Pain 2 Glory at PAX Unplugged 2024

It’s early in the morning and crowds of people are already forming outside the Philadelphia Convention Center. Bracing against a blistering chill, they number in the thousands. They wait to enter to play, buy, and talk board games at PAX Unplugged 2024. As I entered the Philadelphia Convention Center on December 6, the first day of PAX U, I felt the energy as spectators, vendors, and players galloped about. For the vendors and designers this was work, for others PAX U is pure bliss.

To play games made out of cardboard, plastic, and wooden pieces requires a bit of imagination – suspension of disbelief even. My sister, who hates board games, would pose the question “Why would I waste my time doing that? Also, that wooden piece looks like a butt plug!” True that ma souer, the El Grande meeple does like a butt plug. Under such hostility and skepticism, teaching a board game, let alone getting to play one, becomes a treacherous act. Egos are bruised and feelings are unspared; hence, why an event like PAX U becomes a pilgrimage site of sorts. A place where tabletop game enthusiasts can simply be. It’s a time and place to revel in one’s geekdom. Play the games that one could not with spouses and kids, meet online friends in person, and most importantly cosplay as a Pikachu meeple. In the halls of the convention center at any given moment hundreds of people are completely absorbed. Here the El Grande meeple is not a wooden butt plug but royalty deciding a victor.

On Friday the first day, the look in the eyes of many was that of elation and bewilderment. There is a lot to see at PAX U, long lines to wait through, and numerous financial mistakes to be made. The news that notable Japanese publishers Oink and Saashi & Saashi would be at the convention made me drop everything to go to Philadelphia. This was Saashi & Saashi’s first appearance in a U.S. convention according to Jay Bernardo of Cardboard East. I met with Bernardo and asked him for his thoughts on the standouts of the convention. Bernardo eagerly recommended “The Origame & Saashi and Saashi booth! Neither come to the US often. Overparked is fantastic and Bus & Stop is delightful.” I bought a copy of both games and briefly spoke to Origame’s founder and lead game designer Daryl Chow. Chow specializes in accessible games that don’t skimp on strategy. He makes a point of covering what he refers to as “Asian themes.”

Back to Bernardo, he views PAX U as a more enjoyable experience than Gen Con (the largest board game convention in North America). Gen Con began as The Lake Geneva Wargames Convention founded by Gary Gygax the creator of Dungeons & Dragons. According to Bernardo, Gen Con is more about buying games. Mad scrambles in the exhibition hall are the norm as consumers rush to buy the latest and most talked-about games. PAX U is more about meeting with friends and playing games. It really feels like a celebration of the hobby. The feeling of community is more apparent here than at any other large convention I’ve been to. And this year I feel this more than any other year that I’ve attended PAX U.

After speaking with Bernardo I made my way to the Allplay booth to try Alibis, a word deduction party game originally released as Nigoichi in 2022. The game is not out yet, I played with an advanced copy along with a group including Keith Law of Paste who did not enjoy it. I wasn’t enamored by it, but I was intrigued. As the exhibition hall emptied shortly before closing and people made their way to the gaming tables my feet ached. But I couldn’t rest. I needed to meet up with my friend and designer Alex Knight, whose historical game Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War won the Summit Award for “its unconventional design approach… its novelty of topic, its approachability to those new to historical gaming, and its playability at a range of player counts.” Increasingly tabletop games are embracing more serious topics and themes.

On the topic of historical games, two standout games of PAX U both began as Zenobia Award contestants: Molly House designed by Jo Kelly and Cole Wehrle and published by Wehrlegig Games, and Winter Rabbit designed by Will Thompson and published by Absurdist Productions. They offer unique perspectives on topics yet to be covered in board games. In Molly House, players take on the role of mollies in eighteenth-century London. The game’s gorgeous production, typical of Wehrlegig, and unique theme piqued my attention. After seeing the finished production copy, I look forward to covering it next year. Not to be outdone, Winter Rabbit is a resource management game where players cooperate to ready their village for winter. It “attempts to create a counterpoint to common colonial game themes by focusing on indigenous values and concepts.” To my knowledge, it will be the first game to feature both Cherokee and English language components. Both of these games will be released in 2025.  As designers Knight, Kelly, Wehrle, and Thompson strive to make games that are more than just fun. Critical play is the goal (check out artist and game designer Mary Flanagan’s excellent book for more on this topic).

One thing about me – I’m a card game enthusiast. I used to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game competitively for several years following its release in the United States. I’m always on the lookout for innovative competitive card games. When I find one that is novel and engages me, I get obsessive. Thus, I made time to meet and talk with Anna Amir from Sextant Studios, the makers of Worldbreakers: Advent of the Khanate, one of my favorite card games. I needed to express my admiration. The game’s designer, Elli Amir is fast at work on the studio’s first video game Flocking Hell.

Worldbreakers has a lot in common with another standout game of PAX U: Hubworld: Aidalon, an expandable card game by Earthborn Games. Hubworld: Aidalon plays similarly to Android: Netrunner without the massive rules overhead. Earthborn Games is best known for their cooperative, “sustainably produced, open-world adventure card game” Earthborn Rangers which was released to rave reviews. Hubworld: Aidalon is more limited in scope and ambition than Earthborn Rangers, with its hours-long campaign, focusing instead on head-to-head battles between two to four players. It was a lot of fun. And I hope to play it some more when it is released.

By Saturday morning, I noticed exhaustion on many faces. As my day began, I made my way to the Red Raven booth to see what designer and artist Ryan Laukat has in the works. Red Raven has seen a surge in popularity since the release of Sleeping Gods in 2021. Sleeping Gods‘ continued success stems in large part from being an accessible RPG with a deep narrative. Laukat’s art and world-building provide much charm to the game as well. Red Raven hopes for similar success with its newest game Creature Caravan. I tried it. Creature Caravan is a neat tableau-builder and dice chuckler. You collect a variety of creatures, folk, specters, you name it, to join your caravan hoping to find asylum in Eastrey. Again, Laukat’s art and world-building are a strong suit.

Later in the day, I met up with my friend, game designer Liz Davidson at her annual Cheese Party. Davidson recently began working for Leder Games, makers of Root, Vast, Oath, and the recently released Arcs. She is also busy designing several games on her own and in collaboration with David Thompson, the brilliant designer behind the Undaunted series. Davidson runs the excellent podcast and YouTube channel Beyond Solitaire. Just like Thompson, she is indefatigable and does more with eighteen hours than I can do in a week – a chronomage.

As the day waned, I tried out another standout Tower Up, a game about building and scoring points, think Ticket to Ride meets Sunrise Lane. Tower Up plays like a classic Knizia family game. Minimum rules married with consequential decisions. Obsession by Dan Halagan and Kayenta Games was the final game that caught my eye at PAX U. The game has been out since 2018 but has only grown in popularity and renown since. In Obsession, you’re tasked with building an estate in Victorian England through marriage and social climbing. Hallagan told me that he designed Obsession as a way to get his wife to play more games with him. It’s equal parts charming as it is vicious.

PAX U is a tough event to cover as a member of the press. Tabletop gaming, long ignored by major publications, has developed an ecosystem where influencers are the media partners of choice. Maybe this is why there is no media hour at PAX U. So just like regular attendees I had to perform a mad dash to enter the exhibition hall in the morning. Thus, inevitably it’s hard to keep to one’s schedule. I packed my schedule before arriving in Philadelphia. As the convention went on, my schedule became overstuffed like a burrito with too much filling futile being held together by a value brand flour tortilla. I struggled to make my commitments and in turn, missed some key games. I missed the media event held by Czech Games Edition whose new complex space exploration game SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence was one of the most talked about games at the con. Nevertheless, besides some slight hiccups like this PAX Unplugged 2024 was a resounding success. The foot pain, headaches, and dry social battery were worth it.

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Luis Aguasvivas is a writer, researcher, and member of the New York Videogame Critics Circle. He covers game studies for PopMatters. Follow him on Bluesky and aguaspoints.com.