Words by David C. Obenour
Gen Con | July 30 – August 2, 2026 | Indiana Convention Center & Surrounding Area
Anyone who attended Gen Con 2026 will tell you that the highlight from this year will go down in history as the – thankfully, seemingly mostly harmless – tornado warning on Saturday afternoon. It was a surreal experience realizing that yes, the exhibit hall is an interior room so – I guess we go back in and wander through the aisles until this all blows over? I can’t wait to see what merch this inspires for 2027. So with a natural disaster averted, join the other tens of thousands as we celebrate all that gaming has culminated in. Here is part one of our highlights from 2026.
Sanibel (Avalon Hill)
Treasures are everywhere to be found but knowing how to carefully bring them home takes real thought, care, and time. Players in Sanibel take turns in time track order as they walk along the beach and collect various scoring objects that fill their bag Tetris-style. Tides bring in new curiosities and before you know it it’s time to loop back to where you started your stroll.
For All Mankind (Bad Cat Media)
Mankind has done such a bang up job in colonizing Earth, why not extend our ambitions and anxieties and aggressions throughout the galaxy? Blasting off from our Sun’s third closest friend, players engage in espionage, build nukes, and create new colonies to collect resources and do it all over again as they time their travels across the planets’ misaligned orbits.
Hellbreak (Ghost Galaxy)
Horror requires suspense, so maniacally bide your time before unleashing terror at just the right moment. Hellbreak is the new trading card game where players build resources as they Lurk, play cards, battle for control, and change over to Unleashed as they go for their opponent’s throat – just be sure to brace for the inevitable jump scare when you do! Uniting clever and thematic mechanics with the terrifying worlds of Universal, Blumhouse, AMC, and Lionsgate, the thrills are familiar but they cut fresh.
Panorama (Scorpion Masqué)
It’s a glorious day for taking it all in, so hop in your hot air balloon and see what you can see! In Panorama, players circle around a time track turn order to expand their views by placing panoramic nature tiles. Connected natural features along with animals and flowers make for striking views – and a winning score – with multiple possible end game shared goals for when night falls.
Las Vegas (Ravensburger)
High stakes and bright, beautiful flashy lights will have you chucking dice for as long as your host keeps your glass filled. Cozy up to the table and take turns placing dice from your rollout to compete and win from payouts from the house – or at least find your way over to the slots. Enough deliberating to keep you invested with enough chance to keep you coming back for more, it’s a fun update for a classic game.
7 Part Pact (Possum Creek)
From their own different and distinct domains, seven powerful wizards have convened in service of the ancient pact. In this role playing game, players utilize asymmetric play styles to balance systems or break and redefine them. Beautifully illustrated tomes and a celestial orrery give setting to this audacious concept that really give you the feel of mysticism and magic.
Bookshelf (Alley Cat Games)
A place for everything and everything in its place… even that darn belly-up and bendy cat! Bookshelf finds players cooperatively stacking books on up to eight rounds of shelf cards. Draw two shelf cards, choose one and put the other back, carefully stack and place the indicated book type in the indicated place, and finally move the cat up! Cozy Jenga in a cute and convenient tin.
Ocean Twist (HABA)
Tales have long been told about great treasures lost within whirlpool’s center but still none have been able to bring them back and finish the story. As a Game Meets Puzzle title, Ocean Twist cleverly mixes tile-laying puzzle-building with tabletop chance and contemplation. HABA has long appreciated that games are meant to be toys, and here especially bright components captivate all ages as players chart a course across the rotating game board.
The Banjo King (Twogether Studios)
Adding some Appalachian charm and inspiration to two Old World classics, The Banjo King uses a standard 40-card deck of Italian playing cards with reimagined artwork from Feral Indie Studio’s Charles Ferguson-Avery. The rules given are two or four players with Moonshine! – which you may know as Scopa, and Blessed – which maybe you know as Briscola. Both familiar and foreign, the cultural collaboration here makes for fascinating fun.
Tales of Myth & Legend (Van Ryder Games)
In an age of man and monster, will you be able to ascend to greatness? Tales of Myth & Legend is a narrative driven game set amidst Alexander’s renowned rise and reign. Setting off on your own hero’s journey, players challenge each other – and Alexander – in political, religion, or strength based quests to unify Greece. And with over 250 pages of encounters to experience, you truly are in control of your own choices and destiny that will live on to define your lasting legacy.
Camp Grizzly (Trick or Treat Studios)
Lose yourself in the story of an adrenaline drenched thriller but try not to get lost in the woods! Camp Grizzly is a mostly-cooperative game of escaping the camp’s homicidal maniac by collecting keys and batteries and other “why is __ always missing or broke?” items to skedaddle. Get them all and get them together with as many of your fellow counselors as you’re brave or bothered enough to save. Trick or Treat delivers both in pure campy glory for this expansion collecting second edition.
Omens (Hachette Games)
Discovering a mysterious box of cards, you felt compelled to read and understand their meaning. Now drawn into its repeating and kaleidoscoping reality, you must find out how to rid yourself of them. Omens has the feel of an elevated playing cards game, giving you an easily understood way of play with interconnected ways to adapt from within that.
Cross the Line (Gray Matters Games)
In 2019, a beautifully fun and interactive looking game called Wavelength caught my eye across a congested convention aisle. Seven years later, my wandering eyes were caught by another fun and interactive looking game called Cross the Line. The parallels between the two are strong (a this-or-that question and a randomized hidden spectrum location, giving one player inspiration to create a clue that helps the others guess the location) but Cross the Line gives guessers the autonomy to place a wide, medium, or narrow line with low, medium, and high points scored. A fun twist with equally fun components!
The Hidden Isle (Causa Creations)
Amidst the 16th century, the Old World’s appetite for conquest and control is starting to incorporate devastating advancements and alchemies. Colonization runs along every coast and proselytizing mysticism threatens cultural homogeneity. However amidst all this struggle and greed exists Dioscoria, a nation of those dedicated to defend the helpless and preserve wisdom. The Hidden Isle welcomes you to the task with a narrative heavy and rules light role-playing game utilizing tarot cards and not dice.
Super Chonk (Pink Hawk Games)
Anyone with more than one cat in the house can attest to the personality and persistence that surrounds a food dish. The feeder goes off and the frenzy begins! Using simultaneous action selection, in Super Chonk players plan around each other’s appetite attack from gobble down to wabble up. With a well thought of and integrated theme of cats and gluttony, what’s not to love?
And that’s it for Part One of our review of the games from Gen Con 2026. Be sure to visit our gaming section and then check back next week as we highlight more games from Indianapolis!