Chaos & Confetti

We all have our holiday season traditions, and for Chaos & Confetti that includes visiting PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, PA.

This marks our fifth time visiting our favorite board game convention. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed trying new games, listening to great panels, competing in tournaments, solving puzzles, and exploring the expo hall floor. We never know what we’ll encounter and how we’ll decide to spend our precious convention time.  

Here’s a few highlights from this year’s adventures:

COMPETITION:

Lorcana:

Confetti and I love Disney Lorcana, so we definitely plan around including a tournament or two over our weekend. 

On Friday, we decided to attempt a unique format that we don’t normally see at home: a 2v2 sealed tournament. With 12 packs, we built two decks. Then, we took on another team of two.

This would be a best of 1, 3 round tournament, where each teammate had to reach 20 lore for a team to win.

At first, I questioned the best of 1 format, since I like playing more games, however, once we got rolling the 1-game format made so much sense. Every game was super strategic and very thought intensive. 

In a normal game of Lorcana, turns must be carefully played, as questing, challenges, abilities, and card plays can happen in any order as many times as a player wants/can perform them. Structure majorly impacts gameplay and effectiveness majorly. In 2v2, two players (teammates) are taking their turns simultaneously: double choices and considerations. Now, we have to consider how we can support one another and not get in each other’s way. 

With both teams carefully planning around each other and their two opponents, turns take a bit longer as teams discuss their strategies. 

The 2v2 format was a lot of fun and it was fantastic playing together as a team, something that we normally can’t do. Our playstyles meshed well, but unfortunately, a lucky top deck dragon fire halted us in our tracks, a turn away from crossing the finish line. 

We ended our run 2-1, which is coincidentally also how Confetti finished her constructed tournament on Saturday. Both days, we suffered a final game loss that kept us from a 3-0 run and a convention champion mat. 

It sucks to not win big, but it’s still great to play some Lorcana and to get in some competitive reps before we take on the big Lorcana DLC coming to Richmond in January.

Abandon All Artichokes:

I love signing up for quick and light-gameplay tournaments during the course of most PAX Unplugged weekends. They are small time commitments compared to some of the bigger games and there is always the chance of leaving with a medal.

Due to other commitments, I didn’t sign up for as many small tournaments, but I continued my tradition of competing in Abandon All Artichokes. This year though, I broke from tradition and survived the first round. I made it into the finals. I was one turn shy of winning the whole shabang, but someone else beat me to the punch.

Kabuto Sumo:

With so many attendees at PAX Unplugged, it’s impossible to get into every tournament you hope to nab. Kabuto Sumo is obviously a popular game, since I’ve never been able to successfully gain entry into a tournament. That changed this year.

That also meant I needed to actually learn the game, I’ve never played before. Thankfully, the rules are pretty easy to learn, and I got in a practice game (and my first ever game) of Kabuto Sumo before the tournament. 

I won my practice game, but lost in round one of the actual tournament. Alas, I’ll have to try again next year. However, I did like the game enough, that immediately made its way onto my Christmas wishlist.

EVENTS:

Big Saturday Showdown:

Sixty-four players competed across a variety of surprise games. The three games on offer round one were Liar’s Dice, Sushi Go, and Jaipur. Everyone was paired with a partner who they played against until someone won two out of the three games. 

Confetti and I both got knocked out round 1, but that just meant we had time to go out and grab dinner.

Jubensha:

Jubensha is a fun take on murder mysteries. Our playgroup of six each took on a role in the Sandcastle scenario: where a group of online gaming friends meet on an island and soon get wrapped up in a murder.

Each of us played a role and received a packet that led us through our backgrounds and the events of the evening from our characters’ perspectives. Then, the game continued with discussion and debate as clues and motives slowly came to light.

The game took about three hours, so the time really flew by and we enjoyed our experience so much that we ended up purchasing the two at-home games that were on offer at the convention.

DEMOS:

We tried out way too many games to cover fully, but here are a handful of the games we really enjoyed learning about this year:

Mountain Goats Legacy:

We received a sneak peek at Mountain Goats Legacy. Traditional Mountain Goats is a lighthearted and fun experience, and legacy adds a bit more depth and surprises. 

We only had a chance to play the first four scenarios, but I liked what I saw in terms of story and unlockables. It’s neat to approach an old favorite in new ways and to see it in a totally new light.

I’ll be backing this one when it hits Kickstarter in early 2025.

Tag Team:

Tag Team is a deckbuilding auto-fighter. In this two-player game, each player has two fighters. If you knockout either of your opponents fighters, you claim victory.

What makes this game interesting is that each player starts with two cards (one for each fighter).  They decide which order to place them in their deck. As the game progresses, new cards will be added to the deck, but previously placed cards can not change their placement, always coming out in the same order. The strategy enters in figuring out the best spot for your new cards and planning on how to possibly counter your opponent’s cards. 

Whichever cards are being played determines the active fighters. You’ll need to figure out when it’s best to have a fighter outfront to perform their abilities but also be at risk of taking hits.

Magic the Gathering: 

Confetti played her first game of Magic the Gathering. She may claim to still be a Lorcana die-hard and that the Magic combat system is stupid, but she’s still asking for a commander deck for Christmas. If she plans on actively playing two tcgs, my bank account will be crying.

The Big Shuffle:

The Big Shuffle is a social deduction war game. Every player has a secret objective consisting of “The Who,” “The What,” and “The Where.” They also have two public objectives with the same categories. One of those objectives is shared with the person sitting to their right and the other is shared with the person sitting to their left. If at any point, a player can achieve a who, what, and where from any combination of their three objectives they win.

This game becomes a battle toward achieving your goal without letting others get to theirs first. The center tableau is always made up a who, what, and where. Players will yield influence for and against changes. The game includes items, henchmen, and more in this mafia themed battle for power.

Fae Kin:

Fae Kin is a social deduction game featuring duels. Every player is secretly either on the Summer or Winter court (determined by their highest card suit). Player go around the table, challenging each other to duels, both players secretly comparing one of their cars, with the lower card being revealed to everyone. 

Gameplay continues until someone feels confident enough to attempt a win. To win, a player must place the crown on the person with the highest card of their team and place the dagger on the person with the highest card on the opposing team. If they get it right, it’s a win, and if they get it wrong, the other team wins. Players can discuss and debate before a final answer is locked in, but you never know who really knows what and who is really who they claim to be.

Crabs in a Bucket:

Crabs in a Bucket is Uno but a little more silly and cut throat. If you enjoy the play mechanics of Uno but also want more unique attack cards, Crabs in a Bucket is worth a shot.

EXPO FLOOR

The expo floor is always an adventure. It’s a mix of games to play and demo, activity to take part in, and things to buy (games, accessories, art, etc.). I spend hours exploring the floor and somehow I’m still always coming across more that I somehow missed or overlooked.

More of Old Loves:

One thing I love is discovering more of old loves. It feels impossible to keep up with every game release, so it’s cool to be surprised with expansions from games that I already loved. This year I learned about Marvel Champions Civil War expansion, discovered Gloomhaven’s mercenary packs, remembered Chip Theory Kids’ versus series, and got excited about Micro Macro puzzles.

Interactive Booths:

Most booths are already great, happy to demo and explain their games and wares to any passerbys. Then, others add a little more to make the experience a bit more memorable.

For example, our friends at the Doomlings booth had a giant prize wheel that attendees could spin after a purchase. Some times like Catan and Flamecraft gave out badge ribbons. I loved getting to choose my favorite dragon types and get corresponding ribbons.  

One booth featured the game Catapult Feud, a game where you build castles and then try to knock down your opponent’s castle using an actual mini catapult. Not only did they hold demos, but if you beat another attendee, you won a badge ribbon.  I left with my “#1 Castle Smasher” ribbon.

Friends:

Of course, one of the best parts of being a board gamer is the boardgaming community. Every year we run into friends from our hometown, friends from online, and friends from previous years. Gaming is always better with others (unless it’s a solo game).

Goodies:

It’s obviously silly to mention the expo floor without talking about buying stuff. Sometimes it’s games for ourselves like Jubensha or accessories like the alternate dragon sculptures for Flamecraft. Other times, it’s gifts for others like (redacted so we don’t spoil holiday gifts). 

We are guilty of little impulse guys like $1 surprise pokeballs (which are now gifts for my son). 

However, there are also plenty of free goodies like promos, buttons, stickers, coins, dice, and more. A trip around the expo floor is sure to result in a little treasure trove for any expo explorer.

FINAL WRAP UP:

Not only is there plenty more we could wax on about with our PAX Unplugged experience such as the Oddities Inc. puzzle hunt experience we attempted, but there is also so much more that we just didn’t have time for this year. 

While we normally love checking out some of the great panels and spending some time with the freeplay library and the unpub(lished) library, we just couldn’t squeeze it all in this year.

I guess we’ll just have to visit PAX Unplugged again next year, and we suggest anyone else who loves board games does the same for a guaranteed exciting time.