Ludocracy Now

So Annie and My tickets came for GenCon last week.  Needless to say, (although I WILL say it) we are both very excited and have no idea what to expect.  Thankfully, the denizens of BoardGameGeek have provided an exhaustive Preview List of games that will be available for demo/purchase.  I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the things I am excited for!

Follow the jump to see what whacky games I’m going to make Annie try with me when we’re not gawking at the other gamers.

Innovation: Figures in the Sand — This is an expansion for a game I recently blogged about, Innovation.  I haven’t even played Echos of the Past yet but I would love to give this a try and have the inside scoop on the new mechanics: karma, mood and historical figures.  This’ll be a good’n.

Rise! — Rise! is an abstract game with a modular-hex board so that basically means it’s a must-try.  Debating on whether to get us some tickets to the 16-player tournament of this game (even though we’ve never played).  Confession: I have not bought any event tickets, at all.  Is that bad?

Photo credit: BGG user unlpat

Android: Netrunner — This is a Fantasy Flight reboot of the ostensible Classic Netrunner (which I have never heard of, shame on me).  I played Android the Boardgame once and found the theme to be engrossing and fun.  I will try this game but I am not much of a card gamer (Er, I just bought the Game of Thrones LCG so hoping that changes…).  I don’t know much about this game outside of the theme of androids and corporate greed.  I think it sounds like a winner.

Photo Credit: BGG User bearpaw

Fleet — This looks like it could be a quick and fun Auction game about running a fleet of fishing ships. Ok, well, that theme might not be the biggest draw, ever, but it’s short enough to warrant a demo.  Too, the designers say it has “thrilling” game play.  Also any game with shrimp involved is an auto-try.

Photo Credit: BGG user ckirkman

Chicken Caesar — A game of fowl play! (groan).  I almost kickstarted this game when its campaign was going on because the art is sweet and there’s political backstabbing.  Looks like this will be in preview form (and possibly for sale should the copies reach the kickstarter backers in time…) so I’d love to give it a shot.  “Murder, betrayal, votes for cash, fragile alliances, and bloody vendettas will separate the legendary families from the forgotten ones in the struggle to become – and remain – Chicken Caesar!”  Come on, how can we NOT play that?

Photo Credit: BGG user Bryan Fischer

Mice and Mystics — This game was all over the hotness when it was announced because who doesn’t want to play as a mouse warrior royalist?  A coop adventure game with cheese and mini swords.  I think it looks cute and although “coop adventure” is not really my bag, I’d give it a try.  Just imagine the hilarious pictures I could take of the mouse mini’s mounting an expedition to conquer Puss?

Photo Credit: BGG User EvanGMan

Milestones — A Stefan Dorra endeavor (he’s the guy who did much beloved game Intrigue) which sounds like a sort of semi-coop route building game.  It requires a “keen sense of timing” to become the winner.  Hadn’t heard about this game until today but the Stefan Dorra tag makes it something worth checking out.

Photo Credit: BGG user duchamp

So we have about 24 hours of GenCon time and hopefully we can play some new and interesting games and leave with a not-too-light wallet.  It’s our first GenCon and we have no idea what to expect but this list should keep us busy enough to not worry that we are wasting time.

See you all at GenCon!