As Gen Con gets closer and closer for everyone, We here at Tabletopical wanted to bring you a quick list of our most anticipated games at Gen Con 2023 to see/buy/try in no particular order.
Charcuterie by 3WS(Third World Studios)
Charcuterie is a tile(food) drafting game that is all about your presentation. It looks awesome, food themes are extra fun, and there’s something about the idea of designing your very own charcuterie board that seems like a no brainer when it comes to playing a board game. I’m excited to learn more about this as it gets closer to hitting kickstarter.
Age of Innovation by Capstone Games
Age of Innovation is a reimplementation of Terra Mystica. While reimplementations typically add things here or there, quality of life upgrades and what not, I haven’t gotten to see what Age of Innovation offers yet in relation to Terra Mystica. However there is Gaia Project which is a better game/experience than Terra Mystica. If Age of Innovation is anything closer to Gaia Project than Terra Mystica it will be an instant win for me and I will be excited to get it to the table whenever I’m able to.
Mistwind by First Fish Games
Mistwind by First Fish Games has been coming since last year at GenCon 2022. Since last year however, talking with Stephanie and Gordon of First Fish Games, there has been some nice improvements on the quality of the components, and the artwork. Keep in mind this is all the prototype still, but when this hits kickstarter August 8th, it’s sure to take off. My favorite things about this and what makes Mistwind an instant add to the collection is the flying whales that carry cubes around the map, the route building, and the action selection system.
Kalahari by Envy Born Games
I first heard about Kalahiri from Matthew of Envy Born Games. In talking about the other games from Envy Born Games, he seemed really excited to be bringing a Kalahari prototype of some sort to Gen Con and what could be more fun, a game about meerkats, area control, and some fun art!
The Perfect Wave by The OP
Here’s a game I don’t know too much about, but when I came across it, I couldn’t help but want to go surfing. There’s also something about a game when you see the box art and it instantly grabs your attention and from there on out it gets stuck in your head like a song. This is a game that finds players crafting waves and also riding those waves. What could be more exciting than that?
Next Station Tokyo by Blue Orange
What could be more exciting than a fun new roll and write? Next Station Tokyo is the follow up to Next Station London, which I recently heard about and came across. Being introduced to Next Station London via word of mouth of other people in the board game industry, Next Station Tokyo coming to Gen Con was the logical next step for me! I love roll and write games and I also happen to like Japan a lot, and have even been to Tokyo. So imagine my excitement at hearing about this game which is about making routes for the subway in Tokyo.
Luthier: The Art of The Instrument by Paverson Games
The last year has been filled with games of all types and calibers. One such game was the game Distilled which I have followed closely since March of 2022. Imagine my surprise when Dave Beck of Paverson Games announced Luthier. Putting it very simply, this is a game about making instruments. Not so simply, I’m not 100% sure yet as Gen Con will see the prototype of the game roll out to get more information on the coming Kickstarter game.
My Island by Thames and Kosmos
As anyone can attest in the board game industry there are various designers of games that are quite infamous. One such designer is Reiner Knizia. He’s probably one of the more prolific designers of the industry and has hundreds of games to his name. Now why this is important is oddly enough for all of the games I have played and experienced and people I have met, I have never played a single Knizia game and after getting a sneak peek at this at Origins Game Fair 2023, I could not be more excited to get a copy of this game. According to BoardGameGeek “My Island is a competitive legacy game in which you develop your own unique island from connected hexagons” They had me at Legacy Game.
Lord of The Rings: Adventure to Mount Doom by Thames and Kosmos
Being a fan of Lord of The Rings growing up, there have been many different forms of experiencing the story in the shape of games, books, interactive stories, movies, a tv show, and much more. While there are many different board games there are a lot that do things well and also miss on things, and while not every game is perfect these present exciting opportunities to experience the tale of Frodo and The Ring. Adventure to Mount Doom was another game that I got to experience at Origins Game Fair 2023 and just playing a simplified mock up of a couple of rounds I was hooked and wanted to finish playing and experiencing all this game had to offer.
Queen By Midnight by Darington Press
Darington Press is the tabletop side of Critical Role which if anyone is familiar with is everywhere on the internet. This being said Darington Press which features household names like Matt Mercer, and many others is bringing Queen By Midnight to the masses at Gen Con 2023. This is a battle royale deck builder which already in itself is a mouthful, but sounds like a ton of fun. Competing to become the next midnight queen, what could be more fun than that?
