BGG Con Hotness: Ranking!

Boad Game Geek posted a photograph of all of the games that will be in the Hot Games Room at BGG Con 2022. That picture always gets us fired up as we prepare for our annual trip!

One of the BGG users posted a link to each of the shelves in the picture with a list of the games that are on each shelf. Since I love making lists, especially when it comes to board games, I thought I’d go over each shelf and rank the games there in order of my desire to play. If there are any you think I should move up in the list (or even down), let me know and why!

Here’s the list, with my comments, and then the ranking below:

SHELF ONE:

• Deal with the Devil – (4 players/120-150 minutes)

Four player only euro style hidden role, hidden goal game from CGE

• Great Western Trail: Argentina – (1-4 players/75-150 minutes)

Deck management / rondel with new worker types – farmers – more complex GWT?

• Woodcraft – (1-4 players/60-120 minutes)

Vladimir Suchy and Ross Arnold team up euro with dice manipulation 

• Flamecraft – (1-5 players/60 minutes)

1 hour wonder by Manny Vega – worker placement with cute dragon / merchant theme

Starting out the gate we have some tough choices to make! Deal with the Devil was supposedly panned by The Dice Tower recently, but that won’t sway me from getting a game of this in with Cam and Rob of the Board Boys podcast and Dave Dooooogahhhh. But dragons and Suchy are more enticing to me, and honestly, I am just not as big a fan of GWT as my friends are. I’ll geaux:

1. Flamecraft
2. Woodcraft
3. Deal with the Devil
4. Great Western Trail: Argentina

SHELF TWO

• Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition – (2-5 players/20-40 minutes)

Trick taking with no suits? IMPOSSIBLE

• Skymines – (1-4 players/75-150 minutes)

Pfister’s redesign of Mombasa

• Hamlet: Village Building Game – (1-4 players/60-90 minutes)

Turns tableau on its head – one central hamlet that players build w/ pick up /deliver

• Atiwa – (1-4 players/30-120 minutes)

Uwe is back with a big game about fruit bats in Ghana

• Weather Machine – (2-4 players/60-150 minutes)

Newest Lacerta game with Ian O’Toole art

• Starship Captains – (1-4 players/40-100 minutes)

Peter Hofgaard with one of my most anticipated from ESSEN SPIEL

This shelf has a bigger selection, so it’s even tougher. I’ve played Cat in the Box many times, so that will geaux lower than it should (otherwise, it would probably be #2). I LOVE the settings in Skymines and Starship Captains, and I am always interested in trying the newest Lacerta. I do like the idea of Hamlet’s central tableau with pick up and deliver, but when it comes to Atiwa, I’m just not sure that I need a long Uwe game in my collection. Atiwa would definitely be a try not a buy at this point. I’ll geaux:

1. Starship Captains
2. Skymines
3. Weather Machine
4. Hamlet: Village Building Game
5. Atiwa
6. <Cat In The Box> would be #2 if I hadn’t played it

SHELF THREE:

• Autobahn – (1-4 players/90-150 minutes)

Newest game from Fabio Lopiano (Zapotec, Ragusa, Cali, Merv) and Nestor Mangone (Newton and Darwin’s Journey)

• Carnegie – (1-4 players/120-180 minutes)

Xavier Georges – big hit on BGA and with critics 

• Tiletum – (1-4 players/60-100 minutes)

Newest “T” game from Simone Luciani and Danielle Tascini / Board & Dice

• Terracotta Army – (1-4 players/120 minutes) – Another Board & Dice beauty / Kwapinski (Origins: First Builders), but I played this at Dice Tower Con once

• Heat: Pedal to the Medal – (1-6 players/30-60 minutes) Days of Wonder back? Designers of Flamme Rouge and Copenhagen and Deep Blue

Ahhhhh, now we are talking! I love this shelf. Thinky euros, a new Days of Wonder game, and another Fabio Lopiano game? I would race to this shelf if I were there right now. I’ve already played Terracotta Army, but only once, so not enough for it to fall off the hotness list for me. Steph Hodge and Dean from MeepleTown have been raving about Tiletum, and it sounds like it is right up my alley. I love the theme of Autobahn, and I love the idea of a racing game with seasons that only lasts 30-60 minutes, so I am definitely curious about Heat. I’ve played Carnegie on BGA and Terracotta Army, so these fall a little lower on the list for me only because the others are more sparkly. There are some really juicy choices here, but I will geaux with:

1. Tiletum
2. Autobahn
3. Heat: Pedal to the Medal
4. Carnegie
5. Terracotta Army

SHELF FOUR:

• Revive – (1-4 players/90-120 minutes)

Newest game from design team (Automania, Capitol Lux, The Magnificent, Santa M)

• Marrakesh – (2-4 players/120 minutes)

Stefan Feld / Cube Tower

• Turing Machine – (1-4 players/20 minutes)

Deduction game on steroids, very well received critically

• Lacrimosa – (1-4 players/90 minutes)

Mozart’s Last Requiem, DEVIR games, designers of ISS 1998 and On The Origins of the Species

Oh wow, I forgot about this shelf. Lacrimosa has a setting that I am just dying to explore with its theme of great composers and artistic patronage — and let’s face it, DEVIR has been kickin’ it with their recent euro releases. That’s a top three must try. Turing Machine is fascinating in all facets: production, gameplay, innovativeness. Nothing wrong with Revive and Marrakesh, the other two games are just more intriguing to me. I’ll geaux with:

1. Lacrimosa (by a mile)
2. Turing Machine
3. Revive
4. Marrakesh (I hope Jesse and Melissa from I Heart Board Games don’t ever read this list!)

BONUS LIST MAKING:

And now, if I were to rank the number one shelf to visit, it’s surprisingly easy. Shelf #3 has five games I want to play in person without hesitation, so picking it number one is a no brainer. But here are the games in order of my interest at BGG Con:

1. Tiletum
2. Starship Captains
3. Lacrimosa
4. Flamecraft
5. Autobahn
6. Woodcraft
7. Heat: Pedal to the Medal
8. Skymines
9. Weather Machine
10. Deal with the Devil
11. Hamlet
12. Turing Machine
13. Revive
14. Carnegie
15. Terracotta Army
16. Marrakesh
17. Attiwa
18. Great Western Trail: Argentina
19. Cat in the Box (again, would be much higher, probably top six if I hadn’t played it so much)

See you at BGG Con 2022 or talk to you on Twitch after the con about our experiences?!

Until next time, laissez les bon temps rouler!

— BJ from Board Game Gumbo