…aaand we’re back!

GenCon was a whirlwind, as usual, and though there were some significant problems—ADA accessibility issues in the exhibition hall and the literal whirlwind of a torrential rainstorm that flooded the convention center—it was an excellent coming together of gamers from around the world.

I ran into a surprising number of Free Parking Bar regulars and other gaming friends, surprising since there were 75,000 people there! Here’s a photo of me with one of our bartenders when we bumped into each other.

But I know you’re wanting to hear what games we came back to the bar with. Check out the photo above—I tried to lean on getting brand new games, games people were talking a lot about, but that would get some serious play in the bar.

Hypothetically and Everything Ever are hilarious party games, easy to pick up, hard to put down.
The Color Monster and Mooki Island are designed for children, but absolutely delightful for adults. And the latter just won the kids’ game of the year!
TreeLine, Kano, and Friendly Fishing are light- to medium-weight strategy games, all a bit cozy, but still think-y.
Barbecubes came out last year, a charming dexterity game from the same people who did Tinderblox, and dnup is an odd card-shedding game where the cards have different values depending on how you hold them. (Yes, it’s unclear how to pronounce it…)
And, of course, Magical Athlete, the runaway hit racing game from CMYK has finally made an appearance!
(plus a last minute addition, brought to us by Christina above, Top Tier, a party game where you rank real and fictional people on ridiculous scales like how good they would be at selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door)

Alice C., board game librarian

Play Magical Athlete!

Listen. This game is ridiculous and delightful. I am delighted.

Really, it’s just a roll-and-move, try to get across the finish line first, like Chutes and Ladders. Except.

Over the course of four races, half of them MILD, half of them WILD, players will field four separate racers, each with their own silly, game-breaking power. The Party Animal moves every other player one space closer to it before it moves. The Mouth literally eats you if you happen to be on the space it lands on. The Huge Baby takes up an entire space, so that any racer that ends there has to back up to the space behind. It’s big, bright fun for up to 6 players (though technically and chaotically, could be played up to 9…).

Try one of our domestic beers or ales!

From local favorites Urban Artifact to nationally-known Budweiser and Pabst, we’ve got you covered. Come by for one of our brand-new games and and crack open a cold one with the boys (and girls).