Philly Gaming Marathon
PAX Unplugged is the end cap to the year of gaming conventions, the last big hurrah before everyone slips into holiday travel mode and winter hibernation. This year carried a bit of uncertainty, landing both the weekend before Thanksgiving and right on top of the Philadelphia Marathon. Add in a shaky economic climate, where most Americans are watching their budgets a little more closely, and you get a recipe that could have easily kept attendance down. With two major events fighting for hotel inventory, properties across the city were practically frothing at the opportunity to spike room-night prices. Still, none of that stopped the gamers — attendance felt just as strong as it has in previous years, proving once again that the tabletop community travels well.
Once inside the halls, the energy was unmistakable. Even without a flood of flashy new releases, the buzz was high. The year of the “t-word” — a certain global supply chain and localization slowdown — has left the U.S. market feeling the pinch. That bottleneck was noticeable at Gen Con and lingered here as well. But tabletop gaming has always been resilient. When one lane narrows, others widen. This time around, role-playing games and small card games clearly took center stage. Demo tables for indie RPGs, microgames, and card-based games were practically overflowing, while the traditional big-box showcases took a quieter step back.
Maybe, in some ways, that’s healthy. A gentle slowdown cools the “cult of the new” and nudges gamers toward revisiting titles they already love — or ones they missed during their initial splash. I’ve often heard that PAX Unplugged attendees lean more casual than hardcore hobbyist, which might explain the shift. Whether it’s regional differences, convention culture, or something in the Philly water, I’m sure someone could write a whole socio-regional gaming behavior study about it. Honestly, I’d read it. I’d love to see that dataset.
This year, I continued wearing my second hat as the pitch guy on Capstone’s sales floor, working with ConHorde. It meant product pitches and the “Let me tell you why this game absolutely rules” speech. While that limited my time for wandering and attending certain events, there was still plenty to see and plenty of people to chat with all weekend long. The conversations, the reunions, the spontaneous “Oh hey, I know you from somewhere” moments are half the joy of this convention. Even with a full schedule, PAX Unplugged always finds a way to feel welcoming, energetic, and packed with discoveries big and small.
The Life of a Showman
Having hands in different things is pretty common for industry folks. Attending as an exhibitor helps get me to the convention, which lets me do media coverage on the side. It’s a fun duality, and for anyone interested, I recommend checking out ConHorde — they’re starting recruitment for next convention season.
Capstone’s booth was front and center this year, placed right in front of the large queue of attendees eager to grab the hot games. Capstone premiered several titles, including a team-based trick-taking wrestling game called Rowdy Partners. The silly theme was promoted on Wednesday night with a media party featuring both designers in cosplay as their dynamic wrestling personas. Designers Jason Hager and Darren Reckner even taught the game in full costume at the booth, much to everyone’s delight.
Two other major releases were Sanctuary and Forestry. Sanctuary, shown early to industry folks at Gen Con, finally hit the public. It’s the much-anticipated spinoff of Ark Nova, offering the same strategic zoo-building but scaled down in complexity and time, making it more accessible.
Forestry, the newest medium euro from Pink Troubadour, puts players in the world of sustainable forestry practices. If you attended, you probably saw me pitching it nonstop all weekend. The University of Prague’s Life Sciences department even contributed to the rulebook, adding educational passages about real-world forestry conservation.
Holiday Cheer
One of the most popular booths this year was Chris Couch Games. It was their first time at PAX Unplugged, and they weren’t sure how their games would be received. Their major title, Holiday Hills, along with the smaller Jingle Roll, was an easy draw thanks to the proximity of the holidays. On Sunday, the holiday cheer went even further with a surprise visit from Santa Claus, who handed out presents to everyone presumably on the nice list.
Holiday Hills is a Christmas-themed pickup-and-delivery/area-majority game, while Jingle Roll is a festive dice-roller with push-your-luck elements. The industry has a notable lack of Christmas-themed games that aren’t reskinned mass-market titles, so it’s refreshing to see a holiday game with real teeth. Reviews of both are coming soon!
There Can Only Be One Fruit Boss
Also making their PAX Unplugged debut was Weast Coast Games. This small but mighty publisher has had their titles sold at other booths in years past, but it was great to see them expand their presence. I chatted with Dan Cresso, one of their designers (and designer of one of my favorite 2-player titles, Desperate Oasis). He was ecstatic about the response — they sold through almost their entire inventory.
To promote Fruit Boss, they brought in content creator Dani Stranding to run a “photo booth.” In reality, it was Dani drawing charming caricatures complete with stickers and googly eyes.
Fruit Boss is a hand-management/set-collection card game with beautiful art and foil trims. Our review is coming soon as well.
Fantasy Flight Games
I met with Joshua Beppler and Liv Sheppard from Fantasy Flight Games to catch up on all things FFG. Their focus lately has been the LCG worlds of Marvel Champions, Arkham Horror, and Star Wars: Unlimited. As a big Arkham player, I was eager to chat about the future of the franchise. FFG revealed “Chapter 2” in their livestream a few weeks back — a fresh coat of paint for the entire system.
More news arrived during their annual PAX U In-Flight Report:
Arkham Horror LCG
Investigator packs will now be evergreen, remaining in print indefinitely. FFG stated there will be “four SKUs released per year,” including deckbuilding expansions, campaign boxes, and scenario packs.
Marvel Champions
A whole wave of heroes was revealed including the Defenders team — Elektra, Echo, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones — plus icons Wonder Man and Hercules. It looks like next year is full of street-level Marvel, with new scenarios featuring The Hand and more.
The Vault Series
One of the biggest announcements of all: a new system for resurrecting out-of-print titles on a “case by case” basis, putting rare games back into circulation without absurd scalper pricing. These reprints may include updated art or design tweaks, but the core gameplay will remain intact. I’m incredibly excited to see what emerges first.
Fresh from Taiwan
I caught up with Ariel and Wei from Wonderful World Board Games — their first time ever at an American gaming convention. Based in Taipei, they’ve had significant success across Asia and were nervous about penetrating the Western market. Their mission is to spotlight games rooted in Asian culture and heritage, proudly sharing their traditions through theme and design.
Their first Kickstarter, Dragonarium, launched just last week and wasted no time finding its audience. It fully funded on day one, a huge milestone for any studio, let alone one making its Western debut. The game blends gorgeous art, playful dragons, and a family-friendly ruleset that still leaves room for strategy. I foresee big things for WWBG. We’ll also have a review of this soon!
Wonder Boy, Hercules
Last year, I stopped by Envy Born Games to buy a gift and was immediately charmed by their “fanny pack games” — an actual fanny pack filled with three games. If that’s not unique marketing, I don’t know what is. This year, the maverick energy continued for their latest release, Hercules and the 12 Labors, a solo adventure retelling the classic epics of the Greek demigod. No need to look at the cover art, the cosplay spoke for itself.
And the mythic storytelling won’t stop there. Mathue previewed his next title, Jason and the Argonauts, scheduled for release next year. It builds on the same solo adventure system but shifts the lens to a new Greek legend, offering a fresh narrative arc while keeping the approachable, story-driven gameplay intact.
Everything Else
Outside the exhibitor hall, the wider gaming ecosystem was thriving. The new Magic: The Gathering: Avatar tournaments, painting workshops, and Critical Role’s live RPG show — something for everyone. ARES Games even created a dedicated “Lord of the Rings” room, complete with costumed staff and a towering Sauron dice tower.
To support my energy drink addiction, Red Bull brought a live-action roleplay experience: the Winged Bull Tavern, a pop-up fantasy bar in the convention center serving themed cocktails. It was constantly packed.
One thing I love about PAX Unplugged is the First Look room. The hottest new games are set up for full play, staffed by volunteers who can give you a quick teach. No queue. No fuss. If you like it, it’s probably for sale downstairs. And it’s open until midnight every night. It’s one of the best discovery tools in the convention world.
Another gem is the Indie Game Market on Friday night, where small creators can sell their games without paying an exhibitor fee. The line is always huge, and many sellers sell out. I hope more conventions emulate this fantastic initiative.
Other conventions have flash and spectacle, but often end up crowded and overwhelming. PAX Unplugged has all the best parts of Gen Con (accessible gaming, new releases), without most of the bad parts (lack of centralized open gaming, crowds, queues). It’s smaller, but all the big publishers still show up in force. And yes, the food around the convention center is legitimately great. I had some incredible Chinese BBQ in Chinatown with friends that was well worth the wait.
And because it’s the holiday season, I couldn’t leave without stopping at the LOVE Park Christmas Market for a warm cup of mulled wine. Cheers.
The Hotness
With so many new titles hitting tables, choosing which ones to spotlight was its own puzzle. While I couldn’t cover them all at length, I didn’t want these standouts to slip by unnoticed. Here’s a quick tour of my honorable mentions:
Torchlit – Allplay
A competitive trick-taking dungeon crawler. Decide when to win tricks and when to dive for loot. Plenty of juciy opportunities for sabotage.
For All Mankind – Bad Cat Media
A lighter, competitive strategy game filled with sabotage and espionage. Expand to planets, harvest resources, climb research tracks, and drop a few nukes if you must.
The Lord of the Rings: Trick-Taking Game – The Two Towers – Office Dog/Asmodee
The highly anticipated follow-up to last year’s hit. Continues the same system while following Tolkien’s second book. The queue was massive, and each purchase included a limited Pinny Arcade pin.
Miniature Adventures: Adventure 1 – Goblin Troubles – Lowtek Games
A small-box solo dungeon crawl with charming 16-bit art. Multiple heroes, cozy pacing, tiny footprint, tons of fun.
Burgle Bros Blackjack – Fowers Games
The next heist in the Burgle Bros line. Push-your-luck meets asymmetrical powers for a high-stakes cooperative caper.
Crash Derby – Albi
Tabletop demolition derby using action points, line-of-sight, and modular tiles. Designed to encourage community-created content.
Logic & Lore – Weird Giraffe Games
A cozy 2-player competitive deduction puzzle centered on aligning constellations with logic. The adorable theme of mice and dragons makes this a standout.
Lairs – KTBG
A PAX U debut that sold out very fast. One player builds a monster-filled dungeon; the other dives it. Includes player screens that look straight out of Battleship.
