Games I’m Looking Forward to at PAX Unplugged 2024

Welcome to this week’s gaming post! We’re taking a short break from my top 40 series to talk about a few of the games I’m looking forward to at PAX Unplugged 2024. This year, I’m super excited to be attending the convention for the first time, and while I don’t know exactly what to expect, I do know that I’m pumped to check out many of the new and upcoming titles. For this week, I’ve complied 10 games (in no particular order) that I’m looking forward to. So without further ado, let’s jump into the games.

First up is SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, arguably one of the hottest games at the moment. Admittedly, I don’t know much about this game other than its striking box cover, interesting space theme, and multi-use cards. That on its own is usually enough for me to give a game a second look. So far the game has been receiving very positive reviews, and it’s published by Czech Games Edition, who I’m generally a big fan of their games as Arnak is one of my all-time favorites.

Next up is another one of the hottest games of the year, Arcs, which is designed by Cole Wehrle who is known for designing games like Root, Pax Pamir, John Company, and Oath. Arcs uses an interesting trick-taking mechanism for its action-selection, and so far I’ve heard mixed things about the game. People seem to either love it or are more mixed on it. I have not played any of Cole’s other games, but while I own Root, [SPOILER ALERT] it didn’t exactly come close to making my top 40 games this year. However, the praise so far for Arcs is enough for me to actively seek it out.

I have quite a few Uwe Rosenberg games in the collection, of which Agricola and Caverna are among my all-time favorites. From what I’ve heard, Black Forest is a reimplementation of sorts of Glass Road, a game which I’ve never tried. Regardless, a mid-to-heavy euro designed by Uwe is enough to pique my interest, and this game has also seen a fair amount of praise recently. So this is definitely one I’m eager to give a look. 

It seems like I’ve been hearing about Unconscious Mind for a long time now, but this is the year that it’s finally getting released. While I know very little about psychology, the psychoanalysis theme is very unique and intriguing. Not to mention that Fantasia Games’ always seems to be well produced, as evidenced by Endless Winter: Paleoamericans. Unconscious Mind has been getting a lot of buzz lately, and I’m keen to keep this one on the radar for PAX.

I’m not sure if Civolution has been confirmed that it will be at PAX this year, but if it is, I’m curious to look out for this one. I always get excited when I hear about a new Civilization-themed game, and this one seems to be quite a change of pace from Stefan Feld’s usual designs. This does seem like a very complex and lengthy affair, but if it manages to nail the mechanics and theme, I’ll be thrilled.

I know very little about Andromeda’s Edge, but I do know that it’s a reimplementation of a very popular game – Dwellings of Eldervale. This game has often been towards the top in BGG’s The Hotness, and the artwork and components certainly usher this game onto my list.

Devir has been on a roll lately! Two of their recent games, Lacrimosa and The White Castle, made my top 40 games of all time. I don’t know much about one of their latest releases, Daitoshi, but I do know that it’s designed by Dani Garcia. Garcia is still a relatively new designer, but he has already released popular games like Barcelona and Windmill Valley. Daitoshi is supposedly on the heavier side, and I’m curious to try this one out.

I know next to nothing about Endeavor: Deep Sea, and I never tried Endeavor: Age of Sail. However, the deep sea exploration theme and the fair amount of buzz it has received is enough to catch my attention.

These next two games are slated for 2025 releases; however, I’d love to try and get into a demo of each. First up is Galactic Cruise. This is a game by first-time designers and a first-time publisher, while the artwork is by the excellent Ian O’Toole, known particularly for his work on Vital Lacerda’s games. I don’t know much about the mechanisms in this game, but the idea of running a galactic cruise ship sounds fun, and I’m hoping to have a chance to give this one a look.  

The last game on this list is also only available for demo. Revenant leverages the theme from the very popular Voidfall, to make a standalone, worker placement game. I don’t know much about this game yet, but the game is published by Mindclash Games who are known for their heavy euros like Anachrony, Trickerion, and Voidfall. Early images of the game seem very interesting, and the artwork is being done by Ian O’Toole, who also did the artwork for Voidfall.

With that, I’ll wrap up this week’s post! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned, future content, or format in the comments section below, and let me know if you’re planning to go to PAX this year and what games you’re looking forward to. Happy gaming!

If you liked this post and want to be notified when new content is released, then follow me on Instagram @themeepledigest.