Had a blast with the missus at Tantrumcon board gaming convention in Charlotte, NC this weekend. It was a super chill con with excellent vibes, and we played a ton of new games. Some standouts were:
Vengeance: Roll & Fight by Mighty Boards. https://www.mighty-boards.com/10/50/products/Vengeance-Roll-Fight-Episodes-1-2
This introduced me to roll & write games and while we (and others we talked to) had a pretty hard time picking up the rules, once we did, we were hooked. Reminds me of Hotline Miami in its fast paced, clear-the-room gameplay.
Castle Party by Devir Games. https://devirgames.com/castle-party
This is a flip & write game where you flip cards that tell you what shape to arrange monster cards in, then draw the monster symbols in your grid in that shape, grouping them strategically to earn points. Super easy to pick up, and very deep gameplay.
The Supershow by SRG Universe.
https://supershowthegame.com/
A collectable pro wrestling game that feels like an actual wrestling match. Each round feels like a collar-and-elbow lockup and plays out in unpredictable ways. The guys at the SRG booth were a hoot.
Boop by Smirk & Dagger.
https://www.smirkanddagger.com/product-page/boop
Its cute aesthetic and simplicity belie its extremely deep strategic mechanics. Seriously, replace the cats with Othello pieces and I'd believe this was an ancient game. You place cats on a grid, trying to get 3 in a line. Cats repel adjacent cats when placed, so you have to think like 6 turns ahead. I'm too dumb for this one, but its depth to complexity ratio makes it remarkable.