Plaid Hat Games to Bring Guardians, Comanauts, and Neon Gods to Gen Con 2018

Plaid Hat Games to Bring Guardians, Comanauts, and Neon Gods to Gen Con 2018
Board Game Publisher: Plaid Hat Games
BGG's Gen Con 2018 Preview now tops more than five hundred titles, and three of the most recent additions to the list are titles that Plaid Hat Games will demo at Gen Con ahead of their release later in 2018.

To start, designer Jerry Hawthorne is following up the well-regarded Stuffed Fables with a second "Adventure Book" title, one aimed at a somewhat older audience given the subject matter of the game. Here's an overview of Comanauts, a 2-4 player game due out in December 2018:

Quote:
Dr. Martin Strobal, the greatest mind of our generation, lies in a coma. His Mobius Ring invention promised to change the world, but has instead given us our greatest disaster. Meant to provide the world with unlimited clean energy, the Mobius Ring malfunctioned, bathing Dr. Strobal in radiation, and creating a singularity that threatens to consume the world. We need him back, and the only way to revive him from his coma is to enter his subconscious and free him from the demons found within.

A game of exploration and danger, Comanauts builds on the mechanisms first introduced in Stuffed Fables, providing a new experience for more mature players. Race against time to revive Dr. Strobal by exploring his tormented mind. As players work together to uncover the secrets of the doctor's subconscious, they will follow his inner child across eleven different Comazones. There they attempt to locate and overcome the Inner Demon that holds Dr. Strobal hostage. Assume the role of 22 unique avatars as you explore the dangers and secrets of each world locked inside the doctor's dream. Can you free Dr. Strobal from his own mind before it's too late?
Apparently Dr. Strobal's mind is not as great as we first assumed, him ending up bathed in radiation and all. Maybe that's just the fate of those who promise to change the world, though...

To learn more about Comanauts, you can download the complete rulebook (PDF) from the PHG website.

Board Game: Comanauts

Board Game: Comanauts


Board Game: City of Remnants
Neon Gods from Isaac Vega is a new take on City of Remnants, a 2013 Plaid Hat release co-designed with Colby Dauch. This new version has replaced the grit of the earlier release with a brightly colored wonderland that's no less dark in spirit:

Quote:
Neon Gods is a story of street gangs set in a kaleidoscopic near future of heightened reality inspired by sci-fi cinema of the 1970s and 1980s.

Start your own (legitimate) businesses, and watch them flourish. Recruit the finest disillusioned ne'er-do-wells to hold your territory, and purchase black market resources that'll give you the edge. Be prepared to fight for what's yours because opponents will muscle in on your territory; defend your territory or shed some blood to take over what others have built. And don't forget the cops, who clearly don't have anything better to do than harass innocent business owners such as yourself.

At the end of every third round, players gain points for the territories they control. After nine rounds of play, the player with the most points wins control of the city. The world may not think much of you, but in the back alley glow of the neon night, you can be a god...
Plaid Hat has posted the rules for Neon Gods as well (PDF) for those who want reading material on their trip to Indianapolis or wherever else they might be heading.


Board Game: Neon Gods

Board Game: Neon Gods


• Like Neon Gods, Callin Flores' Guardians is due out in October 2018, but unlike that other game, up to two hundred copies of Guardians are being shipped to Gen Con 2018 for those who want to buy the game a couple of months early. (Update, July 25: I just heard from PHG that these games, which are being air-shipped to the show, might not arrive until Friday, August 3.) You can read the full rules (PDF) on the Plaid Hat website, but for those who want to start with a taste of the gameplay, read this:

Quote:
The Guardians once fought for justice, but these legendary heroes stepped aside after InterGov, the first world government, united the planet in peace. Nearly three decades have passed, but law and order are once more threatened. Renegade factions have emerged to challenge InterGov, and a new generation of heroes must rise up to defend it! Assemble a team and send them against your enemy, in this tactical, super-powered card game. Seize key locations while combining each hero's unique abilities to unleash ultimate attacks!

In Guardians, players choose and assemble a team of three unique heroes from the available roster of super-powered combatants. From there, players gather each hero's unique power and ultimate cards to form their own deck. The combinations are endless as you explore the strengths and abilities of each hero!

Once players have assembled their team of heroes, it's time to take the fight to your opponent! Each game of Guardians has players using their team of heroes to fight for control of a variety of unusual locations. Dominate the fight by playing powerful cards and knocking out enemy heroes, then unleash an Ultimate — a special attack that will radically change the state of the game.
Board Game: Guardians

Board Game: Guardians

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