Airecon 2024 – Day 1
After a wonderful day 0 at Airecon I was full of anticipation for what the first full day would bring. I met up with a friend for breakfast at the fantastic Baltzersen’s for breakfast and then we headed into the convention for more gaming goodness.
First up was Joraku that Tim Clare had produced a wonderful video on and was kind enough to teach me and a couple of others. It’s an area control game with a light trick taking element to determine part of the way you assign points and future turn initiative. It’s a really tight game taking only 3 rounds as you march towards Kyoto. Every card you play goes into the trick but also gives you the ability to drop troops onto the map or move them around and attack with your Daimyo. I really enjoyed it and I can see why Tim is such an advocate for it.
Tim pulled out another of his favourites in the form of Bullet Heart. This game is a bit like the puzzle fighter mode for some beat-em-up computer games. You pull discs from a bag and put them into your play area, descending them down columns based on the number on the disc. As a column fills you skip already occupied spaces, making discs push off the bottom of the play area and causing you damage. Take too much and you are out.
You are not just helpless of course. You have ‘patterns’ and several abilities that allow you to manipulate discs into those pattrens. Get a pattern and blow up some discs, passing them to the left as you do. On your next turn you draw some more discs from the supply but also add those you have been passed. In this way when the person on your right has a good turn, you know bad news is on the way! Did I mention that placing discs is in real time?
Phil who had been playing with us taught Terraforming Mars: The Dice Game to Tim and I. I am not a fan of the main game so was a little worried I would bounce off this as well. I actually enjoyed it a fair amount. It is much shorter, which helps, but the engine building I found more compelling and the flow of the game a lot easier to get into. I won’t be seeking it out to add to the collection but if someone wanted to play it I would be happy to.
Sam and Doug who I had played games with yesterday, joined Phil and I for a game of Heat: Pedal to the Metal. This game has been getting a lot of buzz over the last year so I was delighted to get a chance to try it. I had owned Flamme Rouge but it didn’t really gel with my group so I moved it on.
The game here I found a lot more compelling than Flamme Rouge. You have a greater ability to manipulate your deck, though I wouldn’t call it deck building as such. It feels like you are pushing your engine then backing off around corners, putting your foot down as you come out and pursuing your rivals. There are some great push your luck elements and a neat draft at the start that gives everyone some unique cards to play with. Very keen to play some more and see some of the other tracks. It’s a great production from Days of Wonder.
I took a wee break from gaming and had a wander around the exhibitor halls. It felt a little better laid out than last year and there was a good variety of vendors from recognisable online shops to companies from the other side of the world. I picked up a couple of second hand games, Tokaido and Through the Ages: A New Story. Tokaido I had been meaning to buy for a while to get some more games with a cosier vibe in my collection. Through the Ages is for a potential future Cult of the Old episode. Played it a bit online via BGA and the excellent app, but feel like I need to experience it in the flesh.
I had wanted to try Kiri-Ai: The Duel since Sam had shown me his copy the day before. The person demoing at Lucky Duck Games took me through it with skill and patience. It’s a strictly two player game, where you are two battling Samurai with a restricted hand of cards. Playing two at a time, one you get to play again the next turn, the second goes away for a turn. It’s a game of anticipation, waiting for your moment, and striking with confidence. Absolutely beautiful production with a heavy cloth bag, and PVC cards that feel heavy and satisfying to handle.
Wandering the halls a bit more I saw an opportunity to try out Star Wars: Unlimited. This is the latest CCG from Asmodee and Fantasy Flight Games, leaving the LCG model that FFG have had for so long behind for this latest product. It is a simpler game than something like Magic for sure. The core of it is that you have a base and a leader to start with and will play troops out onto the ground and into space. Those troops can attack your opponents base and when it is gone you win! You pay for cards by putting some face down as a resource, allowing you to exhaust them for the pennies you need to bring a lightsaber or an x-wing into play.
I enjoyed my play of it but it didn’t fully grab me. There was some really nice themeing on the cards and by the sounds of it some potential for interesting deck building. The team has a done a good job making a decent game and my demoer was great. My CCG days are behind me though so I will not pursuing this.
I got chatting to the person demoing, called Mosiah, and mentioned I was teaching Root later. He was keen to join and so we met up later with my friend Scott from Minerva Tabletop Games and a gentleman called Phil who had been attending to the Bring and Buy for most of the day. I had a blast teaching this, despite an odd mistake here and there, and the players all enjoyed the game. I came out on top as the Eyrie and Mosiah did really well as the Woodland Alliance, a faction I’ve never done well with. Scott tried for a dominance victory on his first game and almost pulled it off!
Scott headed off and Phil, Mosiah and I went to the library to get some games out. Drop It which I had played last year and we played a couple of games of that before rounding off the evening with a game of Hardback.
It was another great day where I made more new friends! Meeting Mosiah at the Star Wars demo and then giving him the opportunity to play Root was serendipitous and just the sort of event I love to hear about at conventions. Enthusiastic people coming together to share their passions just brings a smile to my face. Onto day 2!
Thanks very much for visiting the site and reading this article. You are welcome to comment on the piece below or join our Discord. If you would like to support us financially you can do so via Patreon or one of the other methods on our site.
