Sean Winningham
From August 3rd-6th, over 70,000 gamers, game publishers, artists, and more traveled to Indianapolis to participate in one of the world’s largest gaming conventions, GenCon. Though I’ve lived in Indy my entire life, this was the first year I’ve ever attended (this is the city’s 20th year hosting the convention). From how the convention works to locating events across 5 buildings, there was a lot to take in and learn for my first time as an attendee. Although it was overwhelming and physically exhausting, it was one of the most enjoyable and welcoming events I’ve ever attended.
What really impressed me is how is the large variety of games that exist to the point that you could find a game for anyone. I had the pleasure of playing a number of games for the first time, from board games to role-playing games (RPGs). Here are five that I played during the convention that you may be interested in.
Queen By Midnight
The latest game from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role, Queen By Midnight is a deck-building game designed by Kyle Shire. The Queen is dead, and as one of the 6 possible princesses, your job is to become the next queen by midnight either by gaining the most health and clout points or by eliminating the other princesses. Each princess has a unique set of possible powers that a player can use, and certain hours of the night have effects that can change the outcome of the game. What’s nice about this game is if you are eliminated, you can still participate in the game by helping the princess you have pledged your allegiance to in the event that your character died.
The game was made available to purchase at GenCon (where it sold out within the first hour, and some days, within minutes) and will be released to the general public for purchase on August 22nd.
Uno Quatro
Uno Quattro by Mattel is their latest game that combines Connect 4 with the classic card game, Uno. The goal is to get four Uno tiles in a row, which can be either by number or by color. Some tiles do have special moves, such as knocking out the bottom tile of the row, switching entire rows, or losing tiles. This game is for players of all ages (though the recommended age is 7, younger kids could probably still play this game and enjoy it), and it’s a great family game, where 2-4 players can play.
Uno Quatro was designed by Tara Kim and is currently available for purchase.
Marvel United: Spider-Geddon
Although gaming publisher CMON has already developed two popular Marvel United games (the first being simply called Marvel United and the second that features the X-Men), they will be releasing a new version of the game in the fall entitled Marvel United: Spider-Geddon. At GenCon, gamers got to demo and even purchase the game, which also sold out very quickly every day. Marvel United: Spider-Geddon is a cooperative, turn-based card-playing game where you play one of the Spider-Heroes and try to stop a villain from taking over New York City. The game comes with multiple villain and hero options so that you are not playing the same game or strategy over and over, and it is really simple to follow. Although it says the age recommendation is for 14 and older, my 9-year-old kid played this game twice at GenCon, got the hang of it really quickly, and was one of his favorites at the convention.
Marvel United: Spider-Geddon is designed by Andrea Chiarvesio and Eric M. Lang, and will be available to purchase in October of 2023.
Candela Obscura
Another game from Darrington Press, Candela Obscura is a horror, paranormal roleplaying game where each player creates a character to play as a member of the secret elite organization, Candela Obscura. Taking place in the late 18th century age of the Industrial Revolution in the fictional town of Newfaire, each player works together (or not) to stop paranormal activities from happening and killing the town in the process. The game has a set of moves and marks for each character, and players use a set of special dice and gilded dice that will determine their next move and in some cases, their fate.
Candela Obscura is currently being played by Critical Role and is live-streamed on their Twitch channel. It was designed by Spenser Starke and Rowan Hall. It will be made available in the fall of 2023, but a free, quick-start guide is now available on the Darrington Press website.
Sentinels Of The Multiverse
Although the core game was released by the company Greater Than Games in 2011, Sentinels Of The Multiverse: Definitive Edition was a game that was demoed on the vendor hall floor at GenCon and is still popular to this day. Using Silver Age comics for inspiration, this game is a cooperative, deck-construction game where each player takes on the role of a superhero and attempts to stop one of the villains and their goons from their ultimate objective, which is never good. The art in this game is beautiful and will make any comic book fans appreciate it and love its style (it even has references to comic book issues on the bottom of the cards as though these were real comics!)
Sentinels Of The Multiverse: Definitive Edition is available to purchase at any gaming store near you.