Before Gen Con - Top10's

This will be my first year attending Gen Con, "the best 4 days in gaming." The convention takes place this week, from August 14-17, in Indianapolis. Gen Con is the original, longest-running, best-attended, gaming convention in the world. Last year, the 46th event, the attendance record was set at 49,000. However, all indications point to this year breaking the attendance record again. 

I will be arriving in Indianapolis on Tuesday evening. I will do my best to take lots of pictures and share some tweets. You can follow me on twitter at: @darylmandrews

Meanwhile, I can't help but think ahead to all the amazing games I will get to see, demo, and maybe even purchase. Really I have been thinking about this for weeks. Reading reviews, watching videos, and chatting online with friends. After doing so much research, it just makes sense to share my TOP 10 list. I have decided to include two lists. The first list is my Top 10 games I am considering to purchase. The other Top 10 list will be games that are not for sale, but I want to see/demo.

TOP 10 Games (for sale) at GEN CON:

10) Diamonds (Love trick taking games - anything designed by Mike Fitgerald has my attention)

9)  Consequential (Sounds really innovative. I love the app integration and legacy mechanic)

8) Abyss (Love any game designed by Bruno. Plus the box cover is awesome!)

7) Lords of Xidit (Loved Himalaya. I enjoyed the play test when I saw it in April)

6) Imperial Settlers (Ignacy Trzewiczek is a brillant designer. Rules look solid)

5) Hyperborea (I wish I could afford this game. From the designer of Kingsburg. Looks great)

4) Five Tribes (Again, anything designed by Bruno I usually enjoy. Played in April and I loved it)

3) Sheriff of Nottingham (Been on the search for original Brazilian game, Robin Hood. Must have)

2) King of New York (I love the idea of smashing around a map of NYC. Cant miss with this)

1) Panamax (Not many great med-heavy euro games coming out. This looks like my kind of game)

Next10 Honorable mention:

City Hall (on the bubble)

Subdivision (on the bubble)

The Battle of Kemble's cascade (on the bubble)

Argent: The Consortium (on the bubble)

Chimera (came down to this or Diamonds)

Fief: France 1429 (Im not a war game guy)

Battle of the Five Armies (Im not a war guy)

Epic Resort (Love the art but need to try the game first)

Tortuga (already out)

Dead of Winter (already out. Kickstarters delivered)

TOP 10 Games (for demo only) at GEN CON:

10) Bomb Squad (Im interested in trying this game due to the timer aspect of the game)

9) Scoville (Im a sucker for all games featuring Josh Cappel's art)

8) Gold West (I don't know much about this game - but I am interested. 

7) Steam Works (Wow - I guess I love TMG. I will be in room #137 a lot at Gen Con)

6) Aqua Sphere (Im a sucker for Feld games. And yes the first 5 games on this list are TMG.)

5) Colt Express (You had me at 3D train)

4) X-Com (Designed by friend Eric Lang. Hopeful App integration game will be awesome!)

3) Pay Dirt (Designer of Alien Frontiers. Great designer + Great Art = I want)

2) Castles of Mad King Ludwig (Really fun game. I love the spatial building of the castles)

1) Kanban: Automotive Revolution (Next to Panamax, this is my most wanted game

Honorable mention:

The Walled City (Im bias. I like it. Im really excited for people to experience the game)

The Night before Gathering of Friends 2014

I realize it sounds like bragging whenever I mention the Gathering of Friends (GoF) to my friends or family. I don't apologize. It is one of the great highlights of my year. If I could I would invite all my friends to come along. However, I can't. Last year was my first chance to experience this glorious gamer geekdom, and it lived up to the hype.

Alan Moon & Me (chess board made by Stephen Sauer)

For anyone unaware what the Gathering of Friends is, the event is an invite-only board game convention hosted by Alan Moon (designer of numerous amazing games, best know for Ticket to Ride). The event includes about 400 people from around the world. I believe we have about 15 countries represented + about 40 States/Provinces represented from US/Canada (and with almost 30 different publishers in attendance too). The event started tonight and continues for the next 11 days. I plan to arrive tomorrow.

So tonight is my christmas eve. I am scrambling to get all ready for my board game Christmas. I just gave myself a christmas shave (I decided to go with a Mennonite beard to represent my region). I will struggle to fall asleep tonight, thinking about all the excitement of tomorrow, and when tomorrow finally arrives, it will be filled with quality time with my gamer extended family, opening lots of colourful boxes and playing with new toys.

I will do my best to share some pictures and/or stories of upcoming games I see at GoF. Last year I managed to see at least a dozen games that were unreleased. I will hopefully discover some gems to highlight.

Also, I have 4 prototypes I will be shopping around to publishers (working titles: Caffeine Rush, Ninth Inning, Hex & Ladders, and Shopping Cart). Additionally, I will be representing 2 games from fellow Game Artisans of Canada (working titles: Slither by Micah Fuller, Birds of a Feather by Stefan Alexander). I will do my best to keep people posted about who I pitch to and how they went.

Furthermore, I will be showing my game The Walled City by Mercury Games, around at the Gathering. Really excited to show the game around to a few people. Sorry but I can't leak too much details about my game yet, but stay tuned! The one thing I can say, because it already was mentioned on BGG News (so cool!) is Josh Cappel is the artist for The Walled City! Anyone who knows his work (Pandemic, 1960, Belfort, Endeavor, Garden Dice, Kings of Air & Steam, New Amsterdam, etc) will understand why I am so excited about this. And also I am proud to call him my friend. So double win!

Game Artisan of Canada - amazing board game designers + me

And I will be hanging with a bunch of amazing game designers so I will get to play test some great prototypes too!

The Walled City: Londonderry

Exciting News! It is official, Daryl Andrews (one of the writers for Death Of Monopoly), with the help of co-designer Stephen Sauer, have announced their upcoming game "The Walled City: Londonderry" to be published by Mercury Games. If you would like to learn more about Mercury Games you can enter their contest (ends Feb 11th). Go to: http://boardgamegeek.com/contest/mercurygames

Stay tuned for more info about The Walled City. Meanwhile, we have the press release below:

Mercury Games is pleased to officially announce "The Walled City: Londonderry" by designers Daryl Andrews and Stephen Sauer.

"The Walled City: Londonderry" pits rival politicians against one another to become the First Mayor of the city. Founding a medieval walled city is no easy task and you are about to find out just how difficult it can be!

Two rounds with multiple turns are played with a scoring phase after each. Quick play is complimented by tough decisions, and missed opportunities can come back to haunt you.  Providing a safe place to live for the peasants will earn you a large reward, but failing to construct the city wall in time will see the loyal knights abandon the city for safe haven.

Each turn consists of playing cards to build roads that form neighborhoods with citizens that have allegiances to one of the players. Nominate watchmen to the towers, rig districts (called gerrymandering) and raise great walls.  All these play a part in solidifying your power as you attempt to climb to the top of the political heap.

All the while the Guilds that you align yourself with impart special powers that can upset the plans of your rivals. Move a road to form a new neighborhood where the citizens in your camp are in the majority or remove a wall that protects rival citizens from the ravages of the surrounding area. The Guilds will affect the outcome of who runs the city when all the dust settles.

"The Walled City: Londonderry" is a highly thematic and elegant area control/area influence game for 2-4 players that plays in about 60 minutes.  As with all Mercury Games products, players will enjoy the unique mechanics and interesting choices this game has to offer.

Keep an eye on the BGG page for "The Walled City: Londonderry" to watch for further pictures and information as we begin to show off this new game!  When the time is right, you'll also find out how to acquire a copy of the game for yourself this Summer!