For tabletop enthusiasts, August is a time of celebration. That’s because Gen Con, the largest hobby games convention in North America, promises to bring a bevy of new releases, announcements, and perhaps most importantly, opportunities to get together and play games. The massive convention in Indianapolis has blossomed from its original incarnation in 1968, when it was established by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax as a wargaming get-together.
Today, tabletop gaming companies from around the world gather to show off their best. “Publishers love to launch games at Gen Con, and that is nothing new,” says Gen Con’s vice president of business development Scott Elliott. “It’s fair to say that Gen Con has been the launch pad for gaming for almost half a century. The modern games industry, digital, paper, and otherwise, is filled by people who grew up playing face-to-face games, and many of those games and game companies got their starts at Gen Con. With the increase in crossovers and ports between digital and table top gaming, Gen Con attendees see innovations that others have to wait to experience.”
Gen Con Indy 2016 is in progress even as we speak. Even with tens of thousands of attendees, lots of tabletop fans can’t make it to the event, and I’m here to help. Hundreds of games are showcased, but here are several of the hottest titles getting buzz at this year’s event. I’ve made a point to highlight games that are targeting public release now or in the next few months, so you can start planning your end-of-year gaming options. For the many games I don't have a chance to feature today, watch for additional coverage in the coming months.
SeaFall
Designer: Rob Daviau
Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
Legacy games have been all the rage in recent years, allowing not only an ongoing experience that carries over between sessions, but shifting rules, game board elements, and storylines that permanently alter the game and its world. Designer Rob Daviau is largely responsible for the design innovation, and SeaFall is the first of his legacy games to be based on an original world of his own devising.
Players control a seafaring province as it spreads its influence across the oceans, raiding, trading, and expanding. The three- to five-player adventure sees you competing for greatness on the high seas, with the ultimate goal of finding the island at the end of the world, and becoming emperor. Across the campaign, you track major milestones on a historical record on the back of the rulebook. Open spaces in the rulebook indicate places where new rules are added to your unique campaign as it progresses. Components gain stickers that change their meaning, and cards are torn up and destroyed as your group progresses.
“SeaFall is an epic game of adventure, discovery, raiding, and civilization,” Daviau told me. “Kind of an Indiana Jones in the 17th century. It’s a game I designed for my 12 year-old self, as I was an avid D&D player, and this sense of adventure is what got me into gaming in the first place. It took me three years to design, and is the first legacy game not based on an earlier game. I’m so excited for it to be in players’ hands so they can set out on their adventure."
After a limited release at the show, expect SeaFall to be a hot commodity on the gaming market when it hits retail release in September or October.
Codenames: Pictures
Designer: Vlaada Chvátil
Publisher: Czech Games Edition
One of my favorite games from last year was Codenames, a brilliant and addicting party game about words, meanings, and teamwork, in which competing teams each try to guess the correct word cards as hinted at by their team’s “spymaster.” That original game was included in my listing of last year’s best tabletop games, and it has remained one of my favorite games to break out and play in the months since. And I’m not the only one who likes it; the game recently won the coveted Spiel des Jahres award.
That game’s follow-up is making a splash at this year’s show, maintaining the focus on spycraft, but shifting from word-based cards to picture cards. Each of the picture cards includes an illustration that combines multiple elements, and can be interpreted and described in multiple ways, like a knight carrying a broomstick, or a flying piggy bank.
“Pictures work differently in the game than words, because they tap into a different part of the human imagination,” says designer Vlaada Chvátil. “Some people prefer to play with words and find hidden meanings and links. With pictures, it’s often more about the effect on the senses. Both have logical connections.”
Enthusiasts who miss their chance to snag a copy at Gen Con can watch for a September release.
Hit Z Road
Designer: Martin Wallace
Publisher: Space Cowboys
The new game from Martin Wallace embraces a mash-up theme, taking classic Americana influences and old-school board game aesthetics, and layering on the horror and brutality of a zombie apocalypse. The resulting game shines with originality, even in the crowded genre of zombie games.
Using components that look like repurposed bottle caps and poker chips, the game is all about a westward-bound road trip along Route 66. Instead of an innocent and non-violent race to the Pacific Coast, an ever-growing horde of zombies is constantly nipping at your heels.
Different routes present themselves, and random cards placed along each path can be easy to surmount, or offer thoroughly lethal challenges. Players bid on first access to the desirable routes, but in doing so, give away tokens for valuable resources like bullets and gas. From there, it’s all about surviving the varied encounters along the way, zipping past the walking dead if you have the fuel to do so, or holding the line with your paltry supply of bullets by rolling combat dice and accepting the outcome.
Hit Z Road is built to play quickly in under an hour for up to four players, and after its Gen Con launch, it should hit broader retailers soon after.
Next Page: Indulge your Game of Thrones fantasies, and return to the block stacking fun of childhood.