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Gen Con 2015 VII: New York 1901, Letter Tycoon, Boomtown Bandits, Maze Racers, Catacombs, Stockpile & Tesla vs Edison

Gen Con 2015 VII: New York 1901, Letter Tycoon, Boomtown Bandits, Maze Racers, Catacombs, Stockpile & Tesla vs Edison
Board Game: New York 1901
• One of the other hits of Gen Con 2015 was Chénier La Salle's New York 1901 from Blue Orange Games, the first strategy game from a publisher normally known for speed-based reaction games and other mainstream-friendly designs. Since its merger with French publisher Jactalea in 2013, BOG has started to import some of that company's games, titles still relatively light in gameplay but more involved and thinky than its earlier releases. With New York 1901, BOG is trying to have its breakout Ticket to Ride moment, but only time will tell how successful this game will be.





Board Game: Letter Tycoon
• The graphic design on Brad Brooks' Letter Tycoon from Squirmy Beast is an eye-catcher, and even if you normally shun word games, this design might catch your eye anyway. Good design does that, and I heartily approve the design as a great way to step outside the normal look of games and attract new players.





Board Game: Boomtown Bandits
• Boomtown Bandits from Isaac Epp and Squirmy Beast was one of two Western-themed titles at the Breaking Games booth at Gen Con 2015 — Slap .45 being the other — and Breaking Games' Shari Spiro said that thematic hook gave them the idea of transforming their booth into a mini-saloon (although they could not serve drinks, of course, due to the nature of Gen Con's regulations).

Talking about how Breaking Games works, Spiro explained that she's a rock-and-roll fan from way back, and she wanted to create the spirit of a music jamboree with their presentations at conventions. Thus, she publishes and co-publishes many designs from small publishers and independent designers, and these people then present their works to potential buyers at small tables during shows like Gen Con and NY Toy Fair. They have each other's backs, she says. I learn your game, you learn mine. I'll teach while you're having lunch; you'll teach mine while I'm walking the hall for a break. Then let's get together and jam!





Board Game: Maze Racers
• Andy Geremia showed up at Gen Con 2015 with a handful of copies of Maze Racers from FoxMind, running a few events to show off the game (and missing one of them, ahem). The concept of competitive maze-building is a great one, and I'm curious to see whether anything else will be done with this idea in the years ahead, although if you're not able to actually pick up the maze and interact with it, you might find it lacking.





Board Game: Catacombs (Third Edition)
• Speaking of great graphic design, I know that many people are not fans of Kwanchai Moriya's new look for Catacombs from Amos, Kelsey, West and Elzra Games, but I find it incredibly appealing, especially when set against the wall of generic fantasy artwork borne by many games on the market. Whereas the first edition aimed for moody and serious, this version seems like a better match for the nature of gameplay and thus more harmonious overall.





From gallery of Bsobol1
• Brett Sobol and Seth Van Orden's Stockpile from Nauvoo Games has picked up a fair amount of praise for what initially sounds like a familiar game: Work the stock market to make as much money as possible. Sobol dropped by the BGG booth to tell us more about the game.






Board Game: Tesla vs. Edison: War of Currents
• Dirk Knemeyer from Artana Games was the first guest in the BGG booth at Gen Con 2015, and we'll close out this round-up with his overview of Tesla vs Edison: War of Currents, a title that I misspell every time that I type it because I'm so used to typing "edition" from all the game listings that I create in the BGG database. The strange tics that one picks up from their jobs...

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