I started going to Dragon Con in Atlanta almost 6 years ago. It was my first geek convention and has now become a highly anticipated yearly staple not only for me, but for my wife and friends as well. Since that first con in 2010, I have gradually expanded my attendance to other cons. By the end 2016, I’ll have attended six in this year – 3 as an attendee, 2 as a vendor, and one I’m running. Not too shabby.
When I’m not vending, I spend most of my time in the gaming halls. I’ll play games with buddies and strangers alike, and it’s always a good time. I like to try out as much new stuff as I can, and I also like to bring a few of my own games. I try to pick games that are easy to learn, easy to carry, and fun for different numbers of players. But I also want them to pack a decent strategic punch. Over the next few weeks I’ll be going to Momo Con and Magic City Con, and I’m bringing these 5 games that I hope to get to the table.
1) Valley Of The Kings, AEG, 2-4 Players.
This deck-builder with an Egyptian theme has a couple of fresh mechanics that really shine. First of all, instead of a row of cards that players usually choose from, there is a pyramid of six cards – three on the bottom, two in the middle, and one on top. Players can only buy cards from the bottom row, but the pyramid can be manipulated by certain cards to mitigate this feature. As a card is removed from the middle or bottom rows, the pyramid “crumbles” and cards move down to fill the open slots. It is a simple mechanic, but it works well. Secondly, cards will only score victory points if they end the game in your Tomb, an alternate discard pile that you are allowed to put cards in each turn. This provides very interesting choices because in order to score better point values, you’ll need to remove powerful cards from your deck’s rotation, thereby weakening your deck, which seems counter-intuitive at first, but quickly adds a whole new level of depth to the traditional deck-builder. I got to play Valley as a two player game, but I’d love to see how it plays with 3 or 4.
2) Garden Dice, Meridae Games, 2-4 Players
Garden Dice is the only game on my list with a board, but the box is still relatively small. The game has players trying to score the most points by planting seeds, watering them, and then harvesting the veggies they produce. But each player also has critters (rabbit/bird) to mess with opponents by eating their stuff. There’s luck involved, as in any dice game, but there are rules that help mitigate the luck factor as well. Garden Dice is designed to be played in less than an hour regardless of player count. I’ve not played it yet, but I recently got it specifically with convention gaming in mind. With its attractive art and a benign theme, it seems like Garden Dice would appeal to multiple audiences. These factors, as well as its short play time and tight strategy, are exactly why it is on my list.
3) Loot, Gamewright, 2-8 Players
Loot is a simple game that’s super easy to learn. You have a hand of cards containing pirate ships, merchant ships, pirate captains, or the single admiral in the deck. Players play one card per turn. If it is a merchant ship, you are hoping it remains unscathed until your next turn, because if it does, you bank its value into your score pile. If you have a hand full of pirate ships, however, you might want to attack another player by placing one of those ships next to one of his merchant ships, hoping that when your turn comes around next time, you have the most pirate power present (alliteration rocks!) so that you can plunder it and place it in your own score pile. Captains act as trump cards for pirates, but they are rare since there is only one per each of the four colors of pirates. The single admiral card acts the same way, except it must be played on your own merchant ship. The game plays quickly, but there are enough decisions to provide strategic tension. Loot provides rules for team vs. team play. I have not tried team play as of yet, but a convention seems like a good place to give it a shot.
4) Best Treehouse Ever, Green Couch Games, 2-4 Players
I love this game! It has a simple drafting machinic, but the theme and art are incorporated as perfectly as any game out there. And when you finish your treehouse at game’s end it will have its own little story to tell. Each room is unique – there are no duplicate cards. A playthrough should take 30 minutes. There is some strategy involved in placing of rooms, both for colors and balance (you don’t want it to fall over). There is also some scoring manipulation at the end of each of the three game rounds. The ease of play, the eye catching, conversation-starting art, along with the social aspect of comparing each others’ treehouse as each round progresses, makes BTE something that seems like a good “get to know you” game, perfect for a convention setting.
5) and 6) Dead Drop, 2-4 Players and Council Of Verona, 2-4 Players
Ok, I lied about only 5. But I had to put both of these on my list since they are both social deduction style games made by the same publisher, Crash Of Games. (The boxes are even the same size). In Dead Drop, each player is a secret agent trying to identify and pick up the secret package before the others do. There are only 13 cards in the deck and each game takes less than 5 minutes, but your brain will burn and there should be exclamations of enjoyment and disappointment alike around the table each time someone attempts to pick up “the drop.” In Council Of Verona, players will manipulate the characters from Romeo and Juliet into either the Council or Exile, placing secret wagers on who will end up where at the end of the game. It’s a fifteen minute game that provides social interaction and fun. Both games should easily catch on in the gaming halls.
Well, that’s it. Thanks for reading. I know there are tons of other great convention games out there, but these are the ones that I’m hoping to get to in this upcoming round of cons. I hope you get to play games at a few cons of your own this year. And if you are in or near Georgia, you should consider coming to Dice Drop Game Weekend on Nov. 12-13, 2016. We’d love to have y’all. Regardless, keep nerding on! Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1118102071555326/
Follow Rob on Twitter, here!
Follow Dice Drop Games on Twitter, here!
Follow Dice Drop Games on Facebook, here!
- Gamesmas 2024 – The Best 10 Games for the Holiday Season - December 11, 2024
- Spooktacular Board Game List 2024 - October 19, 2024
- 10 Hot Board Games for Summertime Tabletop Fun - July 10, 2024
