Gen Con Best List

Over the past few days I shared my overall experience at Gen Con. Today I wanted to share a few best moments to give you more of an idea of the things I enjoyed during Gen Con.

Best Available Game Demoed

This was probably the most difficult category for me because I was able to try so many games that are readily available. I think my favorite of them would have been Villainous. There were two things I really liked about Villainous, first it was asymmetric and second it had a lot of direct player interaction. Add that with Disney antagonists and I was sold. Funnily enough this would have been a game I would have picked up at Gen Con, but my mom saw my post on Instagram Wednesday night, and picked it up at Target before the dealer hall even opened Thursday. I ended up adding it to the collection, but not at Gen Con!

Kickstarter I am Most Disappointed About Missing

While I was in the demo hall I stumbled upon Quodd Heroes, a game about programmable movement. Players will take on the role of cube miniatures that will do certain movements based on which of their faces is showing by either rolling, sliding or jumping. It adds a layer of delightful thinkyness to movement. The game also seemed to be very high quality! They have late pledges available, but they end in the end of August. Considering I am in the process of setting up my classroom for the year, and just got back from Gen Con, I don’t think I will have the funds to even late pledge.

Favorite Play Test

I love to play test games. Seeing what is coming down the pipeline is something that excites me, and keeps me engaged in board gaming. While at Gen Con I was able to sit down and play test a few games, but one really stood out to me. That was a game called Meeple Steeple. It was a cooperative resource management, dexterity stacking game. While I won’t get too much into detail about how the game works, I will say that it gave the entire table a feeling of close knit camaraderie and team work that you may not get in usual cooperative games. Plus, there is only so much alpha gaming a player can do in this sort of game, because an alpha gamer cannot actually stack the pieces. I will be doing a full review of the game in late September and be on the look out for a Kickstarter in November.

Favorite Person I Met

I met a lot of people I had been corresponding with on Instagram, Facebook or other social media. All of them were wonderful people and I could not pick a favorite. However, out of the people whom I met for the first time without any prior correspondence,  I would have to say my favorite person would be Ryan Lopez DeVinaspre. For those of you who do not know, Ryan is the designer of the latest Scythe expansion, Rise of Fenris. He was just incredibly outgoing and friendly. I discussed Scythe and the backstory for Scythe with Ryan for a while on Saturday. It was an interesting conversation and I learned a lot about why the story line in Rise of Fenris was written like it was. That evening we were chatting again, and discussing our jobs as educators. Meeting a fellow teacher is always relatable and I have a lot of respect for him being able to design a great expansion while working as a teacher.

Funniest Moment

Thursday night my group had wandered over to the Marriott to sit down and enjoy Scythe Night. The Marriott was a little out of the way and in a quiet room, so it was a pretty quiet setting. In the middle of our game of Scythe, Jamey Stegmaier (the designer of Scythe) got up and ran out of the room. It was a little perplexing until the badge checker came around checking badges. Later while we were playing Fantasy Realms, Jamey explained he had not yet gotten his badge because the will call line was still wrapped around the building. The whole situation was a little absurd, seeing as how Jamey had to have been the one renting out the room and was running the event. The idea of them escorting him out for not having a badge was hilarious. Even more funny though was the relatable feeling of trying to not get caught without the badge. It happens to all of us I guess, even if it is your event.

Game I am Most Excited to Look Into

On my last day of the convention before leaving I was able to meet up with Mythic Game’s communication and events manager, Az. He took the time to explain Solomon Kane to me. I was excited for multiple reasons. First the game has beautiful miniatures. Second the game is cooperative with each player having an asymmetric role. Third the game is based off a literary work, and I love to read. It is another game I missed the Kickstarter of, and the late backing of, so I will have to wait until it becomes more readily available but I am beyond excited to hear more on it. It is absolutely stunning and the story behind the game had me in awe.

Best Food 

When we go to Gen Con we are not a group that goes out to eat very often. However, last year when we were there we met up with one of our Gen Con buddies to get some drinks and ended up at Kilroys. It was the start of a deep love. I absolutely love Kilroys pizza breadsticks. Nothing I ate this year changed that love, even with all the food truck choices and wonderful restaurants near by.

Best Realization 

This year was probably my best Gen Con yet. I was able to do almost everything that I wanted to do under very low pressure. While I had a variety of meetings and events scheduled, I still had plenty of time to just roam and take in the sights. It lead me to a realization, it is okay to split the party. This year I went with my husband and best friend. They adore Dungeons and Dragons, more than any board game. While I enjoy board games more than D&D. That difference is okay. However in past years we have tried to force both D&D and plenty of board games into the same amount of time. We both ended up only being able to do half the things we wanted. This year they signed up for a D&D experience track, and I went and played board games. It was glorious, and we were all happier for it.