Hello from GenCon, where about 60,000 dedicated fans of (mainly) tabletop gaming have gathered in Indianapolis, IN for four days of gaming bliss. My GenCon actually began a day early with Trade Day, a series of workshops for retailers as well as educators and librarians. Librarians were well represented this year, with great presentations from Orion Township (MI) Public Library and librarians from the Indianapolis Public Library. They talked about setting up game programs and working with school libraries to support common gaming projects. I presented on trade day as well about my Teaching Through Games series of books and the work that Brian Mayer (Vice-President of the GameRT) and I are doing on Play Play Learn. You can see my slides and handouts at playplaylearn.com/gencon.
The other big part of Trade Day is an evening showcase where publishers demonstrate their new games. A great way to see what is coming in a smaller venue with a chance to ask more questions than on the floor. There were a number of great games I played that evening, but a standout for libraries was Medieval Academy (IELLO Games). This game is fascinating and a bit unique in that it makes use of six double sided boards that can be flipped from an easy side to an advanced side to modify the level of difficulty. This means a library can purchase one game, learn to teach one game, and have many different levels of game support in a single box. A great way to differentiate on the fly to support different levels of players.
Another hot pickup from the floor is Codenames (Czech Games Edition). In this game, players are trying to clue in their teammates to the identity of secret agents using carefully selected, single word hints as to the codenames of the agents along with the number of agents the player thinks his team will identify from the clue. Be careful, though, selection of an innocent bystander card or an agent from the opposite team ends your turn. Even worse, each round has a single assassin card that will result in an immediate loss if selected. Great twist to a hint-based word game.
Sticking with word games, another very interesting find was SHH (Perplext). This micro-sized game – think a pack of stick gum sized – is part of the publisher's new Pack-o-Game series. These quick-to-learn and quick-to-play games use different mechanisms ranging from pick up and deliver to auction to dexterity. SHH is a cooperative word game where the players are working together, silently, to develop words that use every letter of the alphabet. Vowels are placed in the center of the table, and the players take turns playing out either a consonant from their hands or a vowel from the middle. If a word is formed and no new letters can be added by the active player, she or he indicates concession with a thumbs up. But remember...no talking! Lots of fun in a very small package though I hope there might be a larger release for more general use in schools and libraries.
Now I must steel myself for another foray onto the floor; things are a bit louder and more chaotic than the ALA floor. More updates and games to come. If you have anything you want me to check out and report back about, please drop a comment here or send me an email at chris@playplaylearn.com.