My GenCon 2016 Wishlist

With GenCon 2016 now in full swing, I thought I would put my two cents in to the mix of games that are on my wishlist as everyone else in the gaming community seems to be doing the same. I have used the ultimate BGG geeklist of debuting games at this years con for my resource.

So without further ado let’s see what I want to buy…

Guilds of London

Players: 1 – 4

Designer: Tony Boydell

Artist: Tony Boydell, Klemens Franz, Charlie Paull

Publisher: Surprised Stare Games Ltd, Tasty Minstrel Games

I am a big fan of TMG and the games they put out, and Guilds of London has been knocking around since the UK Games Expo, but it is now available for general release stateside. The game looks really interesting and the way in which the modular board is laid out over the various rounds seems pretty neat. Like most euro games there are of course numerous ways to score, and scoring takes place at the end of each round with every now and then scoring taking place in a pre-determined manner which is set out on the score card. The game itself is an area management game, which can be pretty mean to play especially in a two player setting – but if you’re both into that then great. There seems to be a huge amount that can be done in what looks like a very compact and neat game. The cards can be used in multiple ways, both as action cards and coins, and the tiles double up as the point scoring and delivery device.

Oceanos

Players: 2-5

Designer: Antoine Bauza

Artist: Jérémie Fleury

Publisher: IELLO

As a spectacle this game look amazing! The graphics and components are incredible to look at. And Antoine Bauza comes with a huge amount of pedigree especially when it comes to card drafting games. Oceanos has a quite unique card drafting method, in which the dealer gets the left over cards at the end of the draft from which to make the pick. Seems pretty neat. The way that the art blends together between the stage cards is fantastic as you explore the depths of the ocean. And then there is the submarine. I have only seen pictures and videos from prototype versions of the game but still they look great. The game also looks very easy and from what I am hearing is going to be a gateway game for those looking at card drafting. Only problem for me is that card drafting games tend not to work great with two players unless you have some variant rules, but otherwise colour me excited.

Ticket to Ride: Rails and Sails

Players: 2 – 5

Designer: Alan R Moon

Publisher: Days of Wonder

Need I have to say more.

I am a complete sucker for any Ticket to Ride game and it is a sure fire way to get me excited is slapping a new version of it onto the gaming table. Rails and Sails seems to offer something different from the usual TTR fun, which is ships. The map in this version covers the entire world and players travel between locations over both land and sea. Mr Moon has added a few other new elements which sound very interesting and no idea how they will work until I can finally get my hands on it. One of those being that you get to choose what combination of trains and ships you start off with, which is then going to be alter the way in which you play the game. Can’t wait!

Beyond Baker Street

Player: 2-4

Designer: Robin Lees, Steve Mackenzie

Artist: Marie-Elaine Bérubé, Atha Kanaani

Publisher: Z-Man Games

Well this game looks and feels familiar. It’s pretty hard not to try and automatically compare this came to Hanabi, but this game is very much in the same ball park as Hanabi. Players have a hand of card made up of varying colours and numbers which they can not look at and need to rely on other players to feed them information so that cards can eventually be played. This game has a Sherlock Holmes theme, as the title may suggest and players are solving cases before Mr Holmes is able to. My game group is very much into co-operative small games, in the vein of Hanabi and The Game and they are easy crowd pleases. Beyond Baker Street seems to put this up a notch by adding a little bit more (and also a fancy tabelu) but still incredibly simple and easy to pick up and teach to anyone.

Anyway, those are my top picks let me know what you are looking forward to.