All the games come from the Board Game Geek Preview list. You can watch me going through that list here.

Top 10 Games to Buy at Gen Con

10. Last Light

A 4x game that is supposed to take a pretty short time to play. And it has some unique mechanisms where the board rotates. While this one is high on my list, I doubt that I pick it up. I might when the retail version comes out, but sounds like Grey Fox Games is flying in some deluxe ones. If I can demo it at Gen Con, though, this might change my mind and I’ll want the fancy version with the fancy planet pieces. Either way, if it lives up to that, about an hour timeline for players who know how to play, I am interested in the game.

9. Redwood

Redwood is a game about taking pictures of nature. There are a lot of nature games out there, fewer about photography, I feel. Redwood, I think, is an interesting looking game because you use a template after you’ve set yourself up for a picture. You are seeing what you can see when you snap that picture and you get points depending on what in the picture. Might it be just a fun gimmick, that’s possible, but it’s a gimmick that I want to try.

8. Race to the Raft

Another one that I passed on Kickstarter but I am still intrigued by. This is from City of Games who did City of Kings, which I own and need to play, Isle of Cats which I like and need to play more, and Isle of Cat’s Explore and Draw which I really like. This is a completely different game from any of those, though. Race to the Raft is about building out paths or keeping paths open for cats to get to rafts, after Isle of Cats, before the island burns down.

It’s a cooperative game where everyone is working on this single goal. I’m very curious to see how it plays. The board looks a bit busy, not because there’s too much on it, it’s just really bright. I’d love to demo this one and see if it’s for me, and I believe it can be played solo.

7. 3 Ring Circus

3 Ring Circus is on this list and this high just for the theme. I enjoyed the circus growing up, and I do not find clowns creepy. I mean, creepy clowns are creepy, but that’s intentional. 3 Ring Circus seems to be a race to build up the best performances and make the most money. We might now have the biggest circuses but if we can impress PT Barnum or someone who is coming through, maybe we’ll get more money and more acclaim. It also doesn’t look like a light little game, in fact it looks very big and a puzzle as you try and get everything done that you want. So very intrigued by that.

6. Freelancers

Freelancers is a game in the Plaid Hat Game Crossroad Games. I think there are four in that system already, or something like that with Dead of Winter, played, enjoyed, and sold. And Forgotten Waters, one that I really want to play. Plus two more, Gen 7 which I’ve not heard great things about, and Comanauts, which I haven’t played. This one, though, sounds a bit more fun, and seems like it is more in the lines of a Forgotten Waters compared to a Dead of Winter. The feel is very Wall-E in some ways, which is a fun theme as well.

5. Sagrada Artisans

Another one I passed on it on Kickstarter, a number of these at the top will be that. But all of them are ones that I was interested in on Kickstarter. Sagrada Artisans is the legacy version of Sagrada where you are coloring in stained glass windows to get points and unlock new things. I am a sucker for legacy games, and I like Sagrada a lot. I have just gotten back into playing the app, actually, which is a very fun app. So I am curious to see what this offers. I didn’t back it on Kickstarter, though, because none of the exclusives interested me enough. It was tempting, though, and it still is.’

4. Tales from the Red Dragon Inn

Another one from Kickstarter, but honestly, I didn’t look too much at this one. I think that Red Dragon Inn is a fine game. It’s a four player game that often gets played well above that which turns it into a worse game. So when it was on Kickstarter, I didn’t look too much based off of my experiences with the other game. But now that I’m hearing about it, it seems like a fun, lighter dungeon crawl game. One of those that is more family weight, so I want to know more and give it a whirl.

3. Marvel United: Spider-Geddon

It’s straight to retail Marvel United stuff, need I say more? This is going to have some more Spider-Verse heroes, anti-heroes, and villains that you can play as or up against. Either way, it’s one I know will go fast. So it’s unlikely I buy it at Gen Con, but if I can get my hands on it, I will. It’s also one that shouldn’t be too far behind with a retail release, so I’m cool with just waiting for that retail release as well.

2. Return to Dark Tower

Two big games to top off the list, and if I were to guess which one I might come home with, I think it might be Return to Dark Tower. This is a cooperative adventure game, but not a campaign game. You play as heroes building up your skills, finding loot, buying equipment, completing quests and trying to hold back the darkness before you’ll take on a big bad.

But the cool thing is that as a game from Restoration Games this is a new version of an old game. And they always put something cool into it. Here there is a giant tower in the middle, and it’ll open up doors and drop out skulls which is where bad things go. Plus there is an app or website tied to it as well to make it work, I’m very curious about it.

1. Kinfire Chronicles

Finally, and barely beating out Return to Dark Tower is Kinfire Chronicles. There is a new game in this series or setting that I had on my demo list. Kinfire Chronicles is a bit adventure story game. But not as big as some because there aren’t four boxes of minis for it. It uses acrylic standees, something that I like to see in games. And a cooperative story driven campaign game is 100% my type of game. Plus there is narration done via the Foreteller app, so you get the story without having to spend all the time reading yourself. While it looks fairly classic fantasy, there is just some level of charm about it that is really drawing me in.

So Many Games

I believe, as I’ve mentioned before, come into Gen Con with a plan. Come into Gen Con with a budget. It’d be easy to blow through several hundred dollars every day and spend over one thousand dollars on games for the weekend. And that is just this first part of the list that might cost you one thousand. So plan out how you want to attack Gen Con.

But it is a chance to see all of these games. I might put together my strategy for buying games into an article. Actually, let’s do it right now. It’s not that difficult. Don’t rush to buy games, they’ll be available later. Set a budget. And I limit myself with big games, I got Burncycle last year, a big game. Otherwise I buy smaller games because I can, again, get those big games later.

That said, I am very excited to see all of the games on the list, and the next ten coming on Monday. Which game excites you most?

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Osprey Games

Undaunted Battle of Britain

Take to the sky. It’s continuing the series of games. Undaunted games are deck building and war games. This is going to add in airplanes with is different. Undaunted is one that I would like to try. I really do enjoy deck building and while the theme isn’t my normal one that I love, I think that it could be a game that I enjoy a lot to play. And there is an expansion to what is already out there that makes it solo.

Arcane Wonders

10 Years of Arcane Wonders

A new logo for Arcane Wonders as they have reached 10 years. They talked about some games that they have already announced.

Foundations of Rome

New Kickstarter August 2nd. I believe this is going to have a new expansion. The announcement that they officially had was just the 10 years of being around and the new logo.

Horrible Guild

The Great Split

The Great Split is where you are drafting cards, collecting riches and trying to get the most prestigious of all of them. You split your cards and your opponent picks one, so you split and choose. Looks like a very light game but also one that is going to be a lot of fun as you try and figure out what to collect and how to get points. Honestly looks like one that I’ll enjoy a lot.

Pencil First Games

Floriferous Pocket Edition

Continues the trend of taking their games and making smaller editions of games. They take everything and basically make it smaller. So it’s going to be the same game but in a smaller package. I don’t know that it needs a smaller edition, the game is already small and I own it and I really enjoy it. But I’ll look at it as maybe a small stocking stuffer for people I know.

Forbidden Games

Mosaic Wars and Disasters

Adds in more cards to the base game. This is a civilization themed game. I am curious about the game as I’ve heard very good things. But It’s also a big game and that means that it is going to be a longer game. Mosaic was a try before I buy and Wars and Disasters seems intriguing but it doesn’t change the fact it’s a try before I buy. Coming to Kickstarter in September. This is a chance to get the game if you missed out on it though. And who knows, maybe I’ll back it if I can demo it at Gen Con.

Unexpected Games

3000 Scoundrels

Old west game that definitely looks to have some weird west vibes to it. And it is going to have cards and sleeves that change up characters. It seems to have a lot of interesting things to it. There are in fact 3000 unique scoundrels. It is going to be an engine building game with some push your luck as well to it. I really love the aesthetic of the game that’s for sure. More information is going to come out tomorrow for more details and is coming out Fall of 2022 or demo it at Gen Con.

Pegasus Spiele

Caldera Park

This is a tile placement game where you are trying to place large herds of animals. The active player is picking what you do and you play them on your own map. It sounds interesting, you try and place things out so that you can not block yourself out for what other people pick, because you are trying to get large herds. I like this a lot reminds me of Tiny Towns.

Spaceship Unity

A space themed game, I don’t know a ton about it at this point in time. It has some great artwork and a fun video introducing it. It is going to be a campaign game over 5 episodes. You need to interact with your own house, I am less convinced on that. They want it to be kind of that Star Trek or Orville theme but to me that sounds too odd.

Dan and Cora Hughes

Cora Quest: Keep on Questing

It’s a family dungeon crawling game. This is more for the game, more quests. It’s coming to Kickstarter in October. It’s going to be adding in more to the game, leveling up characters, more items things like that. Just basically more for the game, so if you like it, you know, and you know if you want more. And there is a box design contests or things for kids from all over the world to get artwork on the box.

Portal Games

Basilica

A 2nd of the game. I don’t know much about it, but it looks quite euro. A two player tile laying game. Ignacy described it as Carcassonne with combat and area control. I like tile laying, I don’t mind area control, especially as two players. So I am curious about it but it is a try before I buy easily. It’s going to be an Essen Spiel release.

Granna

Space Craft

You are building a space craft. You get different resources to let you buy different ship pieces. One interesting piece of the look is that the pieces click together. Plus you are trying to build your space craft to get orders completed. There is some interesting movement to gather your resources and how they are limited. This is one that I’m curious about just because it is building a space craft, and while it’s 2D it looks like a lot of fun. It’s going to be premiering at Essen Spiel.

Matagot

Peter Pan

It’s panic in Neverland as the lost children has been kidnapped. It looks like a game with players trying to figure out where the lost children were taken while avoiding Captain Hook. I think it looks like a lot of fun, it’s a dry erase board which allows you to figure out information. And there is a campaign mode which is interesting. It reminds me of Treasure Island but this one being cooperative is way more interesting to me.

Smirk and Dagger

Tesseract

An other dimensional tesseract is collapsing down. Can you figure out how to control it or will it blow up and destroy our earth. The goal of the game is to get cubes off of the Tesseract and get them into a matrix. If you can contain a cubes into matrix. It’s all about collecting different sets of cubes to fill up that matrix. Looks like a fun puzzle of a game and is going to be cooperative as well. Coming to Kickstarter in October. And it has a lot of cool dice in it.

Gale Force Nine

Enola Holmes: Finder of Lost Souls

It’s an all versus one game of reasoning and deception. I like the idea of a one versus all game where it is set-up with figuring out what the one has set-up. It’s made as a family weight game which to me is interesting but probably not for me. I find that one versus all are hard to get to the table. And it sounds like there is a bit of Mastermind element to it as well. For me, I’d play this but I don’t think I’d ever pick it up not because it looks bad, but it doesn’t look like it’s for me.

Plaid Hat Games

Hickory Dickory

You are trying to collect different things to get points. Now, that sounds boring or standard. But there is a clock with a moving hand around the board. Which I think is pretty interesting. And it isn’t just collecting sets, it’s collecting rows and columns. And the artwork is amazing for this game. I actually think I want to pick this one up because the game just looks so pretty on the table. And Q4 in 2022 for the release date.

Grey Fox Games

Prophets of Doom

You’re the leader of a doomsday cult but you are really bad at figuring out what is happening. You’re trying to get followers and build up your compound. It’s a fun theme and fairly unique. Honestly, don’t know what I think about this, the artwork is nice. The theme, like I said is fun, but also I don’t know too much about how it’s played. And it’s a Q1 game in 2023.

Reavers of Midgard Expansion

I haven’t played Champions or Reavers of Midgard. I think that they look pretty but also they don’t seem like my type of game. But if you like Reavers of Midgard, then this is going to be interesting to you. It’s a game that I wouldn’t mind playing. And it’s coming to Kickstarter or crowdfunding towards the end of 2022.

Navoo Games

Raising Robots

It’s interesting strategy game with robots for 1 to 7 players. I find that interesting because that’s a big number of players but they have engine building, simultaneous action selection and variable player powers. I really love the artwork from Howard McWilliam. The game looks like it’s going to be pretty heavy which is not a bad thing, but it might be heavier than the art makes it look. Looks like a try before I buy because there is a lot going on. And while you do stuff simultaneously, it looks like you pick actions and then set stuff up then everyone activates. It’s one you can checkout at Gen Con.

Rebel Studio

Meadow Downstream

An expansion for Meadow. It is releasing at Spiel Essen this year. There is a river board and water tiles that you use. It’s going to add more to Meadow and if you like Meadow then you are probably going to want more of this

Meadow Adventure Book

Another expansion but this one is going to be adding in scenarios. It will be legacy like experience in 2023. So think adding rules as you go and playing the specific scenarios. They said legacy like, though, so I am assuming somewhat replayable. Meadow is a game that I should try and checkout at Gen Con because I love the artwork and look but don’t want to take the plunge to buy it yet.

Chronicles of Avel: New Adventures

It’s adding in three more scenarios and three modules. This is going to be an expansion, if that’s not obvious, for Chronicles of Avel. This is a game that I keep on seeing at stores. I believe it’s an adventure game for a younger audience, or at least that is the feeling that I’ve gotten. I don’t know if this is making it more complex, but the game always interests me. Another one I’d love to checkout at Gen Con. And the components really do look amazing for this game.

Avel the Card Game

This is going to be a deck building game set in the Avel setting. There is no shuffling of the cards. This is going to be a bit of a step up, and is going to be a cooperative card game that they call as a next step game. That definitely makes me think that Chronicles of Avel might be too light for me, at least until the kid is a bit older, but this one could be intriguing for playing with more casual gamers.

Rock Manor Games

Set a Watch: Forsaken Isles

This is going to be a standalone expansion, which they have done before, for their Set A Watch game line. You face off against monsters, new ones, with new adventurers. But it still maintains mix and match ability with the other Set a Watch stuff you already have. This is one, Set a Watch, that is on my shelf that I need to get played. I am not sure that I need to grab more of it, but we’ll see once I get my copy of Set a Watch played, which I should soon.

City of Games

Race to the Raft

From the designer and company that brought you Isle of Cats, this is about the cats left behind. A cooperative game where you play as the cats to try and get the ones left behind off the island on the last remaining raft. It definitely is interesting to me. I like Isle of Cats and I want to try City of Kings. I like the idea of cooperative with those same cats and cat artwork. Definitely one I’ll be keeping an eye on.

WizKids

Ascending Empires Zenith Edition

A new version of Ascending Empires. I don’t know anything about this game, it’s a Sci-Fi themed 4x game with about a 60-90 minute play time. Whenever I hear 4x, I am intrigued, but I also know I have troubles getting the ones I own to the table. It’s a new edition so it’ll be interesting to checkout for me as there is a dexterity element to the game with how you move your ships. I do like games with dexterity but again, it is still 4x. For sure it is one that I’d want to try. And like a lot of games now, it is going to add modules to allow you to change it up. I often wonder how likely I am to play with a module, I need to try them in Isle of Cats.

CMON

Stranger Things Upside Down

If you could have seen me when I saw what the announcement was. It is by Rob Daviau from Pandemic Legacy which I love. And Cthulhu Death May Die which I need to see. I literally got goose bumps and I had to pause the video because I am so excited. There was an Asmodee Stranger Things social deduction game announced. This, however, is not that.

It is coming to retail in 2023. Not a ton of details yet for it, but I don’t need to know more about it. It is Rob Daviau, it is a cooperative game. And you are trying to save Hawkins from the Upside Down. I don’t need to know more, I will get this game. I don’t know that I have ever had a reaction to a board game announcement like I did now. Maybe for Frosthaven but that would be about it. Shut up and take my money!

Dire Wolf

Dune Imperium – Immortality

I really need to play Dune Imperium. I assume that anyone who knows the game is going to be exciting. This expansion is going to be more for the deck building element. Plus there is also going to be research track as well, which is interesting. It is definitely making the game more complex, and I think it could be exciting. Dune Imperium is one that I should track down and play, but it never shows up used that I’ve seen. Expected to be available around the end of 2022.

CGE

Deal with the Devil

It’s an engine building Euro game. it is going to have secret roles, though, which is going to be changing up the standard thing. The game looks interesting on the table with buildings that are player screens to hide who you are and what you want to do. Not my type of game, but it is going to have a table presence for sure. And there is going to be an app that hands out the roles as well, which is intriguing. I would try it just because it seems to add in a little bit more than just a standard Euro game but then again, there is social deduction. It is a Gen Con first look coming out around Essen Spiel.

Final Thoughts

There are a ton of games in this announcement. There are some that aren’t all that interesting to me, but then again, there are others that I am clearly excited for. I will be finding out everything I can about the Stranger Things game. Like I said, it is going to be on that I immediately seek out and it’s a theme that I want a great game with it. Rob Daviau is a designer that I want to doing it. But besides that, I got to say, I think that Race to the Raft and The Great Split interest me the most next.

What is the game that stood out to you that you want to try out or need to get?

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