Gen Con 2024 is here, and now that I’ve had some time to relax (and take stock), I’ve been able to reflect on all the games I’ve been able to check out at the convention this year. Publishers big and small bring their A-game every year, and every year I’m somehow still surprised by how difficult it is to narrow down the choices for this list. But I do what needs to be done, and thus I present to you my official top games of Gen Con 2024!

Publisher: Indigenous Action

MSRP: $45.00

One of my biggest annoyances with board games is the recurring use of indigenous peoples as a poorly researched, mostly stereotypical topic. Often by Germans. Burn the fort, designed by the late, great Navajo activist, environmentalist, and anti-colonial punk (which I use as lovingly as possible) Klee Benally, was a breath of fresh air. Benally designed it as a history lesson for Indigenous teenagers, but it also works well for *most* people who don’t know the history of Indigenous resistance in the U.S. Players act as real Indigenous heroes from history, going through what was described to me as a “reverse tower defense” game. Which makes sense, given the title. They face off against U.S. Army generals like Sherman and Grant, and deal with real atrocities committed by the colonizing American government, like the mass slaughter of American bison. It’s semi-cooperative, alliances are made and broken as easily as in real life. I had a chance to speak with some of the staff, and they said the game has been very well received even in Indiana, which was evident when it sold out before the weekend was over.

Publisher: CGE

Publication: Q4 2024

Of course we have the big announcement for SETIS, so I was super excited when I got the chance to check it out at the con. And what became one of the most talked about games at Gen Con definitely lived up to the hype at the table. I’m not usually a big European, but CGE has always made me fall in love with their takes on the genre that make the tricky and complex resource management of these games FUN. SETI is a great example of this. It’s set in the solar system and each player competes to explore as much as possible while searching for evidence of alien life. There are a lot of numbers (as you’d expect), but it all fits together in a very pleasant way and features one of my favorite roundels in a game I’ve ever seen. Not one that will be a must-have for a casual game night, but NASA nerds and science teachers will have fun with it and anyone who likes solid design and uniformity of theme will love it See also: SETI.

Publisher: Hot Banana Games

Launching on Kickstarter on September 3rd.

Hot Banana Games has been one of my favorite studios for several years thanks to a super fun game in Fogging and had a great, friendly presence in their small booths on the con floor. This year they had something new to try with Moon Rabbit, which immediately enchanted me in the same way Fogging tat. Rooted in the East Asian story of the Moon Rabbit (the legend features in Chinese, Japanese and Korean legends and appears in A LOT of pop culture, such as Sailor Moon, Over the moonAnd Dragon Ball), Moon Rabbit presents the story as a game of placing tiles and hopping between grids as you move from tile to tile, collecting herbs for your elixirs. Each bunny assistant can only move in certain patterns, however, so it’s important to use the right ones to get exactly what you need for your brew. It’s a cute and quirky theme, backed up by some really sweet artwork.

Publisher: Repos Productions

Coming in autumn

It is Middle Earth. It is 7 Wonder Duel. How could I not put this on the list? No, there weren’t A LOT of changes to the basic gameplay, but what was added is really cool. Of course, the wonders themselves were changed to fit Middle Earth, but it’s really fun to see an art style that’s more reminiscent of classic fantasy. As much as I love the movies, it’s refreshing to see a license deviate from their look. The coolest part of the game is the new mechanic revolving around the Fellowship’s journey. It’s represented by a plastic slider that moves along a rail. Inside the Fellowship’s slider is a second, smaller slider that represents the Black Riders, the Nazgûl, and their pursuit of the heroes. I just love little mechanics like this, and it’s a fun way to build that pressure in a tasteful way.

Publisher: Devir Games

MSRP: $49.99

This was, I think, THE biggest game at the con and easily my favorite of all the ones I got to try. Designed by Jackie Fox (a game designer and, well, the Bassist for the damn Runaways) and with the high production quality you would expect from Devir, Rock hard is a tongue-in-cheek journey through the life of a rock star. You pick a rocker and make decisions to further your career: get on the radio, hire a manager, try not to get addicted to candy. It’s got it all, and captures the best parts of ’70s rock, with shoutouts to almost every major rocker of the era and that veneer of sleaze that made the decade so fun. Since it’s Devir, the game’s components are absolutely top-notch (so much so that Jackie herself said she was shocked at how much work they put into it). The player boards are mini amplifiers with working dials and sliders for tracking stats and resources (which go up to 11, of course), and it features some of the best banknotes I’ve ever seen in a game. They really had to dress it up with kiss marks, coffee stains, and burn marks to make sure the Treasury didn’t get on it. Rock Hard: 1977 is a serious work of art and believe me, this will not be the last time you hear something about it from me.

Pictures about the respective owners

Do you have specific thoughts about this piece that you’d like to share? Or maybe you have something else on your mind that you’d like to talk about with other Fandomentals? Visit our community server to join the conversation!