Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Ones to Watch - Gencon 2012


Gencon is no stranger to having amazing games debut in its halls.  Tons of tabletop obsessions have had small beginnings during the Best Four Days in Gaming, and went on to be huge geek household names.  VG30 loves finding these games and showing them to the public before anyone else has (see our private demos of Mage Knight and Penny Arcade's Deck Building game from 2011) and this year will hopefully be no exception.  Here's the ones we're keeping a close eye on at Gencon 2012.  These games have all either directly or indirectly stated they will be available for purchase at Gencon. 

Mage Wars


VG30 found Bryan Pope and his game Mage Wars at Gencon last year.  It's hard to have missed them, to be honest.  Players were lining up to sign up for the chance to demo the game at some point during the weekend.  Sure, you got a free t-shirt for doing so, but those who checked it out ended up loving it.  Players select a Mage and construct a spell book based on their spell affinities.  Once constructed, players go head to head on an arena board consisting of zones.  The players select two spells each round to add to their hand from any in the spell book.  Want to case a huge creature the first turn?  As long as you've got the mana (that your Mage automatically self generates) you can do it.  The potential for this game is huge, and anybody going to Gencon needs to check out this game.  Sign up for a demo early to see if you like it (you will), because this game will be sold out by the end of the con.  Don't say we didn't warn you.


Fresh Meat
As of the writing of this article (11:03 pm CST 8/13), Smirk and Dagger have not yet confirmed that their latest expansion will make it to Gencon.  We sure hope it will, as Cutthroat Caverns is one of our favorite games to play.  This box adds 12 (!)  new characters to choose from, 34 cards that allow you to make your OWN character, new encounters, new relics, new cards for the main draw deck, and a giant box to fit all your cutthroat goodness inside.  The last information I can dig up on them is that they may have to airmail it to Gencon to be able to sell (likely limited copies of it) so you may want to make this a Day 1 purchase.


Seasons

Some people are calling Seasons the sleeper hit of Gencon.  It's a new game that people have been playing on en.boardgamearena.com, but the physcial copies haven't been made available to the public quite yet.  The game is drawing lots of attention due to its implementation of several other well known games mechanics, such as 7 Wonders, San Marco, and a touch of even Magic: The Gathering.  Based on its popularity at previous cons in which it was demoed (and hard to get into the demos), you should try to check this out early.


Smash Up



AEG isn't well known in our gaming group for having the most comprehensive rules, but we are often willing to overlook the mechanical problems because they put out some really fun games.  Smash Up looks like it could be a riot to play.  Different faction decks are drafted by the players until each has two factions (this doesn't sound like it takes very long).  When you've got your two factions, you shuffle them together to try to fight your opponents' bases.  Will you have ninja dinosaurs?  How about Alien Pirates?  The premise sounds simple, but a lot of fun.  We're looking forward to seeing this one in action on the floor.


NetRunner

Interested in trying to pick up the games that'll sell out at Gencon?  You probably want to be first in line for Android: Netrunner then, a LCG reboot of the 90's NetRunner game by Wizards of the Coast.  One box will get you enough cards to play a two player game, one player being the Corporations that are trying to protect their data and shut down the hackers, and the Hackers, who are trying to steal all of the Corp's data.  This was a lot of fun to play back in the day, and achieved a small cult following.  The sole tournament for this game has been sold out for well over a month, Fantasy Flight has pretty much said that you need to come and get your copies right away to make sure you'll be able to play in it on Saturday, all signs point to this selling out.


Level 7
We here at VG30 are big fans of Privateer Press.  They make fun games, they're a great company, and they're very connected to their fans.  When we saw Level 7, it struck our interest.  Upon looking it over, we feel that this is Privateer's version of the WoTC adventure board games like Castle Ravenloft, which we weren't really impressed with.  With that said, we still want to see it played, and every single demo for it is booked for the weekend.  This is another game that people are going to be seeking out to pick up early.


The Red Dragon Inn: Allies


Checking out Slug Fest's website, it seems that Red Dragon Inn 1 and 3 will not be at Gencon due to the trailer the games were on being stolen, however, the new Allies expansions will be there still.  Allies are single decks that are in the same theme as the characters from Red Dragon Inn 3.  That is, to say, characters have more than a subtle theme to the number of cards in their decks, and have personal traits that have to be managed to make the most out of the deck.  My playgroup is especially looking forward to playing as Pooky.

The Next Big Thing

VG30 is always looking for the next big thing, especially at Gencon.  Have we already listed the gem of the show on the site?  Or is there going to be something there that we haven't seen yet?  Do you think your company has got it?  Drop us a line at videogamingat30(at)gmail.com and invite us to your booth this week.  We'll be more than happy to swing by and check it out.  

We're not done with Gencon yet!  Gencon week continues with more posts this week, including our coverage straight from the convention floor beginning on Thursday.  Keep coming back for more updates, and we hope to see you there!