Hey Gamers! We are just a week away from Gen Con 2024! It is the first time I am attending this show, and I am lucky enough to have a press badge, so I have been scheduling a bunch of meetings with publishers, and been looking at all the exhibitors, events, and more to check out.

It’s a bigger show than I have ever been to, so it’s safe to say that for every ounce of excited I am, I may be twice as nervous! I think it can be easy to get overwhelmed at big shows, but I am hopeful that it will be much more fun than it is intimidating!

Anyway, I wanted to highlight a few things that I am most excited to see / check out. What are you most looking forward to?

Top 10 Games I’m Interested In Checking Out
(In no particular order-mostly)

Marvel United: The Witching Hour from SpinMaster/CMON – I can literally not contain my excitement for this! Marvel United is my favorite game, and Scarlet Witch is my favorite Marvel character. I love this SO MUCH. I do already have most of the promos already, but I’m glad to have the chance to get that I don’t have, and matching minis. It’s limited quantities, so I am really, really hoping I have a chance to grab this!

Charcuterie from 3WS Games – I’m not usually the biggest fan of “I split, you choose,” so I’m still looking for a winner in this category. And, as a millennial, I can’t deny my love of charcuterie, so the theme is perfect, and I hope

Video Game Champion from Arcane Wonders – The game sounds fairly simple, hand management and set collection, but the video game theme looks really cool just from the art, so I’m really hoping to see that shine through in the mechanisms as well.

Forges of Ravenshire from B.A. Games – I’ve actually played quite a few “forging” themed games, and I’ve liked pretty much all of them, so I’m eager to try another! I’m also a decently big fan of contracts, and using dice as workers in games, so it’s already got a lot going for me.

Little Alchemists from CGE – I tried for a long time to like Alchemists. I mean, I did like it; it’s a really solid deduction game. But for some reason, I was so, so bad at it. Without fail, I would mess up some information I got and would have no hope of figuring out any of the potion recipes, and I just couldn’t understand why! I’m honestly really hoping this lighter version of it is perfect for me! Plus, I think it’s really cute!

Cities from Devir – This got on my radar because I’ve seen a lot of excellent reviews for it already. I’m hit and miss on city building games, but I’ve liked other Devir titles, and this looks pretty cool, so I’m excited to give it a try!

Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth from DV Games – I’m a big fan of DV Games’ Deckscape and Decktective titles, and this cooperative storytelling/exploration type game sounds like it might be of a similar vein, but a new, different twist. I’m not quite sure what it will be in practice, but it seems promising!

Café Baras from Kids Table BG – I love coffee, but somehow own no games with a coffee theme, and I love guinea pigs and not enough games feature them (yeah, I know a capybara is a different animal, but they have a lot of similarities, and I’ll take what I can get). I think KTBG put out a lot of really solid games, and this has great art and some mechanisms I’m generally a fan of, so fingers crossed it’s a winner!

Comic Hunters from Spin Master – I am all about this theme! I love the Marvel theme in general, but most Marvel games haven’t stuck for me, just Marvel United. I’m hoping this is another! It looks great, and the mechanisms (set collection, hand management, drafting) seem like they’ll work well with the theme, so I’m really hoping this plays as well as it seems like it will!

Metrorunner from Thunderworks Games – I took a brief look at this at PAXU last year and I was so excited about it, and I still am! It looks incredible just aesthetically, and it seems like it’s going to have some unique mechanisms that will work well within the hacking theme. Definitely hoping to get a chance to try it out!

Publishers I’ll Be Meeting With

I’m still finalizing my schedule of meetings, media open houses, booth tours, and more, but I’m excited to already have a bunch of things set up! I’m looking forward to talking about new releases and future upcoming games, chatting about the show, looking around their booth, and just talking about games in general! Here are a few of the publishers I’ll be meeting with, but trust me, I’ll be stopping by waaayyy more booths than this!

Other Activities I’m Interested In

I’m sure I’ll be plenty occupied in the vendor hall, but I’ve seen so many other things pop up that I’m looking forward to:

  • Block Party – I love food trucks, so I’m excited to see what’s available and maybe hear some live music too
  • Pin Trading – I’m a huge Pinny Arcade trader when I go to PAXU. I don’t really have much for other pins that might be tradeable here … yet! Not sure if I’ll get as into it, but I have a huge pin collection, so I’ll definitely be checking them out
  • Gaymer Quest – Speaking of pins, I read that Tabletop Gaymers are doing a scavenger hunt to get one of their pins. Not only do I love pins, but I love quests and scavenger hunts! I’m definitely hoping to be able to complete this
  • Auctions / Consignment – I also love a good auction, and this one seems like it’s going to be big! I can’t wait to see what the auctions, and the consignment have to offer, and maybe find a few good deals!

Can’t wait to see everyone at the show!
If you see me, please say hello!!

*Logo sourced from Gen Con
Marvel United image sourced from CMON
Other images sourced from BGG*