Gen Con – The new games are coming… - Interactivity Board Game Cafe

Here they come, I’ve tried to pick games that are likely the most attractive to the IBGC crowd, as well as the hottest new buzz games. Some will be here now, some soon, the odd one may be hard to get (I’m looking at you Agility).

Agility

Its a game about training and adopting dogs for dog shows. Its two player only, and the quiet buzz around this one is building. Its by the same design team that did Morals, which was very well regarded but very hard to attain. You play cards to get resources you need to train and get that wonderdog, but the same card also gives you the action you take, which might not necessarily be the one you want. It looks really neat and there are no dog related games out there…I just hope we’ll be able to get it in for you!

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

Finally a decent Harry Potter game…apparently so. Its a co-operative deck building game in which you try to defend Hogwarts in the final battle against the forces of Voldemort.

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

A 20 minute deduction game in the vein of One Night Werewolf, but with a lot more going on. The murderer in the game will select a “Key Evidence” and “Means of Murder.” They will tell that to the Forensic Scientist only who will give clue cards to try and help the investigators figure of those two bits of information. The murderer and their accomplice will try to subtly throw them off the trail through misdirection. If the investigators figure out the two pieces of evidence they win, else the murderer escapes.

Potion Explosion

Its Candy Crush the board game with knobs and bells added on. Beautiful box, marbles that slide down like in THAT game. You are trying to collect the marbles to make potions when you connect a set of one colour, they explode and you you get them too. Complete a potion and you can drink it (don’t literally do it, marbles are a choking hazard, for sure) and you get a special power. Light, but apparently a lot of fun. Also, its from Cool Mini or Not, weird.

Seafall

Here’s the blurb:

“SeaFall is a 4X-inspired game (without player elimination/extermination) set in an “age of sail” world reminiscent of our world.

In SeaFall, the world is starting to claw its way out of a dark age and has begun to rediscover seafaring technology. Players take on the role of a mainland empire that consults with a consortium of advisors to discover new islands, explore those islands, develop trade, send out raiding parties, take part in ship-to-ship combat, and more. As in Risk Legacy and Pandemic Legacy, co-designed by Rob Daviau, SeaFall evolves as the game is played, setting their grudges into the history of the game and building a different narrative at every table as players open up the world.”

You’ll either love it, or think that seems like a lot of work…

Cry Havoc

It has lots of miniatures, very asymmetric powers, lots of upgrades and killing of your opponents. Another reason to never play Risk again.

Clank!

Another deck-building game, but this time crossed with a dungeon crawl…sounds quite fun. It does have player elimination, but that’s usually your own fault by pushing your luck and taking too much of the dragon’s loot and getting eaten!