Ten Hot Games From GenCon 2008

The four-day madness of GenCon is over. Gus Mastrapa filters out the games that rose above the rest.

The orgy is finally over. Our long, long weekend of dice rolling, miniature moving and resource gathering is behind us. Now the story can be told. At least, some of it can. There's no way to play every game at GenCon. And I'll be honest with you. Some of the game's I'm pimping here I haven't had the chance to touch. Others I spent hour and hours engrossed in. Regardless, here's a list of the ten most talked about, most groused about most intriguing games that made scene in the dealer room at GenCon 2008.

1. Agricola (Z-Man): Any gamer at GenCon who digs European-style board games was absolutely loopy for this new five-player feudal farming game. Those who pre-ordered the game directly from the U.S. Publisher Z-Man had it in their possession a week before the show. Only one vendor on the dealer room floor had it in stock and they were selling it at full price, a whopping seventy bucks. Buyers weren't getting ripped off. The game is that good. Agricola has already skyrocketed to the top user ranking at Boardgamegeek.com, beating the classic Puerto Rico (a game whose mechanics it borrows heavily from) as the best board game of all time.
   
   
2. Monsterpacolypse (Privateer Press): The gaming world is slowly drifting away from perfectibility. But that hasn't stifled some publishers from launching wildly popular booster-driving miniatures games. Privateer Press' Monsterpacolypse was a total sell-out. The publisher couldn't keep their boosters and starters in stock. I like the idea of a minatures game based on giant monster brawls, but feel like they made some missteps with their characters. When you transform your beasts into their ultimate form you swap the mini out for a transparent, unpainted variant version of the character which is, honestly, not as cool looking as the weaker version. Pretty lame.
   
   
3. A Game of Thrones: The Card Game (Fantasy Flight): The long-running collectible card game changed format nearly half a year ago, much to the disdain of many of the game's hardcore competitors. But I think that the game's incredibly smart system is way too interesting to be squandered on the elite. Magic: The Gathering this ain't. And now Fantasy Flight has a boxed version of the card game ready to go. It comes with five ready to play decks and a board perfect for the game's excellent multiplayer variant. Those who are still cuckoo for deck building can buy new chapter pack every month - every box comes with the exact same cards inside, so you always know what you're going to get.
   
   
4. A Touch of Evil, The Supernatural Game (Flying Frog): That supernatural bit at the end of the game's title is there to make sure you don't confuse it with the awesome Orson Welles movie (which itself would make a killer board game). Flying Frog is riding high on the buzz of their awesome zombie game Last Night on Earth. A Touch of Evil found its way into many gamers' backpacks on the strength of designer Jason Hill's work. I just wish he weren't so dedicated to using photography for the game art. The shots worked in the zombie milieu, but they seem kinda cheesy in the 19^th Century setting.
   
   
5. Simply Catan (Mayfair): Settlers of Catan is the granddaddy of accessible European board games. It's sold millions of copies and acted as a gateway drug luring new fans into the awesomeness of contemporary board games. Simply Catan is a faithful update of the original that provides a sculpted playing board and handsome playing pieces. This new edition of the classic makes a great replacement for well-worn copies and the perfect starter game for new fans looking for something to play around the dining room table.
   
   
6. World of Warcraft: The Miniatures Game (Upper Deck): I didn't get a chance to sit down and play this game, but it's World of Warcraft - it's going to be huge. The miniatures are handsome looking and nice enough that fans of the game will probably want to nab a few just to have a couple sitting around their computer monitor. I can't vouch for the game's playability because I'm not falling for the collectibilty scam again. You serious competitors can keep your thousand-dollar a year habit. But man, that Onyxia figure was hot.
   
   
7. Wings of War: The Videogame (Fantasy Flight): This game is big (small) news. Fantasy Flight had two PlayStation 3 demo stations stations set up where you could play the videogame version of their collectible miniatures game based on World War I dogfighting. Why is this meaningful? Well, turn based strategy games are inherently awesome. But besides that, the announcement of a Wings of War videogame marks the entry of a powerful board and card game company making the leap to the videogame world. They already make board games based on World of WarCraft and StarCraft. Now there's the chance that some of their other excellent properties may make their way to a console near you.
   
   
8. Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare): Speaking of videogames, here's another significant game that was previewed this weekend. The fact that the venerable gamemaker BioWare chose to reveal gameplay to the geeky masses at GenCon is proof that videogames are going to start become more and more important to the typically table-top convention. The game is a throw-back to the days of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, but rendered in a next gen style more like Mass Effect. I was a bit bummed to find that the awesome dialog system from BioWare wasn't used in Dragon Age: Origins. The main character is mute.
   
   
9. Dominion (Rio Grande): One of the best parts of GenCon is getting the chance to demo and playtest games before they've even been sent to the printer. We lucked into a demo of Dominion with one the game's developers Valerie Putnam and Dale Yu. The cards we played with were mocked up, but the game's unique mechanic shone through. Dominion plays like a CCG draft. Players try to build bigger and bigger decks, playing cards that let them buy new cards or ones that slam their competitors. The game moves fast like Uno, but it has the depth and opportunity for combinations of your better collectible card games. This boxed game comes complete with 500 cards and a variety of ways to play. There will be buzz around this game when it hits stores in October.
   
   
10. Supernova (Valley Games): I haven't had a chance to play this one yet, but it's the latest game to be blessed with the handsome graphic design of Mike Doyle. The guy makes great games look handsome. When game publishers are wise enough to release his designs the world becomes a slightly better place. The game is worth the price simply for the fact that his name is on the box.
    
    

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