Howdy, gamers! I got back from PAX Unplugged today and the whole weekend was a blast. I met up with some publishers, bought/sold/traded/played tons of games, did plenty of pin trading, and just had a grand ol’ time. Check out the weekend’s highlights and some pictures below!

  • We got into the city Thursday afternoon and spent the night at Round 1 Arcade, and playing with the sequin wall they had in the little mall area.
  • First stop of the show: Merch Lite – I was able to get my PAXU LE pins, the show set, the everywhere set, the green flame, and all my merch rewards before even going into the show on Friday!
  • The Queue Line – Wow, this line was fast! I didn’t even queue until quarter to 10, and was in the expo hall by about 10:02. Well organized, PAX!
    • I do think it was fairly clear that the show was smaller this year than in the past, and I hope that doesn’t affect future shows. There were still plenty of people each day, plenty of vendors, and tons to do.
  • We happened to enter closest to the Arcane Wonders booth, which prompted my husband to run off immediately and insta-purchase Picture Perfect. No complaints, this game looks amazing.
  • We had to make a pit stop at the Slugfest booth too, even though we already have everything for Red Dragon Inn, because we love it. And I was very tempted to try and buy their cardboard cutout Wench from them… 😂
  • Most of Friday was spent in the expo hall just looking at games and the other random things booths had, and overall was a great experience.
  • The PAXU Library this year wasn’t my favorite. I’ve always thought it was well-organized, easy to navigate, and quick to check things out. It was still quick, but the set up was not good. The way things were stacked, and how tables were organized made it hard to see everything available.
  • On Saturday I met with some publishers!
    • I met with Tim from Thunderworks first. We talked about Roll Player Adventures, which sounds so incredibly cool. I’m not much into co-ops usually, but it definitely sounds like it would be fun, especially because you can bring over your characters from Roll Player, and because it has a huge branching narrative. He also mentioned the name change to their upcoming game Tenpenny Parks 🎡 changed from Theme Parks) coming to Kickstarter in Spring 2022; the theme is great, and the game looks really cool, so I am definitely looking forward to it. Finally, we talked about Cape May, which I will be reviewing! I’m so excited for this one, it looks amazing!
    • I met with Jesse from Funko Games to talk about Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar 🦖 – Funko’s first legacy game. It’s their first game going to Kickstarter (in March 2022, so don’t miss out!). There will be 12 adventures, and it will have puzzles, building, and much more, all taking place in the Jurrassic Park/World universe. It will also produce a unique game that players can always replay once they complete the legacy aspect.
    • Finally on Saturday I met with T. from HABA. We talked about The Key: Murder at the Oakdale Club, which is not only the next game in this amazing series, but the next level! I’m so excited to see what the medium level has to offer, keep an eye out for my review! I’ll also be reviewing Cloaked Cats – an interesting looking deduction game – and Dragon’s Breath The Hatching – an adorable looking children’s game. Can’t wait! T. also told me about a few things coming out next year, such as Moonlight Castle which has players trying to thwart an evil wizard stealing gems from the kingdom, and King of the Dice: The Board Game, which is putting a fun spin on the dice game of the same name.
    • On Sunday I had my last meeting with Matt from Forever Stoked Creative. We walked through all the games they were showing off in their booth, from the upcoming Everyone Else Thinks This Game is Awesome, to the already released Glamazons, to the Kickstarting in Spring 2022 giant Aldarra Reborn, and some other super secret projects that are very, very exciting. It was a great time!
  • We were able to get 23 games played this weekend, not too bad! I think my favorite was probably It’s a Wonderful Kingdom, and my least favorite was by far Frequent Flyer. Keep an eye out for my December New to Me list for everything I played!