Well, GenCon is essentially here. By the time that you’re reading this,I’ve hopefully cleared off my schedule so I can soon be on the road on the way to Indianapolis to take in as much as I can for a day and a half!  While the tagline for the convention is “The Best 4 Days in Gaming” – but my schedule never allows me to be there for the whole time.

While it’s impossible to see everything in that short amount of time, I’ll try to list some of the games that I intend to learn more about this year.  Of course, this list could not possibly be comprehensive – even with the great preview on BGG – there are always games that I run across that I’ve never heard about!

First and foremost – my brother’s best game is a getting an anniversary release!

Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters Anniversary Edition – Mattel

This is a re-release of the 2014 Kinderspiel winner – that  now includes 2 new ways to play:

Cooperative Mode – All players work together to win!

Head Haunter Mode – Brand new One VS All mode where one player controls the ghosts against up to 4 other players!

Games are alphabetical by title otherwise…

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Altered – Equinox

So, I missed out on all of the press events on this at the past few shows, but I’ve talked about this game with a number of other reviewers, and their excitement has rubbed off on me.  I am hoping that Equinox and Asmodee will have some more info on the game as I’m going to actually be at the con this year!

https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/151028/are-you-ready-to-get-altered-at-gen-con-2024

Aquatica Coral Reefs expansion – Arcane Wonders

Well, I was a bit late to the game with the base game (just reviewed it a week ago?!)  But now that I’ve played it, I’m anxously awaiting the upcoming expansion…Coral Reefs perfectly complements the base game and its other Cold Waters expansion. It comes with several new modules with additional goals and mechanics, along with new components like coral reef miniatures and transparent reef cards.

Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls

In Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls (Disney Edition), players work together to form dynamic alliances of Disney and Pixar heroines, including Moana (Moana), Violet (The Incredibles), Maid Marian (Robin Hood) and Belle (Beauty and the Beast).  I have a number of Disney-philes in my game groups, and the one sentence description above makes it a must-have for them.  Ravensburger has definitely leaned into their partnership with Disney, including Disney:Lorcana, so it’s no surprise to see a bunch of licensed titles.

Donut Shop – 25th Century Games

As the newest hires at the local bakery, you have been assigned to work with the hottest selling items – the donuts. Your job is twofold: to arrange the donuts in the display case, and to put together boxes to fulfill customer orders. You’ll also want to make an extra push to sell donuts with sprinkles and coffee, as these can earn you extra cash. Sell your delicious treats better than any of the other employees, and you’ll be walking home with the most money at the end of the day.

I played a prototype with this with Steph about a year ago, and I’m always interested in Jeff’s games (not just because he’s a member here at the OG – but because his designs are so solid!)

Dungeon Kart – Brotherwise Games

Race your way to victory with Dungeon Kart, an all-new game set in the world of Boss Monster. Dungeon Kart transforms the multiplayer mayhem of kart racing into a turn-based tactical tabletop experience. Play as one of the baddest Bosses around while using Spells to disrupt other racers, grab coins, and power yourself up! With a lot of skill and a little luck, you can cross the finish line first and show your opponents who’s Boss!

Unique dashboards allow players to rev up their engines and increase their speed. Be careful though…if you go too fast then you have more chances to run into hazards and obstacles that will cause you to crash or spin out!

Umm this sounds like Mario Kart the boardgame!  That’s about all I need to know – must learn more!

Flickering Stars – Friendly Skeleton

Transform your tabletop into a galaxy at your fingertips in Flickering Stars! Choose from two rival factions — the Children of Arha or the Terran Coalition — then take command of a powerful fleet, discover planets rich with resources, and battle it out with your spacefaring rivals in a quest to claim a piece of the stars!

1. FLICK your ships across the table.
2. FIRE missiles and plasma balls at your rivals to thwart their plans.
3. FINISH your objectives for the win!

With over one hundred custom-designed plastic pieces in the box, you can transport your table from the dining room to a war room in space as you face off in three scenarios.

The Gang – Kosmos

Round up your gang and get ready to pull off a series of bank heists using the power of poker!  In The Gang, a co-operative version of Texas Hold’em, players bet on how good they think their hand of cards will be relative to the other players, then try to make their predictions a reality.

Given the success of The Crew, a pioneering cooperative trick-taking game, I’m definitely interested to see what this does for Hold’em…

Harvest – Keymaster

Harvest is a game that a lot of my friends have been following on KS, and I want to get a look at it in person. In Harvest, you take on the role of a farmer, each with their own unique penchant for working the land, and choose a farmhouse with its own special round-to-round benefit. Each round, you draft sunrise cards that give you a one-time income and determine turn order for the round. Following that turn order, move your wheelbarrows around town to gather resources that you’ll use to manage your fields. Plant seeds, tend the land, and harvest crops to make money and score points. Clear land to expand your farm, and construct buildings that make your land more efficient and give you endgame bonuses. By the end of harvest season, the farmer with the most points wins!

Kinfire Delve – Callous’ Lab

In Kinfire Delve: Callous’ Lab, a tactical and cooperative card game for 1-2 players, you will fight your way through the well deck of challenge cards to reach Callous, the Master of the Well, and face him in an epic final battle.  I’ve had a chance to play the first two games in this series, and the system is really well done – allowing play from anywhere from one to four players.

Kyoto no Neko – Matagot

I had a change to play a nearly final prototype of this game back in April at the Gsthering, and it was really great.  I would like to see how the final version turned out.  In Kyoto no Neko, 2 to 4 players are kittens who explore the modern-day city of Kyoto, Japan through a series of independent, replayable scenarios. In each scenario, players must fulfill a variety of missions, from befriending a school boy to fighting an aggressive stray cat, or stealing the food from other player’s dinner bowl. Throughout the game, each player will evolve, developing their skills and gaining the ability to explore new parts of the map by climbing on bushes and rooftops.

Lost in Adventure – The Labyrinth  – dv Games

In Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth, you take on the role of a legendary hero who is searching for the mythical minotaur at the heart of a labyrinth as well-known around the world as it is challenging to navigate. The game map reveals itself throughout the game, one scenario card at a time, as you progress in an adventure astride the edge of legend and reality.

dv Games has definitely been focusing on these story telling, mystery solving games – and I’m looking forward to trying what they have done here.

The Mandalorian: Adventures – Unexpected Games

Another game that I already know about, but I can’t wait to show it to others.  A cooperative game from Corek Konieczka and Josh Beppler – where you play out scenarios from the TV show on a neat spiral bound book.  You don’t have to be a fan of the show (for instance, I’ve not watched a single episode) to enjoy the game.  A very nice and unique action system gives you plenty of interesting decisions to make.  A review is nearly complete – should be posted in the next day or two.

Metrorunner – Thunderworks

Metrorunner is a competitive worker-movement and resource-collection game for 1-5 players set in a high-tech neon future featuring a tile-puzzle mini-game. Circling the districts of Mirror City on the Metro line, you compete for resources as you race to fulfill contracts for the ruthless and greedy mega-corporations. Grow your influence and gain reputation, squeezing every credit you can from corrupt factions, while you secretly steal their data for your home district!  A lot of the local gamers have been high on Thunderworks for Cape May, Cartographers and Stonespire Architects – so I’m interested to see what this new release has to bring.

Neodreams – Hobby World

This Russian design sounds interesting – In the near future, an astonishing new technology has been developed that allows the sleeping mind and machine to be connected. It is called Oneiroshunt, and with it, the business of crafting and selling dreams has become a thriving industry. For the right price, clients can learn new skills, overcome deep-seated fears, and travel to the most extraordinary locations all from the comfort of their beds.

A worker placement game with some beautiful looking art from what I can see online.  It’s sometimes hard to get more information on these games, so this is one I’ll have to just go see in person.

Next Station: Paris – Sports Expansion – blueorange

I just reviewed the third game in this series last week – and I was initially told that the Paris Sports expansion might be limited to France.  However, it sounds like it will be available at GenCon, and thus I must make a trip to the booth to get my hands on the expansion to this great roll and write!

Open Season – Sit Down!

In Open Season, you play as a monster — a little cruel, but wishing to do things right — who has decided to take revenge on the groups of adventurers who come to disturb their peace. After getting rid of them, you still have to decorate your living room properly, so you try to assemble a nice collection of heads on the wall.

I was able to play a round or two with a preview copy at Spiel 2023, and I’m definitely looking forward to giving the final version a whirl.

Rebirth – Mighty Boards

Well, this game combines the great production of Mighty Boards with the design power of Dr. Knizia – so this is instantly on my list.  Oh, and I learned some about it last year at Spiel and I’ve been looking forward to learning more ever since…

Rebirth is a new, tile-laying game from Reiner Knizia. The game revitalizes this classic genre by combining Knizia’s elegant mechanics with Mighty Boards’ evocative world building. The result is a eurogame with smooth gameplay, set in a lush and hopeful future.

Each turn, players draw a tile from their supply and place it strategically on the board. These tiles represent your clan’s contribution to rebuilding the land. Rebirth rewards strategic foresight and clever tactical play, with tougher decisions emerging over the course of the game.

Reef Project – Board & Dice

This area majority game looks so good. During the game, players take on the role of researchers and saviors of the oceans. You will sail the seas, hire crew, explore the coral reef, clean the ocean sectors of any pollution, and try to accomplish as many missions as possible.  The initial press releases I’ve received have moved this close to the top of the must-see list.

River of Gold – Office Dog

Well, I don’t need to see this in person, I got an advance copy.  But it defintiely merits inclusion on this list as it’s something I want others to see.  A full review should be up in the next 48 hours on this blog.

Rock Hard 1977 – Devir

It’s 1977. You’re an up-and-coming musician, dreaming of making it big with your band. Over the next few months you’ll rehearse, play gigs, write songs, and promote your band. With careful planning and a little luck, you’ll earn the most fame and become the best new artist of the year.

Designed by Jackie Fox (member of the 1970’s rock band “The Runaways” – this game has come with a bunch of buzz around it.  This worker placement game is just waiting to have a Spotify classic rock playlist blasting in the background as we try to make it big.

Seers Catalog – Bezier

Seers Catalog is an almost-shedding card game in which each player tries to get rid of almost all of the cards in their hand. Each round, players have a unique set of artifacts that give them asymmetric abilities to help manage their hand of cards. When one player runs out of cards, the round is scored: Each card is worth -1, but if you have five or fewer cards in your hand, the lowest value on those cards is worth positive points! However, once you have five or fewer cards, you can no longer voluntarily pass, so holding on to a high-value card near the end of the round hoping for a big payout can result in total failure.

I’ve played this game with the designer, Taylor Reiner, and it’s a blast.  Really want to get a copy of the final version of this into my collection!  Also, I hear there may be an interesting promo at the Bezier booth; it’ll be hard to top the authentic Xylotar that they had for Chris Wray’s game of the same name at Origins…

Stalk Exchange – The Op

Welcome to the Community Hedge Fund where players take on the roles of gardeners dedicated to growing flowers and profits. When the market crashes, the Gardener with the most valuable Stalk portfolio wins. Garden shrewdly to grow your fortune.

Tree Society – Next Move

Well Dunstan and Gilbert are one of my favorite design pairs, and I’m always ready to play anything they’ve designed together… In the game Tree Society, players are asked to help various guilds follow the blueprints to construct new buildings. Take advantage of other players to sell your resources at the best price, and earn the favor of new guilds by skillfully combining their powers.  Next Move and Asmodee have released almost no other information nor imaging on this game – so it’s a complete mystery; yet given the publisher and the designers, it’s a must see for me!

20 Strong – Chip Theory 

A number of my solo-gaming friends have raved to me about this (and are super excited about the next set of games in the series which is on KS now – the Tanglewoods games).  The object of a game of 20 Strong is to progress through a shuffled deck of cards, each card bearing a unique challenge. This challenge could be in the form of an enemy, a unique scenario, or some other requirement (for example, players of the Too Many Bones deck might expect to see a Lockpicking challenge or two). Challenges usually require a certain number of successes to complete, which you earn by rolling a set of 17 dice with different odds for a hit (these dice, along with three adjustable stat dice, make up the “20” in 20 Strong).  Given the strong recommendation from friends – it’s worth a look-see to find out what this game is all about.

Weirdwood Manor – Greyridge Games

Weirdwood Manor is a cooperative board game that marries great adventure gameplay with some euro-inspired underpinnings, as you and your group of valiant companions battle to protect Weirdwood Manor and its enigmatic ruler, Lady Weirdwood, from an invading Fae Monster and his Clockwork Scarab minions.  The pictures I’ve seen with the rotating board look pretty cool, and I think this one is worth a demo to see.

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor