Gen Con 2022 Recap

Wow, Gen Con 2022 is already a week behind us but we're still riding the high of the excitement, discovery, and connections we experienced at the show. Let's look back on an amazing show and relive our highlights!

Dusty, Dirty Setup Days

It's always a bit magical seeing the booth come to life, starting from a blank rectangle of concrete outlined by tape to a colorful 3D structure. While we were thankful to see our boxes of foam tiles and folding tables, touching the cases of games for the first time was a special moment. We felt all the stress and anxiety of the past few weeks melt off our shoulders. What's a Gen Con without games?

Tuesday and Wednesday were a labor of love, with more and more of our team members arriving to help. It's hard to remember to pace yourself during setup, as you're full of adrenaline and excitement, but the toughest days are yet to come.

Eventually we got all the banners assembled, flyers displayed, and shop area put together in an organized way. Wednesday afternoon was spent training the demo team and answering last minute questions, while the evening was spent with retailers at the Trade Day event. Busy times for Day 0!

Turing Machine Takes the Trophy

Turing Machine, by Scorpion Masqué, was one of the hottest games at the show, proved by the huge line that wrapped our booth every morning. Seriously, every morning it got longer to the point that it wrapped our neighbors on Saturday morning. Fortunately we allocated stock each day so that attendees would be able to grab some the first three days of the show. That meant it sold out in 2 hours on Thursday, 1 hour on Friday, and just 30 minutes on Saturday!

Akropolis: A Modern Hit

Akropolis, by Gigamic, was another of our big hits of the show. It experienced the same wave of hype as Turing Machine, with allocated stock selling out in mere moments every morning. It was so nice to see the same warm welcome it had at Origins repeated at Gen Con a couple months later.

If you didn't get a chance to grab your own copy of Akropolis at the show, don't worry - it releases into retail next week on August 24th! You can pre-order through your local game store or on Amazon.

And breaking news - Gigamic just released new SOLO MODE rules for the game, so you can enjoy it in even more ways now! Download them here and start playing!

Northgard: Uncharted Lands Hits the Map

Northgard: Uncharted Lands, by Studio H Games, was yet another one of our new releases, with three large demo tables at the end of our booth, looking directly into the busy aisle. These tables were full the entire weekend, due to interest from players and the hard work from our demo team. Doesn't it look striking on a table?

This game was one of our most-requested games by press, interested by the streamlined combination of 4X mechanics and deck-building. It's one of those games you have to try for yourself to really believe the description. Coupled with the recent Kickstarter delivery, lots of eyes were on the retail version we premiered at the show.

It's releasing in retail stores this week, so don't worry if you didn't get a copy! Order it from your local game store or on Amazon. And keep your eyes peeled for next year when we plan to release the Warchiefs and Wilderness expansions!

Critical: Foundation - an RPG for Boardgamers?

Critical: Foundation (Season 1) was a new discovery for many players. And while most of the players sitting down at our tables had many questions at the start, by the end of the demo they grabbed their own copy, excited to finally be able to experience a role-playing game with lower barrier to entry than more classic pen-and-paper RPGs.

We are so happy our early copies arrived so we could show Gen Con attendees why Critical is the best way for them to dip their toes into the world of RPGs. Instead of needing a huge time commitment, each part of the story is separated into 30-minute chunks of time. And instead of relying on improv to create the story, a cohesive story is written start-to-finish in the Game Master's booklet. Of course, there's still room for improv if desired, but it's not required to experience a fulfilling and exciting saga.

Hot off the Press!

While those were the games featured on our demo tables, we also shared sneak peeks in our press corner during almost fifty meetings with different news outlets and content creators! You can read a couple different features by Opinionated Gamers, Board Game Gumbo, or watch the overview of Galileo Project on the Man Vs Meeple channel!

80% of Events Sold Out

We hosted 84 different events and 80% of those tickets sold out! That's amazing, considering that the games featured ranged from the newest hotness to our more classic titles that people have been playing for years.

Gen Con is the perfect place for tournaments, so of course we hosted a Nidavellir tournament and two different Quoridor tournaments. The happy winners went home with some great prizes, and we have ideas for next year's tournies already!

Thank you for the best show ever!

This shout out is dedicated to everyone who stopped by our booth to demo a game, buy a copy, or just say hi. And all the press members who scheduled time to get a peek at our newest releases. And the demo team who worked tirelessly to make sure our tables were full of happy players. And our partners Scorpion Masqué, Studio H Games, Gigamic, La Boîte de Jeu, and Blackrock Games who flew in from overseas to help out, take meetings, and show us their new games.

Gen Con 2022 really was the best show ever and it's due entirely to EVERYONE!