Fair Game's Favorites from Gen Con 2024

• Posted on 11 August 2024
• By Tom Pleviak
• Posted in Board Games, Gen Con, New Releases
• 0

Check out Fair Game's Top 5 Favorite Picks from Gen Con 2024, plus a few honorable mentions! Get the latest on these up-coming hot ticket titles!

It's that time again!  That's right, Gen Con 2024 has come and gone, and with it a slew of new, fun, and exciting games for gamers of all stripes!  Our board game experts have narrowed down the thousands of games on display to our top five picks from the convention, and we are taking preorders for all of them! Simply email your Fair Game location of choice with your orders to lock in a special 10% preorder discount.

• Fair Game Downers Grove: [email protected]
• Fair Game LaGrange: [email protected]
• Fair Game Geneva: [email protected]

Rock Hard 1977

You're a professional musician; you just haven't gotten your break yet.  But in Rock Hard 1977, from Devir, your career is right around the corner.  All you have to do is write music, rehearse, play gigs, and promote your band... while working your day job (bills... sigh...).  Designed by Jackie Fox from the 70's rock band The Runaways, Rock Hard 1977 is a uniquely satisfying working placement game where 2-5 players will each guide their bands from humble beginnings to super stardom.  Rock Hard 1977 has a delightful sense of humor to it, eloquently capturing the trials and tribulations of a struggling musician and translating them into game mechanics.

Cities

Transform your neighborhood into a beautiful urban landscape in Devir's new game, Cities. 2-4 players take turns drafting city tiles, layouts, and building pieces to turn their player boards into the most beautiful cities possible, taking inspiration and using guidelines from real-world cities ranging from Buenos Aires and Sydney to London and New York.  Cities strikes a great balance between building your own personal tableau while keeping an eye on what your opponents are building; it's competitive, but not too competitive.

Boop the Halls

The cats have come back, and just in time for the holidays!  Following the smash success of Boop. and Boooop, Smirk and Dagger Games is coming down the chimney with Boop the Halls - the same clever cats we know and love but with a 3-tiered board and ornaments for your Kittens to knock off as they level up into Fat Cats. This Connect4-on-steroids game features the same simple rules and clever tactics as its predecessors, and is perfect for two players to enjoy during the holidays (or all year round)!

Forges of Ravenshire

Fire up your forges and smelt some iron in Forges of Ravenshire, an upcoming release from B.A. Games.  Roll your worker dice and send them out to collect the resources you'll need to forge weapons, shields, and armor to prove that you are the most talented and prestigious blacksmith in all the land!  Easy to learn with many ways to win and an adorable woodland creatures aesthetic, Forges of Ravenshire is definitely one to keep an eye out for.

Nekojima

Hachette's new release, Nekojima (the Island of Cats), is a dexterity game of balance and careful placement.  Players take turns placing wooden poles with strings attached to create a power grid on the island... while being mindful of the cats wandering the island.  In our humble opinion, this game would be total BFF's with Jenga; Nekojima is a light, fun and challenging game for kids and adults alike!

Honorable Mentions

Let's Go! to Japan: A new card drafting game from AEG, Let's Go! to Japan lets 1-5 players plan out their itineraries for their dream trip to Tokyo and Kyoto.  Wanna see Tokyo Tower?  Go on a sake tasting tour?  Check out the Anime or Manga Museums?  All this and more awaits in this easy-to-learn, many-ways-to-master card game.

Compile: In this beautifully illustrated two-player card game from Greater Than Games, two players each take on the role of AI trying to understand the world.  Using 18-card decks which can be built any number of ways, players compete to solve their chosen protocols first.  Will you focus on discarding your own cards to gain benefits or influencing your opponent's hand to gain an edge?  Compile offers a surprisingly wide variety of ways to play, making this a great option for those who enjoy simple, but deep card games.

Metrorunner: It's a seedy, cyberpunk future that you're just trying to make a living in.  In this beautifully vibrant board game from Thunderworks 1-5 players will balance resource management, worker placement, and turn sequencing to complete jobs for the corrupt corporations of Mirror City while stealing their data for your home district.  An absolutely gorgeous addition to any cyberpunk gamer's collection. Fair Game will have crowdfunding bundles available for purchase very soon!

Gnome Hollow: A new Eurogame from The OP Games, in Gnome Hollow 2-4 players compete to grow, harvest, and sell the most valuable mushrooms for the shiniest treasures in the hollow!  Featuring self-calculating tile and worker placement mechanics and a whimsical, water-color aesthetic, Gnome Hollow was absolutely one of the darlings of the convention!

River of Gold: Set sail to build your economic empire in River of Gold, an upcoming strategy game from Asmodee and Office Dog.  Set in the L5R setting, River of Gold sees 2-4 players sail their barges along the rivers of Rokugan building ports, delivering goods to merchants and nobles, and amassing wealth while currying favor with the gods. 

If any of these games sounded fun to you, shoot us an email and we can reserve a copy for you at a special preorder price.

Gen Con is always a highlight of the year, and this one was no exception. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to discussing these games in person with you in the store!