Tag Archives: gen con

Gen Con 2025: And the ENNIE Award Goes to…

Posted on by

The 2025 ENNIE Awards were awards at Gen Con 2025 this past weekend. The awards highlights the best releases of the past year.

Winners will be in bold with GOLD and SILVER noted as to which they received. Congrats to everyone and this year’s winners were….

Judges’ Spotlight Winners

Best Adventure – Long Form

  • Crown of Salt, Tania Herrero  **SILVER WINNER**
    Author: Tania Herrero
  • Isle of Joy, Knight Owl Publishing
    Author: Gord Sellar
  • The Shrike, Silverarm  **GOLD WINNER**
    Author: Leo Hunt

Best Adventure – Short Form

  • The Dream Shrine, Brad Kerr  **GOLD WINNER**
    Authors: Brad Kerr and Skullfungus
  • Tides of Rot, Games Omnivorous
    Authors: Karl Druid and Brian Yaksha

Best Aid/Accessory – Digital

Best Aid/Accessory – Non – Digital

Best Art, Cover

  • MIR, Little Dusha  **GOLD WINNER**
    Artist: Metastazis
  • The Hidden Isle, Causa Creations Interactive Media GmbH
    Artist: Eliot Baum & Viv Tanner

Best Art, Interior

Best Cartography

  • Revolt!, Jason Price
    Chaim Holtjer

Best Community Content

  • Dead Beats (Miskatonic Repository)  **GOLD WINNER**
    Author: David Kirkby

Best Family Game / Product

  • Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, Possum Creek Games  **SILVER WINNER**
    Authors: Mercedes Acosta, Jay Dragon, Lillie J Harris, M Vaselak

Best Free Game / Product

Best Game

  • His Majesty the Worm, Exalted Funeral Press  **SILVER WINNER**
    Author: Josh McCrowell
    Art: Bertdrawstuff, Emily Cheeseman, Charles Ferguson-Avery, Nicolas Evans, Gobert, Sophie Grunner, Gus L, HodagRPG, Tom Kilian, Amanda Lee, Frank, Savanna Mayer, Thomas Novosel, Gertrud Oberg, Caitlin Reid, Marcin S, Alec Sorenson, Emmy Verte
    Editing: Meledy Watson, Kennedy Gerber
    Layout/Design: Peter Borlace, Michael Strange
  • Last Train to Bremen, Caro Asercion
    Author: Caro Ascersion
    Art: Conner Fawcett
    Editing: Weaver Walker
    Layout/Design: Conner Fawcett
  • Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme, Exalted Funeral Press
    Author: Brian Saliba, Craig Schaffer
    Art: Keith Lowe, Julia Bangert, Elliot Lang, Kyle Patterson, Zachary Pullen, Irina Shirokova, Andrew “Tiger Wizard” Bellury, David Hoskins
    Editing: Chant Evans, Ben Summer
    Layout/Design: Chris Doughman, Chandler Kennedy
  • The Last Caravan, Mythworks
    Author: Ted Bushman
    Art: Hayden Davis, James Firnhaber, Spencer Hawkes, Jeff Langevin, Galen Pejeau
    Editing: Graham Ward, Kristin Perkins
    Layout/Design: Graham Ward, Carson Wright
  • Triangle Agency, Haunted Table  **GOLD WINNER**
    Author: Caleb Zane Huett, Sean Ireland
    Art : Kanesha Bryant, Corviday, GC Houle, Ryan Kingdom, Kodesea, Nathan Rhodes, Michael Shillingburg
    Layout/Design: Ben Mansky, Michael Shillingburg

Best Layout and Design

  • Doomsong, Caesar Ink
    Chris Cæsar, Moritz Krebs

Best Monster/Adversary

  • BIG BADS Box Set, Hit Point Press  **SILVER WINNER**
    Authors: Jennifer Adcock, Nadine Amami, Keith Ammann, Charlotte Ashley, Beth Ball, Jasmine Bhullar, Andrea Bruce, David Castro, Ty Christensen, Yubi Coates, Ricardo Evangelho, Jess Go, Joshua Heath, Michael Hollik, Benjamin Huffman, Jay Jackson, Matt Key, Kat Kruger, Verity Lane, Jason Levine, Son M, Jessica Marcrum, Christopher L. Medina, Jake Michels, Christopher Pinch, Jordan Richer, TR Rowe, lan Spiegel-Blum, Lulu St. Janmes, Frederic Walker, Rob Wieland, KandiJ. Williams, Bailey Wright, Ty Christenstatt, Holly Conrad, Verity Lane, Christopher Pinch Jordan Richer, Theo Surette, Sebastian Yüe
    Concepts: Rajaa Al-Subairi, Emily Beckett, Ty Christensen, Holly Conrad, Ricardo Evangelho, Graeme Fotheringham, Liam Gregg, Rosemarie Halim, Verity Lane, Christopher Pinch, Jordan Richer Meredith Smallwood, Theo Surette, Sebastian Yüe
    Art: Rajaa A1-Subairi, Mark Behm, Elliot Bouriot, Shafer Brown, Justin Chan, Anna Christensen, Kayla Cline, Nicholas DeLuca, Lexxy Douglass, Isabela Duffles, Riley Easter, Kristina Gehrmann, IIse Gort, Dave Greco, Kelley Harris, Joel Holtzman, Avery Howett, Will Kirkby, Marby Kwong, Elliot Lang, Holly Lucero, Sam Mameli, Jen C. Marshall, Thabiso Mhlaba, Felix Miall, Jeff Miracola, Sean A. Murray , Kathleen O’Hara, Dimitrios Pantazis, Svetoslav Petrov, Brittany Pezillo, Federico Piatti, Dominique Ramsey, Jenn Ravenna, Jordan Richer, Henrik Rosenborg, Samantha Rustle, Axel Sauerwald, Faith Schaffer, Ameera Sheikh, Joe Slucher, Kim Sokol, Sovereign, Alex Stone, Mariah Tekulve, Sally Thordarson, Marija Tiurina, Lauren Walsh, Russell Werges, Yoshi Yoshitani, Nataly Zhuk, Josiah Cameron, Fez Inkwright, Steve Argyle, Mike Bakker, George Bennett, Andrea Bruce, Josiah o Cameron, Sidharth Chaturvedi, Hannah Comstock, Jessica Desjardin, Anna (Newt) Douaová, Jason Engle, Felipe Escobar, Jonathan Juanieve Fernandes, IIse Gort, Matt Harris, Ralph Horsley, Avery Howett, Fez Inkwright, Kurt Jakobi, Victoria Jeffery, Sara Katch, Shel Khan, Will Kirkby, Felix Klaer, Jack Kozita, Ashly Lovett, Barbara Lucas, Holly Lucero, Chuck Lukas, Andrew Mar, Gina Matarazzo, Julia Metzger, Jeff Miracola, Derek Murphy, Mythir, Alexander Ngo, Dimitrios Pantazis, Eleonor Piteria, Livia Prima, Jason Rainville, Jordan Richer, Izaak Rodriguez, Samantha Rustle, Daria ShestakOva, Joe Slucher, April Solomon, Alyse Stewart, Mariya Sviridova, Patricia Kelen Takahashi, Jarel Threat, Randy Vargas, Tyler Walpole, Brian Scot Walters, Anthony Scott Waters, Mark Zug
    Co-op Student Artists: Rhoan Collins, Shauna-Lee Foster, Theo Surette
  • Uncle Ernie’s A.R.M. Summer Catalog, 23rd Century Productions, LLC
    Author: Anthony Oliveira, David Soruco, Michelle Soruco, Kurt Willis, Alb’, Marcus Holder
    Art: David Chen, Miguel Alejandro Lozano Durán, Stuart Ellis, Breno Girafa, Teaghan Gokey, Ray Hedman, Nick Jizba, Ky Kie, and Katinka Thorondor
  • Wilderfeast, Horrible Guild
    Author: KC Shi
    Art: Xulia Vicente, Francisco Riolobos Blanco, Cecilia Lonnie, Zeno Colangelo, Alessandro Corradi, Julien Cittadino, Sara Soler, Vincenzo Puglia, Benedetta Fiore

Best Online Content

Best Production Values

Best RPG Related Product

Best Rules

  • Triangle Agency, Haunted Table  **GOLD WINNER**
    Authors: Caleb Zane Huett, Sean Ireland

Best Setting

  • Doomsong, Caesar Ink
    Authors: Morgan Finley, Jack Caesar, Chris Caesar

Best Streaming Content

Best Supplement

  • ARKYVR, Alewood Games
    Author: Rhodrick Magsino

Best Writing

  • The Bird Oracle, Shing Yin Khor
    Authors: Shing Yin Khor, Mya Worrell, Geoffrey Golden, Younès Rabii, Tallis Clark, and James Wright
  • Triangle Agency, Haunted Table  **GOLD WINNER**
    Authors: Caleb Zane Huett, Sean Ireland
  • Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, Possum Creek Games
    Authors: Mercedes Acosta, Jay Dragon, Lillie J Harris, M Vaselak
    Editing: Dominique Dickey, M Vaselak

Product of the Year

Gen Con 2025 Brings a Record-Breaking Number of Attendees

Posted on by
Gen Con

Gen Con packed the halls of the Indiana Convention Center this past week with nearly 72,000 gamers and fans, setting an all-time attendance record and generating an estimated economic impact of more than $82 million for Indianapolis hotels, restaurants, and other local businesses.

Held each year since 1968, Gen Con gathers fans of board games, card games, roleplaying games, cosplay, and pop culture to play, shop, celebrate, and connect over a shared passion for gaming.

During the four days of the convention, attendees browsed and shopped an exhibit hall featuring over 575 game publishers and vendors and participated in nearly 30,000 events and activities, including a wide range of gaming sessions and tournaments, artist and author appearances, film screenings, musical performances, and the annual Gen Con Costume Contest.

Attendees also flocked to Gen Con’s outdoor Block Party activation on South Street. This outdoor, open-to-the-public festival featured dozens of local food trucks alongside Gen Con’s local food and beverage partners Sun King Brewery, HotBox Pizza, Daniel’s Vineyard, Helm Coffee, Social Cantina, and Harry & Izzy’s.

Gen Con partners with charities each year to raise funds and spotlight the work of the selected nonprofit organizations. This year, attendees helped raise nearly $40,000 for Women4Change Indiana and Brown Toy Box Foundation. Gen Con has raised almost $500,000 for charity since 2003.

Gen Con will return to Indianapolis from July 30 to August 2, 2026, and is contracted to take place there annually through 2030. Badges for next year’s convention will go on sale in early 2026.

Gen Con 2025: My Hero Academia: Miniatures Game revealed by Catalyst Game Labs

Posted on by

Catalyst Game Labs has partnered with Toho and Crunchyroll to bring My Hero Academia to the tabletop! Bring the show to life with dynamic miniatures and action-packed gameplay with the My Hero Academia: Miniatures Game!

Control three of your favorite students or villains and take on a mission against your opponents. Impress the Pro Heroes watching while battling unexpected villains, and fight amidst stunningly detailed terrain that has a direct effect on the battle!

Discover your Quirk and head to the My Hero Academia: Miniatures Game pre-launch page on Backerkit to find out more and sign up for the Kickstarter, coming soon.

Plus Ultra!

My Hero Academia: Miniatures Game

Gen Con 2025: Unmatched is getting two more expansions, Hellboy and Stars and Stripes

Posted on by

Restoration Games has revealed two more expansions for Unmatched, Unmatched: Hellboy and Unmatched: Stars and Stripes.

Unmatched: Hellboy brings the popular character to the tabletop. Hellboy joins numerous characters from Marvel as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as characters that have jumped from the comic page to the board. This four character box set will release in 2026 and feature cover art by Mike Mignola himself!

Unmatched: Stars and Stripes features heroes from the USA’s past. The box features four heroes, three of which from a design contest. It includes Rosie the Riveter, George Washington, John Henry, and it looks like Wyatt Earp.

Now we can have George Washington battle a dinosaur or Deadpool!

Both sets will be released in 2026. You can sign up to find when Unmatched: Hellboy and Unmatched: Stars and Stripes launch to be ordered.

Unmatched: Hellboy
Unmatched: Stars and Stripes

Unmatched pits characters, both real and imaginary, against each other as they battle it out on a board. The mixes card management, miniatures, and board game for a fun experience where you can match up battles that could only happen on the tabletop.

Gen Con 2025: Free League’s Coriolis: The Great Dark Gets a Pre-Release

Posted on by

Ahead of the August 12 official release date, the core rulebook for Coriolis: The Great Dark, the new edition of Free League‘s original sci-fi RPG, was exclusively pre-released at Gen Con.

Inspired by 19th century expeditions, deep sea diving and pulp archaeology, Coriolis: The Great Dark is a roleplaying game about exploration and intrigue. Join dangerous expeditions, navigate the Byzantine schemes of Ship City, and hunt for the keys that unlock the mystery of this Lost Horizon. The core rulebook features:

  • Rules for creating your crew of Explorers, with upgrades such as talents, vehicles, and crew maneuvers to enhance campaign play.
  • Rules for delving into the unknown, traveling on Greatships through the dangerous Slipstream, and trekking across wild planets.
  • A detailed gazetteer of the Lost Horizon, the eleven systems of the Charted Sphere and the asteroid-metropolis of Ship City.
  • The Black Ziggurat, an introductory adventure that will take players deep into an ancient ruin on a distant moon.
  • Tools and rules for solo play, making it possible to explore the Lost Horizon all by yourself.

Gen Con 2025: Free League announces Twilight Sword, an Anime-Style RPG

Posted on by

Free League Publishing kicked off Gen Con 2025 with a flurry of announcements including Twilight Sword, a brand new anime-style RPG designed by the award-winning Italian games studio Two Little Mice and to be published by Free League.

Twilight Sword is inspired by classic video games like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Ni No Kuni and by the animated movies of Studio Ghibli. In Twilight Sword, players take on the role of Champions who travel to bring back Hope to the lands of Radia.

Champions need to free the World free from Desperation, before they enter to the Fortress of Evil, where they can face the scourge Vardas in a battle for the fate of Radia.

Twilight Sword is planned for a 2026 release and will be a 11.5×21 cm hardcover book that opens into a perfect square. Each spread of the book is divided into squares and rectangles that keep all the information easily accessible!

Check out a tease of this exciting release as well as a 16-page preview below!

Gen Con 2025: Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game gets a new one-shot, Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure

Posted on by

Get caught up within the Timestream Entanglement as the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game joins forces with the hottest video game around: Marvel Rivals! Marvel Comics is announcing Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure, a special one-shot adventure for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game, releasing in March 2026.

Written by Paul Allor and Marty Forbeck, Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure will give players the chance to dive into their very own Marvel Rivals journey as they join Psylocke, Emma Frost, Jeff the Land Shark, and more of their favorite characters to escape from the Collector’s Museum. The tabletop RPG adventure also includes a brand-new 10-page comic, written by Allor and drawn by artist Ig Guara, that serves as a prologue to Marvel Rivals, the Super Hero Team-Based PVP Shooter from Marvel Games and NetEase Games that lets players assemble an ever-evolving all-star squad of Super Heroes and Super Villains, battling with unique powers across a dynamic lineup of destructible maps from across the Marvel Multiverse.

Players and game masters will be able to pick up and play this adventure as a standalone experience with the included downloadable Quick Start resources, or alongside the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook for a more in-depth experience, making this the perfect place to jump in whether you’re a brand-new fan or a veteran of tabletop role-playing games.

The Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game is a tabletop RPG that brings the magic of Marvel to your game night. Take on the roles of Marvel’s most famous Super Heroes—or create your own—to fight some of the most dangerous Super Villains in the Marvel Universe. Along with the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook, players can dive into every corner of the Marvel Universe, including The Cataclysm of Kang, an X-Men Expansion, a Spider-Verse Expansion, and the upcoming Avengers Expansion, coming September 17.

Check out the cover of Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure by artist Rickie Yagawa and pre-order your very own copy now through Amazon and wherever books are sold! And for fans at Gen Con, they can pick up a convention-exclusive lithograph of the cover from Marvel at Gen Con in room ICC 234!

Marvel Rivals: Timestream Adventure

Gen Con 2025: Dirt & Dust releases with a Rally Championship and Play with the Designer sessions

Posted on by
Dirt & Dust

Dirt & Dust, a strategic rally game where deck-building and dice placement decide who conquers the course, will debut at Gen Con 2025, with the first copies available for sale, demos at Ares Games and Albi booths, and special activities: the Gen Con Rally Championship and three Play with the Designer – Petr Čáslava. 

The Dirt & Dust: Gen Con Rally Championship is a board game rally tournament to celebrate the launch of the game, competing head-to-head with other players. It will run along the four days of the show – every two hours, up to four players will launch onto a specially designed test track, crafted exclusively for this unique Gen Con event. Albi’s demo team will explain all the rules and get players fully race-ready.

Dirt & Dust is a medium-complexity board game for experienced players who enjoy taking risks. A single race takes around 90 minutes. Players will be able to follow race results online through an app — and who won’t be happy with its time, can come back and try again. Every driver will get a foil card as a reward for taking part in the championship, and every day Albi will award the first three drivers with its games, such as Karak, Karak II, Atol, and Rail Line, alongside Dirt & Dust merchandise items, and a winner’s trophy.

For more information and to join the Gen Con Rally Championship, check the tournament events at Gen Con website.

At Ares Games’ booth (#229), Dirt & Dust will be in demo all the time and the first copies of the game will be available for sale – in a limited quantity shipped specially for the show. Each copy purchased at Gen Con will include the promo pack Alternative Ghost Drivers, with two alternative cards for solo play.

Players will also have the chance to meet the game designer Petr Čáslava, to play the game and get copies signed, in three “Play with the Designer” sessions – Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM.

Gen Con 2025: Cryptozoic Brings Food Fight: Reheated for a Limited Early Release

Posted on by

Your favorite foods are back for war… and you can get an early taste at Gen Con! Food Fight: Reheated hits stores in October, but Cryptozoic Entertainment will have limited quantities at Booth #801 starting July 31 (while supplies last).

In this reimagined version of the classic card game, you’ll draft hilarious food Troops and Supports into your army and deploy them onto fresh Battlefields. Who will be the most cunning, the most savage, the most… yummy?!

Food Fight: Reheated

Gen Con 2025: Kosmos Brings the Heat with Dice Words, EXIT: Catan, and More

Posted on by
Dice Words

Kosmos returns to Gen Con with an exciting lineup of premieres and highly anticipated releases. The company is pulling out all the stops for the global debut of Dice Words, a fast-paced, dice-rolling word game, with an after-hours launch party on Friday night. Attendees can also snag an all-new, con-exclusive mini expansion for The Gang, as well as the latest EXIT title, Adventures on Catan. These games and more will be available at the Kosmos booth, #259, from July 31 to August 3.

The year’s Gen Con release, Dice Words, marks a milestone as the first tabletop game fully developed by the company’s U.S.-based team. 

To celebrate its world premiere at Gen Con, Kosmos will host a launch party for Dice Words where people can learn and play the game, meet the designer, and win all sorts of cool prizes. For details and to sign up for the party, attendees are encouraged to visit the event’s page on Gen Con’s website, www.gencon.com/events.  

Additionally, gamers who were blown away by last year’s cooperative poker hit, The Gang, can look forward to a brand-new mini expansion, made especially for Gen Con. Attendees will receive The Gang: Mini Expansion 2 – Tools of the Trade free with any purchase at the Kosmos booth (while supplies last).

More highlights include:

  • Masters of Crime: Mosquito: The newest addition to this crime-solving (and crime-committing) storytelling series makes its North American debut at Gen Con. 
  • Australis: Winner of two 2025 UK Games Expo Awards: People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice (Best Dice Game). Navigate the East Australian Current in this vibrant dice-drafting strategy game where players feed fish, grow coral, and guide sea turtles through a rich underwater ecosystem. Smart decisions and tactical risk-taking will determine who thrives in the shifting currents.
  • The Crew: Family Adventure – Marooned in Paradise: From the creators of the award-winning The Crew series comes a cooperative, story-driven adventure perfect for families. Stranded on a desert island, players work together – without speaking – to complete 35 linked missions using simple trick-taking mechanics, a game board, tokens, and evolving objectives that make every round count.

Of course, the Kosmos booth would not be complete without the latest in its award-winning EXIT: The Game series of at-home escape room games. All five 2025 additions – including EXIT: Adventures on Catan, in which the worlds of EXIT and Klaus Teuber’s wildly popular board game CATAN collide in a captivating escape room adventure – will be for sale in the booth, along with over 30 previous EXIT releases and EXIT Advent calendars.

All games in the Kosmos booth, #259, are 10% off at the show, while supplies last. Fans can also take advantage of this discount all weekend long on the Thames & Kosmos website using promo code GENCON2025 at checkout.

« Older Entries