Gen Con 2026 – Greater Than Games, Stonemeier Games, Dire Wolf, Blue Orange Games

Yes, we’re (thankfully) nearing the end of my Gen Con G(J)ournal, probably just a few posts left. While I find myself in the main hall more often than not, I enjoy it when I get to hop out to smaller events. One of which was Greater Than Games evening showing off some of their new titles. Crime Scene Tamperer is a tongue-in-cheek take-that card game of setting up your opponents to take the fall when Strong Bad/Dangeresque is on the scene. Digital Detox is a go-fish game of forcing other players to doomscroll on their phones. Defenders of the Realm: Definitive Edition refines the cooperative game and will add a ton of new content. Project Gold is an as-yet unnamed worker-placement game where one can expect to get their engine rolling as early as turn one. Even further out is Center Chair where you and your friends command a starship in a story-driven thematic cooperative spaceship game. Stonemeier Games held their traditional location in the demo hall just barely outside the main hall. Wingspan Pocket looks to be a great card game version of the original where cards are resources and birds. Think streamlined and faster playing with all your birds in a single row. Props to Stonemeier for pulling off Duel of Meloch which pits a Scythe player against an Expeditions player in one of the more impressive you got chocolate in my peanut butter boardgames I’ve seen. Dire wolf has several expansions in the mix, Invincible: The Hero-Building Game: Season 2 expands on the first bag-building game taking the game into season 2 of the cartoon along with four new heroes with a diverse power set. Finally, there’s Blue Orange Games with a new version of King of Tokyo. King of Tokyo: Godzilla has all new, spiffy Japanese-style art along with an entirely new, powered up set of ability cards. New to me, we’ll finish off by looking a A_Way, a card based take-that racing game.

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Dale Yu: Review of Hellas

 

 

Hellas

  • Designer: Stefan Dorra
  • Publisher: Playte
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 14+
  • Time: 45 minutes
  • Preorder link: preorder.playte.com
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Hellas, 480 BC. It’s the rise of classic Greek civilization. After the overwhelming victory of Xerxes’ army at Thermopylae, the Greeks return to their country and continue the hard work at the islands. The building and development of large cities is the next step into a new era.

Found settlements on a Greek island and let them grow into large cities. Build statues in honor of the Gods or finish one of the various temples on the island. All this work needs a lot of marble, which can be found in the many quarries. Houses next to a quarry can mine marble, but some quarries produce more marble than others.

Each round in Hellas players choose an action in the display. When choosing to build a house, palace or square on the island, all others can perform that action, too. Deciding to mine marble (to get more money) will also help other players because they’ll earn money too through their houses next to mines. Building pillars in temples or raising a statue are the only type of actions you’ll perform by yourself, but at the end of the game all players might score points because of your work.

Strategically build your settlements on the island to gain the most profit from quarries. Timing is crucial: most of your chosen actions can also be immediately performed by all other players. Think ahead to outsmart your opponents and score the most points with your cities.

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Heroscape: RenegadeCon October 2026 Report (Part 2)

This is part 2 of my recap Renegade Games virtual “convention” (RenegadeCon) and the new information they revealed about the next wave of armies and terrain (due to be released in the first half of 2027). If you’re a real detective, you may have figured out by now that March is G.I. Joe month. (“Go, Joe!”)

Want to read Part One? Use the link!

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get going!

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Dale Yu: Review of Dickory

 

 

Dickory

  • Designer: Hanibal Sonderegger, Sean Ross
  • Publisher: Playte
  • Players: 2
  • Age: 14
  • Time: 20 mins
  • Preorder link: preorder.playte.com
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Be the first to get rid of your cards in this climbing game with shifting ranks! The game is in the vein of Dai Fugō (**Millionaire**) and involves playing cards from your hands in singles, doubles, triples, quads, or 3-card runs (the variants add 2-card and 4-card runs). There are no suits, and ranks can shift by clever manipulation of a “conveyor belt” queue of cards. Whichever rank is in the rightmost position of the conveyor belt is the highest rank, and the ordering of the remaining ranks shifts according to a circular ranking.

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Heroscape: RenegadeCon October 2026 Report (Part 1)

Well, fellow fans of Heroscaper (and those who are weirdly fascinated by my obsession with this crazy miniatures combat system), it’s time once again to recap Renegade Games virtual “convention” (RenegadeCon) and the new information they revealed about the next wave of armies and terrain (due to be released in the first half of 2027).

Just a quick lore reminder for those of you playing along at home: thanks to Thormun’s rebellion, the traditional relationships of the various Valkyrie generals has been upended, and four alliances have emerged:

  • The New Alliance: Jandar & the remains of defeated Utgar’s armies
  • The Clockwork Combine: Einar & Volarak
  • The Umbral Covenant: Vydar and Revna
  • The Verdant Pact: Ullar & Aquilla

The October 2026 releases (coming REAL soon!) favored the Clockwork Combine and the New Alliance… so these new releases will let us lean into the other two groups of warriors.

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get going!

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Dale Yu: Review of K-Pop Demon Hunters: Battle for the Spotlight

 

 

K-Pop Demon Hunters: Battle for the Spotlight

  • Designers: Seiji Kanai and Waleed Ma’arouf 
  • Publisher: Asmodee
  • Players: 2-6
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 15 mins
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://link.amazon/B00eNn9x0
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

 

Tune in to the contest between HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys! As they battle on stage, crowd the arena and cheer as loud as you can for your favorite group! Your cheers generate fan energy that powers their performance and helps protect the Honmoon. Work together and read the stage carefully – not everything is as it seems. Use teamwork and deduction in this quick-playing tug-of-war game. Draw and play a card on your turn to gain momentum for your team and outsmart your opponents.

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