What’s On Your Watchlist?

Sure, we’re on the Halloween countdown, but other events are looming. There’s the Secret Santa from The Dice Tower and The Spiel. But even more compelling than that: International Game Days. That is, Internationale Spieltage. And if you’re reading this, then you probably know the event by one other word: Essen.

Four days of overwhelming happiness in which I will be unable to participate. The hurt is mitigated by the fact that I’ve never gone to Essen, so I feel content in my ignorance.

Nevertheless, I’ve been going again and again to the radar to see what’s coming. I have a short list of games I’d love to try, and I’ll just hit some high points here:

Kaigan-Kenichi Tanabe joins a lengthening list of Japanese designers whose work is intriguing. I love this game for its theme: the 21-year, detailed mapping of Japan by Tadataka Ito.

De Vulgari Eloquentia-Another theme you probably haven’t seen before: the shift from Latin to the vulgar language–what became Italian–in Italy during the late Middle Ages. It’s the language the got Dante rockin’.

Grand Cru-Still in Europe, but with a more familiar theme: wine making. One of two heavy Euros about the fruit of the vine.

Braggart-And after all that wine and heaviness, something completely different. Or not so completely different. But a fun, new entry into the Aye, Dark Overlord, Munchausen, Once Upon a Time school of story games. And with delightfully cartoony art.

Basilica-Two words: dueling stonemasons. The early descriptions make this sound like a tight, tense, engaging game for two with both cooperative and competitive elements. Like this entry itself. I’m cooperating by bringing your attention to a new game, but I’m sticking a song in your head that you probably don’t want.

That’s just a very short list. I haven’t touched on Crows, Antics!, High Frontier, Defenders of the Realm, or any of the kids’ games I’m thinking about for my daughter. So let us know what we should be watching for!