Issue 6: Gen Con online + Floor Plan thoughts
I watched 15 to 20 hours of Gen Con content last week, so I shared some panels that stood out for me.
Hello, all! I hope you’re all playing loads of board games, if you can do so safely.
This week, I wanted to touch on Gen Con 2020, one of the biggest gaming conventions in the U.S., and certainly among the biggest in the world. As you’d readily imagine, it all took place online — for free — and while there were a few scattered reports of poor connectivity and not-ideal microphones, it sounds like everything went off really well.
I thought I’d share some of the panels I watched and enjoyed, but before we get there, let’s talk about what an online convention means for the industry — and for me, personally, since I’m really the only person I can speak for, and even then, only with limited accuracy.
I haven’t been to many board game conventions. I’ve been to SaltCON here in Salt Lake City once or twice, and while I’d love to go again, I recognize it’ll be some time before conventions are safe again. (If we all do our part, it could come much faster, so that’s always something to keep in mind!) I’m not one for big crowds, and conventions like Gen Con have always had limited appeal for me because of that. Still, I’d love to be there, checking out new releases, chatting with designers, listening to fascinating panels, and that sort of thing, but it just hasn’t quite happened yet. (Should SHUX happen in 2022, maybe I’ll find a way to go. Who knows!)
This year’s Gen Con, though, was a nice moment for me. There were really great discussions to watch — the highlight for me, no doubt — and it was a good opportunity to see games being released. It does seem there was plenty of online gaming to be had, though I didn’t participate in any of that, and this article from Gil Hova (a great designer and one of the hosts of Ludology) spelled out some concerns with how that was implemented.
I’m hopeful that conventions in the pandemic-free future continue with an online component. Even though I didn’t take active part in anything aside from watching content, I really did feel like a part of something bigger, which was a very nice feeling — especially with the world the way it is at current.
Some of my favorite panels
Pandemic Legacy — Here’s a great panel with Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau on Pandemic Legacy from a design perspective. They talked quite a bit about Pandemic Legacy Season Zero, and while it was all spoiler-free, it was really interesting to hear about some of the unique design challenges a legacy game provides.
Pandasaurus — CTRL, Sonora, Tammany Hall, Apollo: NASA Moon Missions, Gods Love Dinosaurs — there was so much cool stuff on display. But the one that will probably stand out the most is a Dinosaur Island roll-and-write, which I am completely game for. So cool. Pandasaurus is doing some really cool things right now in the medium-weight category, and I’m all in on it.
Czech Games Edition — A look at Lost Ruins of Arnak, a deck-building-and-worker-placement game that looks quite fun, and Under Falling Skies, which I’m actually incredibly excited about after watching a little bit of the play and learning more about the concept.
7 Wonders / Antoine Bauza — This was a really nice interview with a designer who’s done some cool things. Perhaps his biggest hit, 7 Wonders, is getting a second edition, and it sounds like there are some real quality of life improvements there. I do own the first edition, so I won’t be rushing out to get this one — also, you know, social distancing. It’s a big step forward for the game, from colorblindness improvements, a graphic design refresh, and — most importantly for me — a reworked rule book.
Those were four I really enjoyed, but there were a number of really great things to be seen. I’d highly recommend checking the three Gen Con channels on Twitch (Gen Con TV, Main Stage, Studio), as well as their YouTube channel. There are days worth of videos to watch, so dive on in.
A game I played recently
I recently played a solo game of Floor Plan, a roll-and-write game I really enjoyed. Here’s what I had to say about the game on Instagram.
Floor Plan is a lovely true roll-and-write in which you draft out the plan to a house commissioned to you by several parties. It's engaging and a bit weird, and I quite enjoyed it.⠀
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The best thing about Floor Plan, for me, is how it fools you into thinking that you can draft a great home that you'd like to live in. That will not be the case. See those cards up top? Those are the demands you have to meet, and they're how you get points. You'll do well to focus just on those.⠀
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But if you're looking for an imminently livable home, you might need to look elsewhere. After all, you don't get any extra points for having bathrooms (unless somebody wants them), for example. You might be asked to build a pool, but it was only accessible through a bedroom.(If this were The Sims, we all know what would come next — but no, you don't even have to put a ladder in your pool at all.)⠀
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I really enjoyed this solo play of Floor Plan, and it's one I think my wife will enjoy a lot, too. It's such a cool idea, and I think the concept translates superbly well. It's a clever little game, and I'm excited to talk more about it this week — because it shares some interesting features with Welcome To... — it's almost a sequel, sort of.⠀
Off-topic
I’ve fallen down a bit of a rabbit hole and started listening to Japanese city pop while I’ve been working, which has been an absolute blast. Here, I’ll include a video below. This is something like an hour long, and so many of the songs are just outstanding. (You may feel like you’re in the middle of opening theme of an anime for a minute, there, though there’s so much more going on here than just that.)
Alright! Aside from that, I’m excited to talk next time about some games I’ve been playing. I’ve fully graduated into adulthood and bought a laser printer, and there are some print-and-play games that I’m extremely excited about, so I’m hopeful to be able to report back on those.
Hope you’re all well — stay safe!