Tech News
70,000 board gamers can’t be wrong —
America’s biggest board game con has come and gone; we’re back with pictures.
Aaron Zimmerman
– Aug 6, 2019 3: 33 pm UTC
Welcome to Gen Con.
A sea of gamers prepares to storm the hall to snatch up the most coveted games before they sell out.
Parks is my pick for best-looking game of the convention.
Ishtar: Gardens of Babylon, a tile-laying game from designer Bruno Cathala, is another looker.
This creepy/badass statue stood guard over the Kingdom Death: Monster booth.
In Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein players collect blood, tissue, and muscle to construct their own monsters.
Black Angel, a heavy Eurogame about competing AIs on a post-apocalyptic spaceship, was probably my most anticipated game of the show.
A roving steampunk band serenades con-goers in the exhibition hall.
Reavers of Midgard: it’s colorful.
Afternoon, sir.
Giant Ticket to Ride: London.
Horrified was a big hit (perhaps owing to prolific board game reviewer Tom Vasel’s ringing endorsement) but it seemed like a rather bog-standard co-op to me, albeit with a cool theme (chasing down classic monsters from Universal Studio’s catalogue).
Funko Pop board game? Why not.
Tired of drinking non-geek-branded coffee? One company has a solution.
Planet is a tile-laying game where you stick magnetic terrain tiles onto a magnetic Earth-ball.
In Bargain Quest, players take on the role of the shopkeepers who sell magical gear to monster-fighting adventurers.
Forget your bag of holding? No problem.
Periodic: A Game of the Elements is an educational board game from Genius Games.
Publisher CMON continues its PlayStation-game licensing with the God of War card game.
Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a new co-op Living Card Game from Fantasy Flight.
Atomic Mass Games showed off its new Marvel Crisis Protocol miniatures game with some awesome terrain.
Another scene.
Even Splendor got in on the Marvel fever.
This year’s balloon creature.
Every year, con-goers construct a massive kingdom, called Cardhalla, out of old cards. On the last day of the con, people can throw change at the towers to knock them down.
Yes, of course they were playing Mario music.
Terror Below, or “Tremors: The Board Game.”
Don’t forget to pick up a minifig.
Modern-classic tile-laying game Suburbia got a much-needed deluxe-edition upgrade.
Black Panther stands guard over the booth for Wakanda Forever.
The booth for the new Blockbuster game brought back old memories of my first job.
Pathfinder players were all abuzz with the release of the second edition of the system.
Obscurio is like Mysterium, but with a hidden-traitor element.
I’ll play almost any game with an Old West theme; thankfully, Sierra West seems to be another good one.
Need a mounted dragon head? You’ve come to the right place.
Cloudspire has elements of MOBAs and tower-defense games, and you can play cooperatively or in PvP mode.
Isle of Cats: another Tetris-style tile-laying game, this time with cats.
Bosk is an attractive little area majority game about trees and their falling leaves.
INDIANAPOLIS—Gen Con, America’s biggest and longest-running board game extravaganza, held its 52nd annual convention in downtown Indianapolis this past weekend, and we were there once again to take it all in. The convention is kind of like a giant board game release party, where publishers unleash their newest games to the most committed and enthusiastic tabletop gamers. A total of 70,000 unique attendees made the trek to Indiana this year for the self-proclaimed “best four days in gaming.”
If you couldn’t make it to the convention, you’re in luck. Above, peruse the show floor from the comfort of your own electronic device. Below, enjoy a bonus gallery of some of our favorite cosplayers. But most importantly, stay tuned for our full roundup of the show’s best games coming later this week. After all, this year’s conference has more to offer than just the long-awaited release of Pathfinder’s second edition.
Catan resources.
Abby someone… Abby Normal.
I mean, say what you want about the tenets of zombiism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.
Hellboy, unfiled.
Star Wars cosplay. Never thought I’d see the day.
A tech-priest wandering the halls.
Gang’s all here.
Aaron Zimmerman
Aaron Zimmerman is Ars Technica’s copyeditor. He has worked for a variety of online and print publications.