Sorry, but while I’m excited for Omaha’s gaming convention, I’m not going to break out in rhyme.

Nuke-Con isn’t nearly the same size event as Gen-Con in Indianapolis, but it’s not too shabby for Omaha’s own gaming convention. There are a lot of products to sample and booths to visit, but here are some of the games JK Geekly plans to playtest over the next three days and nights.

Friday Night

Bang!

Yes. It’s a slightly older title—heck, there’s even an iOS version of this popular wild, Wild West shoot ‘em up game—but there isn’t that much going on Friday night. We’ll be checking in, gaining our bearings and sampling some of the games that aren’t on the menu. I’m still looking forward to a good old fashioned show down with Bang!

Saturday Morning

 

Cubist

A new title produced by Gryphon Games, Cubist has players building their own modern art museums. The concept may sound a bit dull, but the colorful design, easy to learn rules, and quick gameplay have garnered strong reviews. Bring on the help of Juan Gris, Franz Marc, and Olga Rozanova.

7 Wonders

7 Wonders may not be a new title (released originally in 2010), but let’s hope they have some of the newer expansions like Babel, which was released earlier this year. Players control an ancient civilization and try to construct wonders of the world—one of my favorite aspects of the Civilization video game series.

Saturday Afternoon

Samurai Spirit

Personally, this is one of the new games I’m looking forward to the most. Designed by France’s own Antoine Bauza, who views himself as a compulsive board game designer, old-fashion book lover, and lazy writer, Samurai Spirit marks another entry in Bauza’s wonderful line of cooperative board games. This game borrows from Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai—in fact there can be up to seven participants—and has the players take on the responsibilities of a team of samurai sworn to protect a village from marauders.

Krash Karts

Another new title, designer Sean Dallas McDonald revamps Mad Rush Rally with this Kickstarter funded tile placement game. Descriptions of this game have it mimicking the classic Mario Kart video game series. Let’s see if Krash Karts can measure up.

Sunday Morning

Legendary: Villains – Marvel Deck Building Game

The latest entry in the Marvel Deck Building Game, Villains features everyone’s favorite Marvel villains from Magneto to Green Goblin. While the main game received mostly favorable reviews two years ago, this year’s Villains expansion has had its early critics. Still, I can’t wait to get behind Doc Doom’s mask.

Sunday Afternoon

A Study in Emerald

I’ll be upfront with this one. There may be a slight scheduling conflict between this game and the Marvel deck building game. Villains ends thirty minutes after this game begins, so I hope the demo for Villains lets out early—thirty minutes early to be exact—and I’ll try to make this a deck building two-step. A Study in Emerald takes its name and subject matter from the Neil Gaiman short story of the same name. The story follows Sherlock Holmes doing his thing in the world of H.P. Lovecraft.

DC Deck Building Game

If I can make A Study in Emerald, I’ll still be able to make the DC Deck Building Game and therefore make a back-to-back-to-back deck building romp of JK geekiest proportions. While the Marvel deck building game sticks to major expansions, the DC Deck building game mixes in some smaller expansions: Crisis Expansions (I can’t wait for a Zero Hour expansion—jk), individual character expansions, and rivals like Batman versus the Joker. I’m not sure how many of these expansions—large and small—will find their way on the table on Sunday, but any expansions they give us will spice up gameplay. I haven’t played much of either comic book based deck building game, so I’ll be playing each one with a fairly blank slate.

So, we have eight games on the docket. These are by no means the only ones at Nuke-Con. They’re the only ones that have scheduled demos. I’ll have a list of the games I’ll be looking for on the trade tables. Maybe we can sneak a demo or two of those, too.