Day 2 of my adventures at GenCon.
This was in the foyer:
So that's what you do with your magic commons!
GenCon is massive. Like ludicrously huge. I fear 4 days is not enough. But one thing a gamer can never have enough of is DICE! I've not seen this new company before Q Workshop. Their dice is more expensive than Chessex or Koplow, some of them are cool. They are the ones making the sets you've seen for pathfinder or Warmachine.
I started a methodical approach to the exhibit hall: to travel vertical strips up and down the aisles.
Mattel seems to be getting back into the board game business. Their booth was very fancy and featured this oversize Wizards Wanted. Players travel a game of life-esq board in an attempt to become wizards by collecting pixie dust and completing quests. They gain skills along the way. Then when they have enough they go into the center castle and are proclaimed a licensed wizard. From that point on every other wizard that is not licensed is deemed a rebel and must be expunged. Basically it is Archmage Rises for kids. :-)
Next up is Adventure Scents, why just say you are trapped in a headlock of a giant orc when you can smell the BO right along with it?! The come in a variety of adventuring scents including Stable, Vampire Lair, and Fetid Swamp.
Next i found a booth with the ENnies nominees. Basically the ENnies are like the Oscars of all all things gaming. This Bestiary is nominated for best monster supplement. I flipped through it, not sure what is so special about it.
Then i came across the most amazing thing ever. THIS is the reason i go to GenCon, to find things i desperately need that i never knew i wanted. Premium gaming tokens by Top Shelf Games! They sell individual packs of 10 for commonly used resources in many board games, like Sheep, Wood, Iron, Food. They then have multipacks where you can get everything needed to improve a whole game like Powergrid, Scythe, and many more.
How much did i spend there? Let's just say my cash was insuffient and some PayPal may have been involved. :-)
As a game designer, i look forward to all the wonderful board games I will create with actual stalks of corn and pink pigs! Corn Eater Attack of the Pigs coming to a store near you!!! :-)
There is a lot of cos play at GenCon now, more than when i first went 12 years ago. Everyone made way for R2D2. How that guy got in there, i'll never know!
Then there is a balloon art! This guy is building a big dragon next to the exhibit hall.
The Paizo booth is massive and they have a large area where they are demoing Starfinder. What's the big empty spot in the background of the purple & black checkerboard? Why that is where the Starfinder stuff used to be. It all sold. All of it. The first day.
There are a number of artists there selling their fantasy art/prints/originals/t-shirts. I'm ashamed to say most of it features boobs. But there is some stuff that is more tasteful. Hey Rogier, time for you to get a booth at GenCon!
Next I played a new game by Wizkids (they are still around? Didn't they got bankrupt like twice?!) called Dungeon Hustle. Players "hustle" through the color coded dungeon picking up cards of the same color and then playing them to defeat monsters, turn in quests, and unlock chests. Players play cooperatively against the board and you can help others players a bit like Munchkin. It's about the complexity level of Munchkin. I didn't much like it, i liked One Deck Dungeon from yesterday a lot more as it has more depth and choice.
They also make a game based on the TV show Expanse:
Next i went to the playing hall (I had an appointment with the French Indian War of 1754). There are so many bizzare and interesting games being played i just had to snap some pics. This is what i love about GenCon, seeing the pure creativity of the tabletop scene:
Yep it's Mongolian Goat Rodeo the miniatures game!
One of the original TSR board games: Dawn Patrol where you play as WWI fighter aces. Look at that awesome custom board!
Players use a magnet under the board to collect stuff. It looks pretty fun.
Finally Photosynthesis the board game! Now I can be a tree growing from sapling to adulthood! Take that grade 4 science!
Next I came across people selling portable gaming tables in the play hall. This game table folds down into a carrier and weights 50lb. And all the stuff you see, magnetic.
Lots of accessories for your portable gaming table!
A Wild West miniatures game. I forget the name of it, looked cool.
Then i demoed this historical squad based Pirates miniature game called Blood and Thunder. It was a'right.
I finally made it to my appointed game The French and Indian War of 1754. Me and three others fought it out as french and english colonists, french and English regulars, and the poor indians caught int he middle. It is made by Academy Games which i had never heard of before today (and i owned a game store for 10 years!). It is a historical game with deep strategy that plays fast. PLAYS FAST?! How is that possible?! Its extremely streamlined and very well designed. I'm hugely impressed with Academy Games and will be adding most of their titles to my collection now. They have an ancient one, founding of America 1775, medieval, and 878 - Vikings.
Then as I left for my wife to pick me up, i happened upon this artist making street art. GenCon is just so awesome!
