2GP’s Favorite Handy Convention Line Games (2016)
THE GREAT CON GAMES
Hail thee well and salutations brave survivors of the Nerd Wasteland! Many dangers exist in our Wasteland; an M-5 computer can reprogram itself and take out a star fleet, the Master Controller can regain control of digital reality, a raiding horde of mutant cowboy orcs can hover into town and take over. Hell, Chicken Boo might get belted by gamma rays and turn into Chicken-Hulk! Ain’t he unglamorous! However, one of the least talked about dangers facing any of my fellow nerds, grognards, and fanboys are the Langoliers. The cosmic carnivores of chronological continuity are real! Ask anyone who has spent all day waiting in line to secure a seat for a convention panel Boredom and lethargy eat away at our perception of time torturing us with the slow gnawing of the Langoliers upon our very soul. Ugh. Even with friends to talk to these lines and the long wait times suck Groot's stick. Hell, even long lines for movie openings can be almost suicidally tedious, I mean how many days can we stand in line for Star Wars VII (or XII, or MCLIVV) and not have something for us to do?
FEAR NOT NERDLINGS AND GEEKSTERS! The Great Grognard and the Twenty-Sided Warriors feel your pain, brothers and sisters! We here at Two-Gun Pixie have played many games over many years. Not all great, not all lousy but many fun as $#!+ and fast to play.
Here we present our first ever "List". Now we don't like the phrase "Top 10 (5, 100, 50, etc.)" because that's BS. Lists like these are subjective depending on the particular reviewer's own likes and dislikes. Don't even get me started on the use of the phrase, “Of All Time”. Here at Two-Gun Pixie we simply prefer to refer to our lists as “2GP’s Favorite...” So pop a squat on the convention floor and get ready to save your phone's charge.
Without further ado we here at Two-Gun Pixie presents
2GP’s Favorite Handy Convention Line Games (2016)
10) RED SHIRTS DELUXE by Weaselpants games
This game uses a "Take-That" mechanic like Munchkin or Dwarves in Trouble. This mechanic is overlaid on top of a universe much like - but legally different from - Star Trek. Each player has a handful of cards consisting of potential away-team members, item or skill cards, and mission event situations to send them to. They list the specialty(ies) needed to succeed in that event. Each away-team member lists what their specialties are and any special abilities they might have. Now, you might think you need to send the right person for the right job but you couldn't be further from the truth! As captain you want to kill off your away-team members in order to win! Players use cards to give other players’ away-team members the items or skills they need to accomplish their missions. Overall this card game delivers quick, easy-to-play fun and can be transported almost effortlessly in a backpack or messenger bag.
9) FATE OF AKALON: TRIBES by Foursight Games
A small box and nothing but a deck of cards is a great way to go if you want to bring a game to a convention or similar event with long lines with a longer wait times. A fun combination of flat-out card combat and trick-taking awaits you with this game. In a world ravaged by heat storms and arid, burning air the few surviving tribes battle to survive in the world of Akalon. The game brings a fairly balanced system of luck (as with the blind drawing of cards from your deck to your hand) with enough strategy (when to play which of your 5 cards and how it will affect other cards - in or out of play.) Each of the 4 tribes has their own deck and each deck has its strength. The Elf deck is great at manipulating your battlefield. The Dwarves have great protection and defense. The Orcs have pure muscle power. The Undead are great at manipulating the graveyard discards. Because you don't draw back up to a hand of 5 cards until you deplete your current hand you really have to prioritize how you use the 5 cards you draw each time. A fast, fun card game that is easy to carry around the convention center.
8) CRAZIER EIGHTS: CAMELOT Self-Published by James Gray
This game is perfect for anyone who has ever enjoyed Crazy Eights or Uno. What you get with this take is a nerd-friendly update to the classic game. The game is simply a deck of cards so from a traveling point you won't own many games smaller and more compact than this one. Just like the classic game this is based on the fact that you want to end your turn with zero cards in your hand. You match symbols and colors to discard from your hand just like in the original version in order to win. As always, Eights are wild, or in this case, CRAZY! What this variant brings is to the table is that each card also has a printed ability, an effect or an event. These can alter how you can win. Some can change the way you lay other cards or even affect others' cards. One last point; the art is absolutely stunning. It truly looks like something you'd see in a museum's medieval tapestry wing. This is a great game to bring with you anywhere you go. The familiarity of the game and its rules make it easy for anyone to pick up. The addition of a fantasy element, in this case the myths and tales of King Arthur, Merlin, Magic, and the Knights of the Round Table really breaths a new life into and old game.
Throw this game in your pocket and get to the convention!
7) MUNCHKIN MARVEL by Steve Jackson Games & USAopoly
With all the Munchkin games I own and have played I thought I was done adding any more from this series to my game room shelf. Then I heard this was being published. I was curious but not committed. Then my wife bought it for me ad my gaming group played it. Boy I was wrong! Munchkin Marvel certainly delivers the classically funny Take-That mechanic that made the original game such a success and seamlessly overlays it on top of the Marvel Universe. Well, maybe not seamlessly, it doesn't make sense that your S.H.I.E.L.D. agent can use Thor's Hammer or an infinity stone but hey, it really makes the game fun if you just let it go. As usual for a Munchkin game you want your Agent to reach level 10 and be declared the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You kick in doors and battle monsters; in this case the monsters are villains from the Marvel Universe. Treasures consist of some of the most well-known and iconic items from Marvel; Thor's Hammer, Cap's Shield, Iron Man's Armor, Spidey's Web-Shooters, Infinity Gems, Falcon's Wings, and more stuff than Doc Ock can steal! Additionally the fantastic art is supplied directly from Marvel! Now I love the great Munchkin art by John Konovalic but this game really pops more than I expected and that's thanks to the inclusion of great art from Marvel!
6) DRAGON SLAYER:THE DICE GAME WITH A TWIST by Indie Boards & Cards
If you enjoy Push-Your-Luck dice games you will want to check out Dragon Slayer: The Dice Game with a Twist. The game's concept is that the players are the greatest dragon slayers in all of the realm. This is a contest to see which of you can defeat the most people-devouring, farm-ravaging, wickedly-evil dragons you can hunt (of course good dragons are never harmed). The game components consist of one set of three dice representing the dragon slayer and three sets of three dice each for the dragons; 3 blue dragon dice, 3 green dragon dice, 3 red dragon dice. On each turn a player chooses one set of dragon dice for the dragon type (color) he or she is hunting and rolls all three of them along with their three white dragon slayer dice. As long as you don't roll more fire blasts than shields you can push your luck and keep rolling and attacking dragons, but don't lose or you'll lose those victory points you've been racking up for your turn. Axes gain you a victory if you roll all three Dragon parts; head, wings, tail. The "Twist" in this game is the challenge tokens. If a player decides to end their hunt and cash in their final points another player can give them a challenge token. This forces them to either go on another hunt or take only a portion of their victory points. This is a small, quick game that anyone can pick up and learn in moments.
5) NINJA DICE by Greenbrier Games
We have another Push-Your-Luck game here with Ninja Dice. This game keeps all the players busy between their turn with a rather unique mechanic. You and your friends are all ninja and must prove you are the best. To do this you must successfully break into a series of increasingly more difficult homes. These are protected by locks, patrolled by Samurai, and lived in by civilians. In order to succeed you must roll your dice and try to get the appropriate icons you need to beat each challenge such as; Lockpicks to beat locks, Stealth OR Ninja Stars to beat Samurai and civilians. When you roll to try to defeat the challenges your opponents roll against you, so there is almost no down-time between turns! Another rather unique mechanic is that you leave the dice where they land - their relevant position to each other matter. Is this game easy to travel with? Probably more so than any other game we've played. Ninja Dice comes in a soft, padded square ninja head case that is the easiest game I own to bring with me anywhere I go - it fits in my pants pocket comfortably snug.
4) SHADOWS OVER CAMELOT: THE CARD GAME by Days of Wonder
This is a pleasant surprise as many card games ported over from board games tend to just feel like the board game without the board - or worse yet, they feel like the game in name only leaving you scratching your collective dice sacks wondering how the hell it can even be called by the same name in the first place. Not only does this keep the feel of its parent game but it is a fun filler game on top of that, not only for fans of the original board game but to new players to the brand as well. This version brings a new system to the familiar Arthurian myth quests of the board game. To start, players randomly draw a card to determine if they are loyal to Arthur or loyal to Mordred. During the game Rumor cards are revealed showing potential quests. Each Rumor card has a point value. Those loyal to Arthur try to choose a quest when they believe the points equal between 11 and 13 to complete it. Under or over and the forces of darkness grow. When one side gains 7 swords (White for loyal Knight of Arthur, black for the forces of Mordred) that side win. During the game Merlin, Morgan, and Mordred cards will be revealed to help or hinder the knights. This is a fast game of hidden traitors in an easy-to-travel size. The rule book is printed in several languages besides English including German and French.
3) AVALON by Indie Boards & Cards
The Resistance: Avalon is another quick game centered on the myths and tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. As in its parent game, the Resistance, players are either in one group or another and all roles or identities are kept hidden from the other players. In this case loyal subjects of Arthur or are Evil minions of Mordred. The game is played through a series of quests. On each quest a chosen player picks which players attempt to take on the quest for that turn. Everyone gets an open vote to determine if they agree to that particular quest party. Then, once a quest party is agreed upon the quest players secretly vote on whether they won that quest or if they lost it. Since the votes are secret no one knows who voted which way. It only takes one bad vote for the quest to fail. Tensions quickly build as suspicions around the gaming table intensify. This game delivers everything the Resistance does (More so for fantasy fans) and is a sure thing if you want to have fun killing time on convention lines. Of course, if you prefer a more dystopic futuristic setting then you can easily substitute the original Resistance for Avalon on this particular list.
2) INN-FIGHTING by Wizards of the Coast
Bar room brawls. Have you ever been in one? Me, I know my way around a bar fight. I better considering I was a bouncer from the end of the 80s through the 90s in clubs all around the Lower East Side, Alphabet City, and Hell's Kitchen. Let me tell you, I've never been in one like this before.
Although they do occur, one usually doesn't think of a D&D game when one thinks of bar room fights. This dice game takes a solid staple from Western movies and drops it like a Fireball right in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons tavern. Each player randomly chooses a character and gets action cards (some are combat related maneuver others may be Bystanders to help you. You'll need to have some way to track Hit Points and Victory Points (pen & paper, your smartphone, plastic beads, etc.) This quick combat dice game allows players to take the roll of D&D characters and have at it! Every adventurer has his/her's/its special ability while anyone can throw a punch or crack a bar stool over someone's skull. Your Bystanders act as meat-shields for you and are the pawns of this game. Protect them when you can so your opponent doesn't get Victory Points for defeating them. Unlike other games that try to capture the feel of being in the middle of a bar room fight (High Noon Saloon and The Dragon and Flagon come to mind) this game is a perfect for traveling with. Plus it leaves a rather small footprint on your gaming table (or convention hall floor.)
1) ODIN'S RAVENS by Osprey Games
The Two-Gun Pixie #1 Favorite Convention Line Game for 2016 is also our only strictly 2-player game to make it to the list this year.
Odin's Ravens pits the two opponents against each other as they race to the ends of Midgard and then back to All-Father Odin to report the events of the world. One player takes the role of Hunin, the other of Munin and they race their (very cool) Raven meeples across a series of alternating terrain cards randomly placed in the center of the playing area. The game mechanics are simple. Each player draws from their own decks of cards which are identical to their opponent's decks. Yes, decks. One deck will give you random terrain cards that you will use to navigate the world path that you are currently on. This deck can be reshuffled if it runs out. The other deck is your Loki deck. Loki enjoys bringing chaos to the race and can affect players or terrain cards. You can use these to benefit yourself or hinder the other player. But beware, at the end of your run you have to loop back to the start on your opponent's path. This means cards you played to hinder his race will now be your problem. This is a wonderfully fun game with a deeper level of strategy than one may think at first glance. Although the terrain card layout may take up a bit more space than the other games on this list we feel that it generally plays fast enough that it wont be on the floor for long while you're waiting to get into that convention panel.
