GenCon Wrap-up, 2011 Edition
I can hear it now, if you know something about this con - this seems like a -very- strangely timed post, as GenCon runs Thursday to Sunday ... and today is Friday. The answer is simple : Due to external constraints, I found myself unable to attend more than one day this year, and yes, that is extremely depressing.
With that said? I scored a few things of note, although this will, obviously, be a much shorter post than usual about the Con.
I didn't do much in the way of game demoing at all, simply because, well, time was valuable, so ... I really have almost nothing to say of note on new and interesting releases, and I failed to even hit some of my bigger 'target' publishers to see what was new.
The only thing even somewhat noteworthy as far as demoing goes was a game going by the name of Tanto Cuore : it's a game in the vein of Dominion (if you don't know what I mean when I say that, I suggest you find someone who has a copy and who can teach you - it is easily in my top 10 games list), although far cuter, and leaving you hiring maids from town by way of love as a currency. Interesting, about the right price for a game in that angle of things, and I could see playing it if it was on the shelf - but it did not 'suck me in' and lock me there, and so, it is not on my game shelf ... I would sooner devote the funds required to obtaining Dominion itself. ^_^;;
There was also an early preview of Leviathans ( http://monstersinthesky.com/ ) - a game of massive, armored skyships fighting. Looks to be an interesting take on things, and an interesting game, but I wasn't able to demo for it - as they had one, and only one, kiosk going. Still looks interesting, so I may revisit that in the future.
As far as game pulls, this year was sorta ... odd. I got 1 new game (Which, er, really is 2 games and 3 expansions in one neat bundle) - We Didn't Playtest This At All / We Didn't Playtest This Either (It's listed in that link.). I suspect I -NEED- to get card sleeves for this, as I have a funny feeling this game and some of it's expansions will see lots of use ; it is very fast playing, rather chaotic, and intensely silly. It was inarguably my top pick last year to buy that I did NOT get, and it very neatly fills a major gap in my collection - I lacked in anything 'very fast playing' that I could literally teach in 60 seconds and could carry with me anywhere.
I was also given a free copy of Nile, which is a card game (Derrek and Amanda bought the Delux Version, which came with a totally free copy of the original). This game has a glitch - the cardstock it was printed on in the original run was very poor qualiy, so it needs to be sleeved to be 'readily playable'. Looks like an interesting game, however.
Also in the "FREE!" category, a full copy of Rift for the PC was in my swag bag. I am ... not sure what, if anything, I should do with this yet.
Picked up 2 of the custom six-side dice at the Schlock Mercenary booth, along with one of the last sets of fridge magnets - my fridge now WARNS you that there's radioactive hazards in it.
Tracked down a replacement for my 'now getting very old' NERV shoulder bag, by the same (now out of buisness!) company. I know they made bloody SOLID AS ALL HELL bags, so this was a no-brainer, although it eliminated any chances of my -doing- a second game pull at the con. Still, if the other bag made by them has lasted me since ... umm ... what is now going on damnably near or over a decade? And it's still not -DEAD-, it's just slowly starting to get a bit ratty? This is going to be an investment that lasts.
Saw many other things that I wanted but did not get ... although god help me, I -will- be getting that one hat I saw, even if I have to track it down online a few weeks from now. ^_^
With that said? I scored a few things of note, although this will, obviously, be a much shorter post than usual about the Con.
I didn't do much in the way of game demoing at all, simply because, well, time was valuable, so ... I really have almost nothing to say of note on new and interesting releases, and I failed to even hit some of my bigger 'target' publishers to see what was new.
The only thing even somewhat noteworthy as far as demoing goes was a game going by the name of Tanto Cuore : it's a game in the vein of Dominion (if you don't know what I mean when I say that, I suggest you find someone who has a copy and who can teach you - it is easily in my top 10 games list), although far cuter, and leaving you hiring maids from town by way of love as a currency. Interesting, about the right price for a game in that angle of things, and I could see playing it if it was on the shelf - but it did not 'suck me in' and lock me there, and so, it is not on my game shelf ... I would sooner devote the funds required to obtaining Dominion itself. ^_^;;
There was also an early preview of Leviathans ( http://monstersinthesky.com/ ) - a game of massive, armored skyships fighting. Looks to be an interesting take on things, and an interesting game, but I wasn't able to demo for it - as they had one, and only one, kiosk going. Still looks interesting, so I may revisit that in the future.
As far as game pulls, this year was sorta ... odd. I got 1 new game (Which, er, really is 2 games and 3 expansions in one neat bundle) - We Didn't Playtest This At All / We Didn't Playtest This Either (It's listed in that link.). I suspect I -NEED- to get card sleeves for this, as I have a funny feeling this game and some of it's expansions will see lots of use ; it is very fast playing, rather chaotic, and intensely silly. It was inarguably my top pick last year to buy that I did NOT get, and it very neatly fills a major gap in my collection - I lacked in anything 'very fast playing' that I could literally teach in 60 seconds and could carry with me anywhere.
I was also given a free copy of Nile, which is a card game (Derrek and Amanda bought the Delux Version, which came with a totally free copy of the original). This game has a glitch - the cardstock it was printed on in the original run was very poor qualiy, so it needs to be sleeved to be 'readily playable'. Looks like an interesting game, however.
Also in the "FREE!" category, a full copy of Rift for the PC was in my swag bag. I am ... not sure what, if anything, I should do with this yet.
Picked up 2 of the custom six-side dice at the Schlock Mercenary booth, along with one of the last sets of fridge magnets - my fridge now WARNS you that there's radioactive hazards in it.
Tracked down a replacement for my 'now getting very old' NERV shoulder bag, by the same (now out of buisness!) company. I know they made bloody SOLID AS ALL HELL bags, so this was a no-brainer, although it eliminated any chances of my -doing- a second game pull at the con. Still, if the other bag made by them has lasted me since ... umm ... what is now going on damnably near or over a decade? And it's still not -DEAD-, it's just slowly starting to get a bit ratty? This is going to be an investment that lasts.
Saw many other things that I wanted but did not get ... although god help me, I -will- be getting that one hat I saw, even if I have to track it down online a few weeks from now. ^_^