Gen Con 2023 – Czech Games Edition

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Matt J Carlson

Gen Con has set another record with 70,000+ unique visitors and now that it’s over it is time for the OpG rundown of the show, at least my contribution. This year I’ll be trying something different, creating many smaller posts. Hopefully, that will make it easier for people to refer back to, or share specific posts. If you prefer the huge rundown-post of yesteryear, be sure to kindly let me know in the comments.

Today we talk about two Czech Games Edition titles, specifically the new Arnak expansion, The Missing Expedition (out in the next month or so) and Kutná Hora: The City of Silver (releasing at Essen, and in the US around Christmas.).

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Dale Yu: Review of Woollie

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Dale Yu

Woollie

  • Designers: Simona Greco and Marco Rava
  • Publisher: Cranio Creations
  • Players: 1
  • Age: 7+
  • Time: 5 minutes  (only for the easiest!)
  • Played on my lunch table at work with review copy provided by publisher

So, I had a nice email chat with my friends from Cranio Creations this summer, and they asked me if I was interested in reviewing some of their games – and I happily said yes, as I have had lots of fun with their releases in the past.  I thought I was getting a deduction game (Murder Pocket Party) and a party game (Broad Lines), but when I opened the mailing crate, I was surprised to find this little solo puzzle.  I knew nothing about it, and it doesn’t even have an entry on BGG!  Not sure if this is because the game is more a puzzle, than a game – but that hasn’t stopped other similar things from making it into the BGG database in the past…

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Dale Yu: Review of UNO Quatro

Posted on August 8, 2023 by Dale Yu

UNO Quatro

  • Designer: Tara Taehyun Kim
  • Publisher: Mattel
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 7+
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Played three times with copy provided by publisher
  • Amazon affiliate link

UNO Quatro is the newest release in the classic UNO line.  Last week, I mentioned that Mattel, the game’s publisher, is looking to hire a new Chief UNO Player (CUP) to help promote the game – https://shop.mattel.com/pages/chief-uno-player.  $4,444.44 a week for 4 hours a day for 4 days a week sounds pretty sweet!

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Disney Lorcana 

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Dale Yu

Disney Lorcana

  • Designers: Ryan Miller and Steve Warner
  • Publisher: Ravensburger
  • Players: >1
  • Played with cards provided by Ravensburger at the GenCon launch party

So, I’ve just returned from GenCon, and I was able to get my hands on a few Disney Lorcana cards and give the game an initial go.  I was invited to a press launch party for the game, and the powers that be want me to make clear that my Disney Lorcana cards were provided by the publisher as well as some other small gifts, and all of the scrumptious food and drinks were also provided by the same great folks.

We were all invited to a small gathering at a local restaurant which had been transformed for the evening.  And I seriously mean transformed – lights, wall coverings, table coverings, video screens, full vinyl wraps and window clings.  It was like being at one of the amusement park attractions, and it definitely set the mood for the evening.  They even had a few folks out in the street acting like park cast members, with lighted wands pointing us in the correct direction from the valet stand to the restaurant.  All in all, a very impressive setup and production – but nothing out of line with what I would expect from either Disney or Ravensburger.

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International Gamers Awards Announces 2023 Nominees

Posted on August 4, 2023 by huzonfirst

The International Gamers Awards (IGA) have been held for almost a quarter of a century and are widely considered to be one of the three major gaming awards.  Their jury have just announced their nominated games for 2023.  The IGA jury gives awards in three categories:  Best Multiplayer Experience, Best 2-Player Experience, and Best Solo Experience.  Here are the nominated games, together with their designers and their publishers.

Best Multiplayer Experience

  • Challengers!  (1 More Time Games) – Johannes Krenner, Markus Slawitscheck
  • Darwin’s Journey  (ThunderGryph Games) – Simone Luciani, Nestore Mangone
  • Earth  (Inside Up Games) – Maxime Tardif
  • Heat: Pedal to the Metal  (Days of Wonder) – Asger Granerud, Daniel Pedersen
  • Lacrimosa (Devir) – Gerard Ascensi, Ferran Renalias
  • Marrakesh  (Queen) – Stefan Feld
  • Planet Unknown  (Adam’s Apple Games) – Ryan Lambert, Adam Rehberg
  • Revive  (Aporta) – Kristian Ostby, Eilif Svensson, Helge Meissner, Anna Wermlund
  • Tiletum  (Board&Dice) – Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini

Best 2-Player Experience

  • Lacuna  (CMYK) – Mark Gerrits
  • Oranienburger Kanal  (Spielworxx) – Uwe Rosenberg
  • Splendor Duel  (Space Cowboys) – Bruno Cathala, Marc Andre
  • Undaunted: Battle of Britain  (Osprey Games) – Trevor Benjamin, David Thompson
  • Wingspan Asia  (Stonemaier Games) – Elizabeth Hargrave

Best Solo Experience

  • Earth  (Inside Up Games) – Maxime Tardif
  • Eleven  (Portal Games) – Thomas Jansen
  • Legacy of Yu  (Garphill Games) – Shem Phillips
  • Resist!  (Salt & Pepper) – Trevor Benjamin, David Thompson, Roger Tankersley

Finally, the jury recommends the following games, which just missed being nominated in one of the categories:

  • Mosaic  (Forbidden Games) – Glenn Drover
  • Woodcraft  (Delicious Games) – Vladimir Suchy, Ross Arnold

The winner in each category will be announced in late September.  Congratulations to all the deserving designers and publishers!

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A Few Hours at Gen Con 2023 (Article by Chris Wray)

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Chris Wray

I took a few hours off work today to swing by Gen Con 2023. Last year at Gen Con felt like a reduced event, but this year, the convention came roaring back, to what felt like pre-2020 levels. The waiting area outside of the exhibit halls filled faster — and felt more crowded — than I ever remember from before the pandemic.

So what’s popular? Lorcana. Lorcana, Lorcana, Lorcana. The line waiting for this collectible card game is the single biggest line I’ve ever seen at Gen Con (and I believe W. Eric Martin said something similar on Twitter). All day long people kept expressing amazement at the craze. Even sitting here at the airport tonight I had a stranger ask if I’d been to Gen Con (he noticed me reading a game rulebook) and start talking to me about how excited he was for Lorcana. I’ve never played a CCG, so it doesn’t interest me, but this seems like it is going to be huge for a lot of that genre’s fans.

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