In a few weeks I’ll have the pleasure of attending my favorite game convention, Geekway to the West, here in St. Louis. It’s basically 4 days of playing tons of different board games with people I’ve never met or rarely get to game with.
I’ve been keeping a list of games I want to try out for the first time at Geekway. If you’re attending the convention and want to play one of these games with me, hunt me down at Geekway so we can play it. I play it loose at Geekway–-I don’t schedule anything in advance, so there’s no need to contact me now or at Geekway (I pretty much turn off my phone at the convention). If it’s a game you own and love, you can bring it; otherwise Geekway has a great play-and-win section and library that might have the game.
The qualifications for these games are that (a) I haven’t played them and (b) no one I know owns them. Basically, I’m curious about these games as both a gamer (who might buy them if I love them) and a designer (who wants to learn from clever designs).
I’ve accumulated a list of about 30 games for this list, many of which are recommendations from people on my game design YouTube channel. I can’t quite play that many games in 4 days, so I recently polled some people about which games I should focus on. This list is the top 10 as determined by that survey, in order of most votes.
- High Society
- Lords of Vegas
- Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done
- Sentient
- Rise of Tribes
- Eminent Domain
- Tournament at Camelot
- Illusion
- Railroad Revolution
- Goa
Honorable mentions: Thrown, Pikoko, 10-Minute Heist
What are you looking forward to trying for the first time at upcoming conventions? Which of the games on my list would you recommend?
I’ve played Crusaders several times. Really good, smooth game that doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you’d me to teach you at Geekway, let me know… you can email me back OR my BGG UserName is whitecarlton81.
Thanks Rich! If you spot me at Geekway, let’s play it!
The only game on your list that I’ve played is Lords of Vegas. Been a while though so it’ have to brush up on the rules to be able to teach.
I’m also interested in Crusaders. I keep hearing good things.
I’ll have my daughter with me again this year, so I doubt get to play some of the games I really want to play (Anachrony, Underwater Cities, 18XX, Yokohama, Altiplano). However, there are still many others that I’m anticipating playing with her. Including My Little Scythe, Azul Stained Glass, Arboretum, Expancity, Tiny Towns, Flamme Rouge, Gizmos, Root, Space Base, Village Pillage, and Mystic Vale.
Look forward to seeing you at Geekway. I’m sure I’ll be wearing orange most of the weekend 😉
Punman, your kids and mine can play My Little Scythe, Azul and Mystic Vale. I’ll hit you up for Yokohama and Anachrony.
I believe I’ve recommended High Society, Tournament at Camelot, and Pikoko to you at some point so I definitely would try those. 🙂
I’ve also really enjoyed my one play of Crusaders. Rise of Tribes and Railroad Revolution were also good. Haven’t tried the others.
Hey there Jamie! I’m so excited to attend Geekway. I’ll be demoing my dungeon crawler The Ghosts Betwixt, as well as hoping to play lots of the games on your list. Can’t wait!
That’s great, Dustin! I look forward to seeing you there.
Lords of Vegas is SO GOOD! You definitely need to try it.
I hope I get to play it!
Hey Jamey, if you are interested in Pikoko you might be interested in trying Walking Doggos, too! It’s also a blind hand trick taking game, and will be on Play & Win as well! Looking forward to Geekway as well – it’s my favorite time of year. Hope you have a great time!
Awesome! I think Mattie, the designer, will be too. 🙂
Eminent Domain has been on my list literally forever, with the similarly-themed Core Worlds in close second. I’ll be at Geekway, with varying numbers of young gamers, Friday and Saturday.
Lords of Vegas is outstanding. On the shortlist of my favorite games. The theme is so well integrated into the mechanics. If you are ever in the Bay Area, let’s play it!
I played Sentient at Geekway last year — it was a really nice surprise, with a novel mechanic that my group enjoyed a lot. Definitely worth checking out. Illusion is light, accessible, and fun.
The P&W library is amazing, but I’ll still likely be bringing a few games — Anachrony, Inis, and others my friends have asked about. Plus the latest version of Punch Cards — Jamey, your comments on it during GenCon last year encouraged me to keep up with development on that title, so thanks.
Thanks Chris! I’m glad to hear you’ve kept working on Punch Cards. 🙂
If you want a taste of the hotness, I recommend Tiny Towns, which is a marvelous design achievement in terms of how much game can be crammed into a 30 minute city building game with a tiny board. Puzzly fun with no downtime (simultaneous turns), and very interesting player interaction.
Thanks Tony! It does look really neat.
Last year I played Coldwater Crown for the first time last year and really liked it. Through a series of conicidences I ended up the artist for Brian’s follow-up game, Freshwater Fly. I love how quickly the gaming community has welcomed me in.
And as one of the newest publishers on the block, I’ve got to represent a little. Dobbers: Quest for the Key will be available for the first time at Geekway to the West and it’ll be in the Play and Win. I’ll be wondering the gaming area to help teach and answer questions. Hope to have some of you all try it out!
I really enjoy Coldwater Crown. Congrats on doing the art for Freshwater Fly–it looks great. I’ll have to check out Dobbers!
Thank you sir! I’m sure you’ll be busy, so if we can’t squeeze in a game, we should say hi.
High Society is one of the best games made of it’s type. Super interesting bidding.
I have a copy of Goa, but have never played. It is on my list of shame (games I have had for a while but never played). If we can find a teacher…..
I bet we can find a teacher!
I’d be happy to teach Railroad Revolution if they have a copy in the library. The only games I’m bringing are Escape Plan, Kraftwagen, and of course Tuscany.