Top 10 Games of Gen Con 2024!

[@mitchellthies486]

Although I saw, bought, and demoed many of these games, the true highlight for me was getting to meet most of my favorite content creators. Mike, Nick, and you were so gracious with your time and interactions that meeting everyone was 100% the highlight of my weekend!

[@PaulaDeming]

aw that's so lovely! I'm so glad!

[@ClancyNacht]

Perfect Paula! Wash your hands, nerds. We gotta keep her healthy!

[@mrjombi]

I’m far too busy playing games.

[@PeterKelley]

As an Australian when I hear sausage sizzle I think of a thin beef sausage laid diagonally on a slice of white bread topped with onions and tomato sauce and folded over. That's the classic. No hot dogs allowed. You can get them many places but they're is a hardware chain Bunnings that makes BBQ facilities available for charities in front of their stores on the weekends and that is the place to get them.

[@PaulaDeming]

interesting! I knew about the white bread but I didn't realize it wasn't actually sausages or hotdogs in some cases. I wonder if that's true everywhere? I must investigate!

[@hanseathl]

Thank you Paula, always a treat to listen to you and to hear your take on games.

[@PaulaDeming]

thank you for watching! glad you enjoyed it :)

[@corinnajuras-tabletopsavants]

I'm so glad someone else is excited about Defenders of the Dictionary! I saw mention of it in a newsletter and have been obsessed since!

[@DMTsukasa]

I saw you for the Final Girl signing at the Van Ryder Games booth. It was a pleasure getting to meet you and say hi! I cannot believe how many of these games I DIDN'T see. Thanks for sharing your picks for the show!

[@PaulaDeming]

it's crazy how much is there and how much one person can miss! You just can't catch all of it, it's impossible. Thank you so much for coming by the signing!! The pleasure truly was mine!

[@AlexKasper]

I'm a simple person. I see Paula, and I click like. 🙂

[@bethhoward6496]

Can’t wait to try some of these out. Everyone at my local board game lounge has been obsessed with Escatan since the owners bought it back from Gen Con, we love the dark theming, with mechanics of some of our other most played games. We think it’s a mechanical mix of: Doomlings, Risk, and Villainous.

[@mylifeasjoekim]

oooooooooo excellent list. I was fortunate enough to see most of these but excited to check out Fromage and Floristry though. It was so good to see you!

[@MistressMissy]

I made it out not sick, thankfully! It was good to see you for like 5 minutes!

[@MistressMissy]

Also, Tam and David were there? I didn't see them at all!

[@WaywardNys]

Welcome back, glad GenCon was a great time (though sorry you got sick)! Love your list, you always have different games from other creators I see which I like (but maybe my wallet not so much :p)

[@ambierona]

I love these videos cause you do a great job summarizing the games. I think I played an early prototype of Flicking Stars back in 2017 (it didn't have a name at the time)! I'm super excited for it!

[@PaulaDeming]

apparently it's been kicking around in the design/development process for 10 years! It's cool to see it's finally coming out and hear Matt talk a little about the changes its gone through

[@mattcohen2]

Thanks for the tip -- You convinced me to add Intarsia to my wishlist! This is at least his second floor-themed game after Summer Pavilion (and I love that game.) I never knew that flooring could be an appealing theme, but I guess it is.

[@cdinprov]

love the cross stitch behind you, picked up the pattern and made it for a christmas gift :)

[@mylessherrill2380]

Great list! It was a great Gen Con! My top 2 were HiFi and Wrath of Fire Mountain. Honorable mentioned to Lure, had some great fun with that

[@zvnetzley9209]

Altay by Paolo Mori and Ole Steiness, coming out this November from Ares Games. Drawn unto the booth by the art, returned to play it because of the designer pedigree (and the art from Paulina Hannuniemi). Deck builder with a board, and beautiful art!

[@Nameless_Adventurer]

Great video! Yes, wash hands, use hand sanitizer, and do not go in the bathroom in Hall D that was flooding (true story). I was so pumped to get to play Luthier from Paverson Games and CTG's The Elder Scrolls at Gen Con, and both exceeded my expectations. Cannot wait for these games to deliver!

[@derkcast620]

PAULA!! I saw you at GenCon when you went past the Starcity booth! I was gonna say "Hi!" but I chickened out :(

[@PaulaDeming]

aw I wish you had! Next time you see me, holler for sure!

[@esthertaylor5692]

Hi Paula, I am excited to learn more about Intarsia. I heard Pegasus Spiele and Michael Kiesling and was instantly intrigued. Loved playing The Game with Matthew at Airecon so this is an instant buy. 😊

[@jamesmurray2690]

Great round-up and some things to think about there. On a related note, I loved the picture of you posted by Modiphius on the FB page, laughing holding the Star Trek Adventures Second Edition and the phaser….oh and nice trigger discipline. Finger resting lightly on the trigger but not pressed so no one gets zapped by mistake. 👍😄👍

[@PaulaDeming]

gotta exercise that trigger control!

[@foyoGames]

Co-Op Scrabble don't sound bad.

[@DaFees]

Awesome list, Paula! I agree everyone should wash their hands more but at the same time, a lot of the men's rooms in the exhibitor hall got slammed, and at times, were completely out of soap! It was honestly crazy to me. As for myself, I was keen to sneak a peek at Fromage but I couldn't find the R2I Games booth. I was also hoping to demo Kelp but really never had the time. Of the things I did see / purchase at Gen Con though, I'd have to say the Radlands expansion, Cult of Chrome, is my #1. That one might be a little biased though as I actually got to playtest that one and know just how good it is. Beyond that I'd put Parks: Roll & Hike by Keymaster Games and Landmarks by Floodgate Games on that list. I would also put the upcoming expansion for Land Vs Sea by Good Games Publishing on that list but that one would also be a little biased as I do playtesting regularly for them and this was one of the things I playtested. That's about it though. I really just didn't have a lot of time to wander the hall and take in demos. I did get a demo of Boop. The Halls and would probably put that on my list. I've really enjoyed boop. and this is a fun, thematic twist on that game. Outside of all that it was nice to meet you again and hopefully not for the last time.

[@ahabwolf7580]

Thank you Paula! Pre-ordered The Gang, looks great! Missed you at Gencon again this year, NOOOoooo lol.

[@xorsyst1]

Right, that's at least 3 games from that list added to my "want to buy" list. I already have Fromage kickstartered so very glad to see it here!

[@tabletalkreviews]

I really loved the final components for Flickering Stars. They managed to keep everything I saw in the original prototype. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy and show this off everywhere.

[@kirkbeiser]

Great video. Lots of games that weren't mentioned in other Gencon videos.

[@c.w.2000]

Thank you for mentioning quokkas. It's always nice to learn of a cute animal I didn't know about. 😀 Well, I just read they have a high infection rate of salmonella, so I guess I won't get too close if I ever see one.

[@akhedena]

The pizza slice is really cute.

[@walterscase359]

Love how you had different games and not just hot games.

[@robinbaksh9023]

My Intarsia experience was basically the same as yours. Knew nothing about it and walked by it and it was great.

[@JustinWatson23]

I've never been to Gencon or Essen. I need to one day, just a long way from Australia and our conventions are mostly lame and don't tend to get the new stuff to demo. Though i am worried i'd need a warchest with lots of money in it and room to bring games home! Yeah never heard of any of these games before either so thats a good thing, some tickled my fancy, as we all know, its impossible to have too many games!

[@shannonpepitone4920]

Nice lanyard lol 😆 glad you got to use it!! ❤ great video!

[@PaulaDeming]

Yay!!! I get so many compliments on it!

[@kossowankenobi]

I hung out with Matt and Flickering Stars at SHUX19 for a couple hours - nice to see it's still in the pipe. Lots of good ideas!

[@rexsettle7087]

Have not watched video yet as I had to stop and check out GenCon 21 based on Paula's T-shirt. And yes my wife and I were there back in 1988. Ah, the good old days....

[@Crimsonboardgames]

All of these sound so good!! I am very excited for Fromage!!

[@p4573qu3]

Thanks for the recap !

[@Jacquotplacesworkers-f7m]

Thank you, great overviews!

[@aprilkirby819]

Love the expanse and diversity of gencon. I don’t think I saw any of these games myself!

[@rogerleroux2786]

We chanted “sausage, sau-sage, SAU-SAGE!”

[@djmurp2]

Saw you there, you were very busy! Not surprised some folks got sick, it was ppppppacked! I did get a game mentioned by Eric Martin, Tower Up - really good!

[@eduardocarvajal2313]

I wish I could’ve seen you ! Huge fan

[@PaulaDeming]

Hopefully next time!

[@bradshantz]

Great list! Can't wait to play some of these!

[@rolling.reggie]

Paula! Looks like you had a great time. I hadn’t heard of your number one but I love Michael Kiesling, so I gotta check it out. Get some rest 😊

[@matthewcrowfoot3463]

I don’t see enough people taking about Joyride! I’ve been looking forward to the game since trying the early prototype at Essen 2 years ago.

[@thegamebard]

Great meeting you at GenCon!

[@SophieStudios]

Loved this video! I especially like that there were some games included I have not seen at other creators GenCon vlog/haul. Are you coming to the Spiel in Essen? 😊

[@JackOiswatching]

I definitely came back sick but not with the 'VID. Ol' con crud is still alive and kicking, it seems. Still had a great time!

[@jamescartwright1150]

Some interesting games you've mentioned there.

[@emeraldoracle8706]

It was my first time at GenCon this year, and it was a lot of fun!

[@FurchtbaresGaming]

I am so excited to receive my Joyride pledge 😄

[@rdp16rulez]

Hey Paula. I saw you at GenCon but I didn't get to say hi. You were on the phone at the time. Apparently you were right on time to join the private event at the Brotherwise Games booth celebrating the announcement of the Cosmere RPG system. Did you get a chance to play the demo for Stormlight Archives? I ran a game and although I haven't read the books yet I am super excited to try the game again. Anyway it looks like you had a great Con. Have a wonderful day.

[@AltamishM]

Thanks for sharing! Just found your channel - subscribed ✌️

[@PHJcz]

Awesome. 🙂👍🏻 Great TOP10 list. I really like TTRPG DC20. It looks awesome and so well cooperative. 😊👍🏻

[@randalladkins7452]

3:37 - Maybe they are hoping for the expansion: Rock Hard: 1978? Or that it will become a series like 18xx games?

[@zocktol]

Great pick with intarsia- such a good brain burner. And the production is just right.

[@breannecline5827]

I found out about intarsia after gen con and I really really want to try this.

[@FoeJred]

Ooooo Toppings looks yummy! 😋

[@manhogbear1086]

Thanks for good game ideas! I wonder if you tried Necromolds!!? we love that game!

[@PaulaDeming]

I haven't but it looks super fun

[@dondre5000]

There should have been more sanitizer stations in that place. I came back sick too. lol

[@PaulaDeming]

yeah I would have liked a lot more access to hand sanitizer, too! Ah well. I was carrying some around with me and I should have used it a lot more than I did.

[@mysterwhymedia]

I got sick after Gen Con too! …okay, admittedly a weird thing to get excited about. Wasn’t covid, at least. I suspect being compressed too closely next to people in the Exhibit Hall was more the culprit than washing hands as I washed my hands plenty. Next time, I might ante up Vitamin D and wear a mask while in crowded spaces and see whether that helps at all…

[@PaulaDeming]

A mask would definitely also help! Really masking and hand washing (for me) have been the most helpful and when I've been lax on those things - that's when I've gotten sick

[@randalladkins7452]

8:52 - The CCU? 😊

[@twelvefootnine]

I managed to avoid falling victim to both con-crud and COVID this year! (I'm not gloating. I'm actually pleasantly surprised.)

[@HungryGamerReviews]

Fromage is the only game i really wanted to play but didnt get to

[@nicholasschneider6655]

As a defender of dictionaries, I need to point out that MAXER is not a word.

[@PaulaDeming]

hehe you know, when that got played during our demo I thought to myself "is that a real word?" but I didn't say anything. Hahaha

[@olanmills64]

I didn't catch anything, not noticeably anyway. I'm overdue for a booster, but I don't know if I'm going to get it before PAX West...

[@Gastel]

Great list.

[@shaneprice1433]

Hi Paula! Ive been watching your final girl playthroughs and i love them! Are you doing anymore playthroughs? Im just wondering in case im missing them somewhere as your my favourite person who plays it! ☺️👍

[@PaulaDeming]

I've taken a little break from them and been playing some other games but more Final Girl will be happening soon!

[@shaneprice1433]

@PaulaDeming awesome! I'm considering getting the game, do you have any affiliate codes for it to get some recognition for getting me into it? 🤣

[@jacobjslee]

I guess I would like to see a list of all the games you experienced and then compare this list of ten to it. Then this becomes more useful when stacked against other people's rankings.

[@PaulaDeming]

if it's helpful, if I hadn't been excited about 10 games, I would have made this a Top 5 list. So nothing made this list simply because it was the only thing I saw. The best thing to do is get a feel for my taste in games from how I talk about them here and if it seems to match yours, this list is more helpful to you! My taste might vary a lot from other people and their rankings so I'm not sure how helpful it is to compare mine to theirs.

[@jacobjslee]

@PaulaDeming Everyone's tastes will vary, for sure. But not knowing if you tried out Comic Hunters, for example, and knowing that six other reviewers did and put it on their lists tells me you might have missed a good game. Or maybe you did play it and so did six others and none of you put it in your top 10 which says a lot more about the game than you. Or maybe only one person ranked it because nobody else could find it? Knowing which games you played total is a piece of info that can help give qualitative meaning to these stats. Extreme opposite example: I make a video about the best game I played at Gen Con (I didn't go) and it's Comic Hunters. I played it five times. I don't mention that it was the only game I played.

[@kestrel5]

I think if you're looking for "This is my top 10 of 500 games I saw at GenCon" that's a tall order from anyone making content at GenCon @jacobislee

[@jacobjslee]

​@kestrel5 Nobody plays 500 games at Gen Con, though. Should we just assume every person who makes a list played the same number of games and the same ones? What each person gets to play will be wildly different from each other. You do not need a stats background to see the validity of knowing what each person played for comparative purposes.

[@kestrel5]

@@jacobjslee I have a stats background actually, and I'm happy to tell you how little interest I have in comparing other people's rankings to each other. This is the same amount of interest that content creators have of time at cons to count how many games they've interacted with, by the way. Paula showed us 10 cool games she found at GenCon. That's awesome! You'll have to do your own number crunching if you want statistics, so good luck.

[@aos-archive]

Defenders's premise is so similar to Illiterati.

[@PaulaDeming]

sounds like I'll have to look into Illiterati!

[@armstronghawkins9183]

I've watched five GenCon recaps and in ALL of them the tubers sound and look (and two, like you, admit) they got sick. Who was Patient Zero? Or Meeple Zero?

[@boardgamefaces4355]

Imagine if Rock Hard 1977 was made by Josh! 😂

[@PaulaDeming]

hehehe

[@ZacharyHale-cm9en]

What is that game shown at 0:50? With the tower?

[@PaulaDeming]

That was Ziggaurat, which is being published by Mindware. It's a new coop legacy game from Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau!

[@brianb5145]

1977 was the year I graduated from college (but I'm not interested in the game).

[@danshowbizz]

If you want people to avoid getting sick, you should advise to wear a mask instead… although washing hands is of course always a good idea!

[@PaulaDeming]

yes doing both are definitely good and have made a huge difference for me when I've done both while attending cons!

[@orangerful]

As someone who kept trying to talk about hot games in their discord, if I forgot the "1977" I got far too many wink, nudge nudge comments from those not familiar with the title so I think everyone is just careful to say the whole title now. :D Thanks for the list! There were a bunch on here I had not heard of yet! Truly SO many games!

[@azraeldawnrazor3203]

If I had a penny for every time I'm washing my hands in a men's room and some dude comes out of a stall and just leaves...

[@rayslover8526]

So strange. Out of your entire list, i only heard of RH77 and The Gang, and both sold out every day. I did get RH.

[@Jamienomore]

In Game Number 6. did I see a Dalek?

[@PaulaDeming]

ohhh they do kinda look like Daleks hahaha! But they're just space ships

[@Jamienomore]

@@PaulaDeming Ha!Ha!Ha! Such a pity.🧸

[@Nerval-kg9sm]

Spiele = 'spiel-uh' not 'spiel.' It means 'Games."

[@rafaelmatosataide7747]

No ozob 😢

[@tyleryoung3158]

Maxer?

[@PaulaDeming]

*shrug*

[@tyleryoung3158]

In all seriousness though, your video made me see lots of different titles that I hadn’t seen from other channels’ videos! Keep on rockin.

[@adriang6259]

How can you afford to get enough games to make a top ten?

[@PaulaDeming]

I play a lot of games that I don't own (friends' copies, for example), I play a lot of games online (Board Game Arena and other sites) and I get gifted a lot of games copies by publishers for my work. In the case of this specific Top 10, these are all games I played, saw, or demo'd at Gen Con at events, exhibitor booths, or in the Open Play areas.

[@adriang6259]

@@PaulaDeming geez do you get paid for this too? How do I get on board?

[@diamondmeeple]

Wash hands? 😲

[@cschwally]

Wash your hands AND wear your masks.

[@ithinkitsaurus]

sausage sizzles arn't hotdogs

[@PaulaDeming]

they are sausages - which aren't really that different from hotdogs and yes I took a little creative liberty there *editing this now to say I've just learned that sometimes there are no sausages OR hot dogs in a "sausage sizzle" which I didn't know so in that sense - I stand semi-corrected

[@kukurukuru04]

@ithinkitsaurus and you're not a dinosaur but here we are

[@lordohnehelm]

besides rock hard 1977 this list is complete garbage

[@ZoidbergForPresident]

0:15 Actually, it's "wear a mask, people".

[@slydog75]

Do what you like but I'm never going back to that insanity.

[@jrodpaul]

@@slydog75thank you.

[@jeffh9021]

IMHO you are too cute...so lose the script reading. We can tell you aren't looking at the camera and it just doesn't seem very sincere. You know your stuff, you have the personality to carry your channel. Just tell us what you know and think and don't worry about it not coming out perfect. None of the other KZbinrs read scripts and we all subscribe to their channels. Just sayin'!

[@PaulaDeming]

I'm sorry my thoughts don't seem sincere to you. Not sure what being "cute" or not has to do with it. *shrug*

[@ROOKTABULA]

Those insisting on you saying "1977" are very likely uptight SJWs who didn't want you to say "Rock Hard" because they would get _triggered._ 🙄🙈🙉 Good for you for not capitulating to narrow minds with wide mouths. 👌 I'm waiting on my copy of it to show up. Having been in a recording n gigging band for 6 years and knowing what gigging and dealing with weasels is like, the theme has me psyched.

[@PaulaDeming]

well I don't think it had anything to do with that. I think they just wanted to be sure we were talking about the same game, since many games can have similar names - no one in this case had a "narrow mind" and I was mostly just teasing when I brought it up here

[@MrTroxel]

To help keep yourself and others healthy, please consider wearing a mask in public gatherings like this

[@PaulaDeming]

Yes, I totally agree that masking is also super important