing seemed to have changed too much, so might as well keep what I have. I enjoy Galaxy Trucker because again it’s a real time game or a game with real time elements, but one that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And then if you are lucky, you can build up your ship so it won’t blow up, if you are lucky.

Let’s Dig for Treasure

A push your luck game. This one is very simple, you pull cards until either an evil skeleton gets you or pull up two worm cards. But you can bank your points whenever you want. The artwork on the game is fun, and as the person who demoed it said, it’s a restaurant or bar game. One that’s small enough you can take it along and pull out and play easily. Not much thought or strategy to it, but it works well enough.

FYFE

This is a random game that I got to try because the table was open. It reminds me a bit of Village Green and Calico. You are putting down discs to complete different scoring objectives in rows and columns. But you need to think about rows and columns so that you can score as many things as possible. It gets tricky as you start to have limited options to fill in and now which thing do you think it’s more likely to be able to get and score. Not one I needed to add to my collection but not a bad game.

Knights of the Hound Table

This is a small game that I was tempted to pick up. Knights of the Hound Table is a head to head battler. You put down one hound as an attacker, one as your defender, and one for their power. Then you compare, take damage and buy cards to improve your deck of hounds. The artwork is cute on the game, the game play with picking which power to use is interesting. Better for a small box head to head game than I expected.

Village Rails

I mentioned Village Green, Village Rails is from the same company and it shows. You are making rail routes to score points. Keeping track of where the tracks are going is trickier than what is in Village Green. But you don’t have the column and row scoring in Village Rails. So it is slightly easier, I’d say, and just as fun. Plus the artwork on the cards is amazing and the game itself felt pretty relaxing. A small box game I’d want to add to my collection.

Coatl

Not a new game but Coatl is about building out your best Coatl to score points. The game play is fine, it is basically collect pieces then build out your Coatl. I wish that the game would move slightly faster than it does because of how light it is. The toy factor is fun, but that is not enough for me to really recommend this game. It is more going to be one of those fine gaming experience that I’d play again but wouldn’t seek out.

Flamecraft

Flamecraft was only there for demo, I was kind of hoping it’d be there for sale. But Flamecraft is a worker placement game with dragons. You are trying to collect resources to improve shops and end up with the favor in the end. How you play is simple, you either go to a place and collect resources or to fulfill a contract. What makes this game is the artwork. I wish I had backed it for that, and now that I’ve played it, at least a few rounds, I suspect I’ll add it because of how cute it is.

Starship Captains

A new game from CGE, I snuck my way into a game the first day. And I got to play the full game which is nice. It is an action selection game where you build up a little bit of an engine, fly around, and try and complete contracts and defeat space pirates. The game moves quite fast, I would say too fast, though that’s probably a good sign that it leaves you wanting to do more and to try again to do even more.

Meadow

Meadow is one that I knew I wanted to see because it’s pretty. But looking at it and watching the GloryHoundd play of it, I thought it likely wasn’t for me. You can watch their video below. But the game itself was fun to sit down and try. I’m still torn on it because it’s a very thinky and pretty game. I am worried that AP would set in too much if I picked it up. I even found myself having to think through what I was doing for a bit. It’s one I’d love to try again though.

Asking for Trobils

Another one that was played on the GloryHoundd Youtube channel. You can see that play below. A worker placement game that is very light but a good amount of fun. You are basically building up traps and things to get Trobils which are worth points. Two players was fine with the game, I feel like it’d do a bit better with more and with a tighter board where you bounce each other more.

Twilight Inscription

One of the big games I wanted to try out at Gen Con. This is a 2 hour roll and write game based in the world of Twilight Imperium. It delivers on what it promises. And I don’t think that the game is too difficult to follow. There is just a lot later in the game when you get a ton of resources to spend and figuring out how to do that in the most efficient way.

The game comes with four boards. So you activate one board each time, whether combat or exploration, or whatever else they might be. And you do need to do a bit of everything, but you can really focus in on how you want to score your points. A fun game that I want to add to my collection.

Dwellings of Eldervale

Another game that I own but I hadn’t played. Sitting down at Gen Con is a great way to learn a game that you don’t know or you want to know more about. Dwellings of Eldervale was a lot of fun to mess around with. The core game play is fun for it and I like that this is a worker placement game but it feels so much bigger than that. You can do a ton of big things and just have fun with it. And there is no trading in the Mediterranean.

Oathsworn: Into the Deep Woods

And yet another game that I own. Oathsworn just came in before I left for Gen Con. I was almost tempted to move it to the top of the queue but Stars of Akarios First. We didn’t do the city and story part of the game. I say city, it could be different map locations where the story is happening. But we got into the combat and that was fun.

What I really like is how you can push your luck. You can draw cards for hits and you can pick how many to draw. You can roll dice and pick how many to roll. The more you roll of the white dice the more damage you can do. But at the same time the closer you are to busting.

Hero Realms

Hero Realms is one that I played day one and bought day two. And I even got crushed when I played it. But I really enjoyed the lighter deck building of the game. And I thought that it worked well for what it is. Plus it’s a two player game and battler game that is easy to learn. And the deck building combos are not hard to understand. I picked up the cooperative expansion as well which will be fun to mess around with.

Batman: Everybody Lies

I actually got this to the table last night again. But I did a prologue for it at Gen Con at an event. I’ve written and talked about it twice before. See my Highlights here for more information. But this is basically the Detective system with Batman theme from Portal Games.

The biggest change to it is adding in hidden personal goals. It means you might advocate for something for your character that you might not otherwise think about. Or that you might suspect is a red herring because it’ll answer a question for your character. It still is not competitive and the main focus is on the main case. But because of that personal goal it makes it different to play via Zoom like I did last night.

Long Shot – The Dice Game

I almost forgot that this was at Gen Con. But I’m glad I didn’t. A horse racing roll and write game, Long Shot is a lot of fun. I even picked up a copy to bring home. In this game you roll dice and move horses forward around the track. At the same time you are putting bets on horses, filling in spots on your board, and trying to be the person who has the most money at the end of the game. The whole track and physical board element of the game makes it feel different and the game isn’t that complex.

Caesar’s Empire

This is another one of those sit down and play a game because I needed something to do. And Caesar’s Empire is a just fine game. You basically are building our routes to get to cities and score points. The two player game needs a slight rules clarification, possibly. But the whole idea is that you can build off of other people’s roads. Is it worth it to get some points if you are giving them more points. All you do is build onto routes each turn. The game is okay, not one that I’d recommend that highly.

Paint the Roses

Paint the Roses is a great deduction game. It is hard to explain, I feel, without the board but with the board it is easy to explain. The general idea is that you’re trying to get the garden perfect and not have the queen of hearts take off your head. But each of you have a hidden (or multiple throughout the game) things that the queen wants. It might be two red roses next to each other or a diamond and heart shaped topiary next to each other.

You place a tile on your turn and then everyone puts down their clue tokens if it matches. So if I have two red roses and I place down a red rose next to two others. I put down two cubes. Basically giving information that I have two matches. And everyone puts down their clues. Then you need to make a guess on someone’s card. If you get it right you move ahead and the queen of hearts moves ahead one. If not, she moves head faster. Really great puzzle that I want to play again now.

Mythic Mischief

Probably one of the hotter games of the con, I got to play Mythic Mischief in a two versus two game. I suspect I’d like it better as a one versus one game. I also suspect I’d like it better in the blitz mode where you only can take so much time to do your turn.

Mythic Mischief is an abstract game with some fun powers and cool characters. But it’s also a game that induces a ton of AP (analysis paralysis) and for me that knocked the game a lot. The game just isn’t heavy enough to make it worth the amount of time and thought. If I want something like that, I want a big game, not this lighter heavily produced game.

Final Thoughts

I did what I wanted to do, I played a ton of games. I believe that is maybe up to 29 plays and 27 games? But either way, it is a lot and I had so much fun with it. I do want to do a Top 10 list of all of those games, see which my top ones were. So expect to see that tomorrow most likely.

What were the top games that you got to see if you went to Gen Con? And in particular, which ones were the top you got to play or demo?

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Top 10 Games to Buy at Gen Con 2022

10. Sagrada: The Great Facades – Glory

The only expansion on the list, I know that I’ll grab it. It is more fun for Sagrada and while I don’t play Sagrada a ton, it is a blast when I pull it out. Glory is going to give another twist on how to play it. And I like how they are doing the expansions. I wish that this was Sagrada Legacy but that wasn’t able to make it in time.

9. Scout

Scout is probably going to be one of the hot games. I say that because it just won the Spiel de Jahres. But I also am not sure how available it has been. Scout is a card shedding game where the cards have two numbers. And you decided at the start which set of numbers you want to use. But you can’t flip it to give you a perfect set-up, it is just how it is dealt. It seems light but intriguing.

8. Paint the Roses

Paint the Roses is going to be a bigger deduction game. Each player knows part of the puzzle to keep the Queen of Hearts from taking off their heads. But you can’t tell what that is, other players need to figure that out from what you are doing so that cooperatively you can get the garden painted and done. There is a deluxe version of this game that looks amazing.

7. Planet Unknown

Planet Unknown is another game that I expect to be flying off the shelves or from the booth. This is a game that was on Kickstarter and has a cool thing with a tile board that rotates. On your turn you rotate it to pick a tile that you want but everyone else gets to pick a tile from in front of them to add to theirs. A cool concept that I think could make for a fun game.

6. Nightmare Productions

Speaking of a fun concept, Nightmare Productions is a game about making horror movies. Now this is not a new game, but it is the first time that Trick or Treat Studios is putting it out and the first time that I know of with only a horror theme. The only horror theme makes it more interesting for me as you try and make your best movie possible. One that I want to checkout and because of the theme probably buy.

5. Marvel: Remix

Marvel: Remix is a reskin of Fantasy Realms with Marvel. I am interested in plain old Fantasy Realms but Marvel: Remix is a theme that I like better. This is basically a small combo building game to give you the most points at the end of the game. You do that by adding or removing cards from your hand. Not sure completely how it works, but looks like a good one.

4. Long Shot: The Dice Game

Another one that I guarantee will be hot. And one that is already out and has been for a little bit. But it hasn’t been consistently easy to get your hands on. This is a roll and write horse racing game where you bet on horses and it just looks like a nice light fast and fun game. I really haven’t heard anything bad about it, maybe some okay reviews but nothing bad.

3. Cat in the Box

Cat in the Box is a fascinating sounding trick taking game. In this game you are playing standard trick taking, you predict how many tricks you can win, and you get points for that. But cards never have a color, at least not until they are played. Then all of a sudden they have a color, and you can declare yourself out of suit at any time, but be careful, because that might create a paradox.

2. Cartographers Expansions

I guess there is one more expansion on the list, Cartographers is getting three new maps. I think if you pre-ordered them they have already shipped. Do I need these? Probably not. Will I get them, most definitely. I love Cartographers, one of my favorite roll and write games, I think it got bumped to #2 or #3, but we’ll have to see when I do my Top 100 games of all time this fall.

1. My Father’s Work

Finally we have My Father’s Work. My Father’s Work is a big game, one of not so many big games on my list. Oathsworn isn’t on there because I backed the Kickstarter, otherwise it would be. But My Father’s Work you play as a mad scientist, but not just one, three generations as you try and pass down knowledge, deal with the villagers and complete your machines, monster, whatever it is. It is scenario based with an app, and while it is heavily Euro mechanics, I think it looks so fascinating. I could see this one being popular, but it is fairly expensive.

Do You Have Gen Con Must Buy?

Let me know what you want to buy. I do want to swing by the Shadowborne Games booth to see Oathsworn, of course my copy will be showing up today. And same with Batman: Everybody Lies, but I might wait on that one. And The Librarians just missed the list, I thought the game was fun, didn’t back it on Kickstarter, and now I want to see what the final production looks like. There are a whole lot more games as well I can imagine being hot, Final Girl and Ark Nova likely will move fast as well. But let me know what you want to pick up over on Twitter.

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Gen Con Preview

The list is just starting at this point with 169 different games. That is a lot of games, though, if you wanted to try and check them all out. I fully expect that more than normal won’t make it in time. But companies might be hedging their bets, as well, as a lot of the games are ones that will be released before hand.

Ra – 25th Century Games

This is one that I’d be surprised if it was out. The Gamefound campaign for it just wrapped up a few weeks ago, but at the same time, Ra is a game that’s already existed. This is an auction game that I’ve had fun with. In it, you are bidding on sets of tiles that get drawn from a bag. And the different things that you get give you bonuses and points.

But the cool thing about the game is the bidding. When you bid and win, you put your number into the middle. And then you take the number that was there. So there is strategy with the bidding because you likely don’t want to bid the 16 when the one is in the middle. Unless the tiles are so amazing. I find it a good and interesting twist on bidding.

First in Flight – Artana

Don’t know much about this one. But according to the description, thi sis going to have you building up a deck of cards and pushing your luck to be the first person to fly. I’m curious as to how it works, but looks like a lighter card game which isn’t bad. And it’s deck building, and I like that.

Call to Adventure: Epic Origins – Brotherwise Games

Call to Adventure: Epic Origins is a prequel to Call to Adventure. And Call to Adventure is a game where you cast runes and try and complete and create your epic story. I own the Stormlight Archives version of Call to Adventure that I need to get played. It seems like a pretty light game, but a good time. And, I believe, that Epic Origins, a standalone game, gives you more of the same, but builds your starting story.

Ark Nova – Capstone Games

Probably not much that I need to say about this one. But Ark Nova is a smash hit, right now, for Capstone and probably breaking into the Top 10 on Board Game Geek very very soon. It gets compared to Terraforming Mars, a game I need to play, in that it’s a bigger engine building game and one that offers lots of possibilities. I want to give this one a try for sure. I suspect it is a game I’d enjoy.

Starship Captains – CGE

The best way I can describe Starship Captains is that it reminds me, art wise, of Star Trek Lower Decks. Or maybe it gives me a bit of a vibe of Galaxy Trucker as well, not in play but in theme. I am curious about it as it has engine building and drafting. Those are two things that I enjoy quite well.

Fit to Print – Flatout Games

Fit to Print is an odd theme for a game but one that I find fun. In Fit to Print you are drafting cards and trying to collect and set-up the best front page of a newspaper for animals. The theme, very different. And I like this idea of trying to collect what you need and put it together.

Sagrada: The Great Facades – Glory – Floodgate Games

Glory is a given at this point. I own all of Sagrada, I believe just missing the Kickstarter promo window. And I know I want to grab this one as well. Sagrada is still one of my favorite games because it offers good choices but isn’t too complex. The expansions can definitely make it more complex, but again, that isn’t a bad thing as they are easy to add or remove and tailor the game to the group.

Oak – Game Brewer

Oak interested me more because of the theme than anything. Hand management and set collection I like. But they are very normal at this point in time. And I feel like I can find so many that it isn’t worth checking out. But add in druids trying to unlock a secret. That theme is what is drawing me in. And it doesn’t hurt that the cover looks great.

Ecosystem – Genius Games

Ecosystem is a game that apparently has been out for while. The Board Game Geek release date was November 20th, 2019. But I wonder if it is newly picked up by Genius Games for an American distribution. I like the them in this game. You draft cards to try and build a balanced ecosystem. It feels different but also not too different. And give a game pretty nature artwork, at least aesthetically it is more interesting. One that I want to checkout for sure.

Critical: Foundation – Season 1 – Gigamic

First of two back to back campaign and adventure style games. It will give you some role playing feeling, at least that is what they are saying. And Critical, it h as an interesting cover. I’m curious to see what type of story it has, set in 2035, so not that far into the future. I feel like they limited how sci-fi they can go with the story, because of the timeline. And also not the normal type of game I expect from Gigamic, but one that’ll be interesting to checkout.

Forgotten Depths – Grand Gamers Guild

I considered backing Forgotten Depths on Kickstarter. I like the artwork on the game and a dungeon crawl style is something I always enjoy. On Kickstarter, I think, I thought it looked lighter than I’d normally back. But for a $40 MSRP, that isn’t bad and for a game that can be played solo, it isn’t bad as well. I think it’d be a much smaller footprint campaign game.

Suspects – Hachette Boardgames

I believe that Zee Garcia, of the Dice Tower, recently did a review on this. Or he will be doing one shortly. But for me, this has two things that interest me. Firstly, I like cooperative deduction where you are trying to solve a mystery. It makes for an interesting time. Generally some very good experiences. And then add in Agatha Christie, or a world inspired by her works, I’m very curious.

Exit: The Game – Lord of the Rings: Shadows over Middle-earth – KOSMOS

I find the Exit escape room style games just okay. They have a destructive element to them which makes it feel like more of a waste. But play with 4 people for an hour, it isn’t bad for $20. And Lord of the Rings, that is a theme that I am curious about. What sort of story can they tell, what puzzles will they create for the game interests me a fair amount. It’s one that I could pick-up and play with my wife and she’ll appreciate the theme a lot.

Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles – Mindclash Games

Now a big Kickstarter. Mindclash always makes big games, and Perseverance with basically two games in one box, created a game with a huge box. I am curious about this one. I didn’t back it on Kickstarter, but dinosaurs, survival, and then building up your society, it is interesting. For demo only at Gen Con, that’s probably a good thing. Means I won’t be tempted on a game for a lot of money because it has dino minis.

Venn – The Op

A party game on the list, and this is one that I want to try, not buy. Mainly because it is a party game, and sometimes they are great, sometimes not so much. But I generally want to try before hand or watch someone play it. This one, though, I find intriguing. As the person who is it, I believe, you put down three cards, and people are trying to guess that middle spot on the Venn diagram. So the word that intersects all of the other words. If that is how it works, I think it is one that could provide a lot of laughs and a lot of replayability.

Long Shot: The Dice Game – Perplext

Another game that is getting a ton of love already. Long Shot: The Dice Game is a horse racing game where you buy and bet and horses. That, combined with a roll and write game. I love my roll and write games. And the idea of one that has a physical board that people race around, it seems different. Often roll and write games can limit interaction, but Long Shot seems to lean into that.

Northgard: Uncharted Lands – Shiro Games

Another big Kickstarter game that I looked at. I believe that Northgard is based off of a video game, which is intriguing. I don’t know anything about the video game though. And for the board game, I like the artwork. I love Norse mythology. So the game seems like it should be one for me. But the fact it is a 4x game makes me a bit hesitant to back it.

Cartographers Map Pack 4 through 6 – Thunderworks Games

And this is another one that I know I’m going to get like the Sagrada Expansion. I own everything for Cartographers thus far, and I really like it as a roll and write. Against, like Long Shot, it is more interactive than a lot of roll and write games. And while I enjoy a good roll and write that is a puzzle, like Railroad Ink or maybe has a race element like Welcome To for objectives, I like placing the monsters onto other players sheets here.

Unboxing

And two games were unboxed last night as well. It is fun to get in new games, and some of them, with Kickstarter, are a good time to show off. Now, this isn’t as minis heavy as a lot of the time, though, because , well, neither game has a ton of minis.

Steelslayer

Steelslayer is an expansion for The Reckoners. And Steelslayer adds in two more major epics. Plus more locations and cities as well. Overall, it just seems to add more to a game that could probably use a bit more. I haven’t played The Reckoners a ton, but I noticed we went through all the epics. Or we got close, in the one play. And while that isn’t a massive issue, it would be nice just to keep more variety built in.

Too Many Bones: Undertow

Too Many Bones: Undertow is going to be another game that I have played before. Or, I should say, I did a demo at Gen Con in 2019. I thought that the game was fun. But it didn’t jump off the table for me, mainly because we played only so little in the demo. I think more chance to play with it, and seeing more game play, the game looks like it should work better for me.

Plus, the price on Chip Theory Games went up at the start of June. So I knew if I wanted to grab it, I wanted to buy it before that happened. And I have another two character standalone game/expansion on Gamefound last year. The gearlocs in the base game are just okay, but the expansion ones, they seem like a lot of fun.

Upcoming Streams

So what is coming up. My plan is to learn and start getting Pathfinder Adventure Card Game to the table of Wednesday. Then for the next Monday, I hopefully will have a whole bunch of Massive Darkness 2 from CMON available to unbox. I believe that will be my plan for the next Monday stream. Another unboxing and picking a topic to chat about.

Let me know how you want me to do my unboxings. I personally like going with a bit more of a BoardGameCo style where I ramble on about a topic and about the game and spend some time. I know there are other channels that do them shorter. But for me, part of the fun, and why I do them live, is I can chat with everyone.

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