GenCon Day 1

Day 1 started with me showing how bad of a friend I am. When Jason signed up for events he included a ticket for me. My first event on Day 1 was a game that I did not get a ticket for Jason. So, we went our separate ways while I played Discworld: The Witches. This is a fun game. You play as one of the witches living and training in Lancre a magical land full of problems. It is a cooperative game in which you keep track of victory points to find out who won better. The game has a fun sense of humor. Fun things like the location names. In the pic is a card the depicts the location "The Place Where the Sun Does Not Shine". There is also a location named "The Long Man" and the graphics at the location is quire phallic. All that aside, I had a good time playing the game. We won, but I was not the overall winner. No surprise there. If you get a chance to play this game, I recommend giving it a try. We won rather easily. So, I don't know if this is a game I would own.

Next up was finding Jason in the vendor hall. After stopping off at my favorite game designers booth (Prolific Games) and playing Witch Slapped, I wandered around until Jason and I coordinated well enough that I found him among the throngs of peeps. I recommend Witch Slapped for those with kids or those who like fast paced games. Think slap jack with a gotcha mechanic. I own it and love it.

In the vendor hall I got to demo a game called Valerian: The Alpha Missions. It is another cooperative game, and it is based on the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. You go around in the city made of random tiles and fight the monsters. I had fun, but the demo was setup for an easy victory and I did not get a feel for how challenging this game actually can be. I want to try it again as the full game. The jury is out on this one.

After vendor hall wandering and eating at the food trucks, we meet up with Bill, Alex, Josh, and Jody to play some games. They started off the night with 7 Wonders. I had played 7 Wonders a few times before and did not like the game. Granted those who try to teach me the game did not do a good job and I felt like I had no idea what was going on. Well Bill and Co. are good at explaining games, and now I know what the hell is going on in this game. I actually liked it this time. Naturally I did not even come close to winning the game, but no surprise there.


We played Sagrada next. Sagrada is a dice rolling and placing game. You are trying to complete a stained glass window and gain victory points. The game is pretty and has bunches and bunches of colored dice. Who doesn't like dice? I liked this game so much that I ended up buying my own copy. I love it when that happens.

From there we played a game Bill has under development. I am not sure how much I am allowed to say, but I will say it was very fun. It is interesting to play a game with one of the players is the designer and another is the artist. The game was still in play test shape and I was having fun listening to them talk about the look and feel of the card art. It is like pulling back the curtain. When this game goes to Kickstarter, I will back it. I will give a link to it when it goes live. I just am not sure of when. I will keep you posted.

Everyone from Prolific was tired. So, Jason and I left so they can rest. Back at our hotel we played four games of Santorini. Santorini is an abstract game for 2-4 players. Seems best with two. You are trying to build your structure before your opponent. There is a variant you can play by adding god
cards that give you special abilities. It is a fun game, and I won 2 out of the 4. So, not bad.

After all the gaming, walking, and eating fattening food, we were ready to call it a day. Stay tuned for the Day 2 recap.