Okay, in an effort to include as much info and coverage of Origins as possible (but let's face it I'm still not doing it justice here), get ready for a rapid-fire rundown of everyone I spoke to at Origins!! Aaaaand GO!

Greenbrier Games -

I'm starting here because Greenbrier brought what might be my favorite game I demoed at Origins: Heavy Steam. Heavy Steam is all about the post-apocalyptic world of days past where the pilots of giant steam-powered mechs are the rock stars of the day. Heavy Steam is a tactical battle game that uses a sort of resource management mechanism as you try to defeat your opponents while maintaining steam power to your mech's systems. It's very cool, and the minis included are outstanding!

Tuesday Knight Games

First, let's address the 9,000 lb. gorilla in the room: Two Rooms and a Boom will be releasing in August. It MAY even release at Gen Con, but Tuesday Knight Games won't sell it at Gen Con until the backers have received their copies. That being said, they debuted their next game to the masses: World Championship Russian Roulette. A press-your-luck game of bluffing. I've played this a lot over the past year or so, and I have to say it's developed into a really fun party game! Check out the video of actual gameplay!

Fireside Games

I was fortunate enough to meet Kris and Maureen McCardel while stopping by the Fireside booth. They shared a little bit about the newest expansion to Castle Panic: The Dark Titan! And wow! Does it look mean!! Fortunately there's a video for your enjoyment and education! The low down is the Dark Titan takes some time to get out on the board, but once he comes out...LOOK OUT!!

R & R Games

I managed to steal a few minutes of Frank DiLorenzo's time at the R&R booth. Frank is the president and CEO of R&R and was able to show me around to take a look at all the fun stuff they had going on... Needless to say, I'm still drooling over the Deluxe Hannabi!!

Academy Games

Also debuting at the con, was Fief: France 1429 from Academy Games. Fief is a heavy duty political and area-control game. The board is beautiful and the add-on building and metal coins really make this game a thing to behold! This game (at first look) is not for the faint of heart: lots of political jockeying for position, alliances being made and broken, and all the shadowy underhanded dealings that go along with trying to control the board. We're hoping get our hands on this one soon!

Jolly Roger Games

Jolly Roger's Jim Dietz was on hand to show us some of the indie pub's newest and most popular titles. Kremlin, a new edition of the 1886 classic, is flying out of the warehouse and probably going to need another reprint very soon! We also took a look at Founding Fathers, a game that takes place during the birth of the USA, and sneaks in a good history lesson while players play. And lastly I was intrigued by the Richard Lainius title Pirates vs. Dinosaurs. Pirates. Vs. Dinosaurs. Need I say more? Players are raiding an island looking for treasure, which is what pirates do... Meanwhile the island is crawling with dinosaurs trying to eat them! It sounds like a blast!!

Renegade Games

Lanterns: The Harvest Festival made a big splash at the con, while Gravwell continues to impress, as well. Renegade also had some slick playmats available for Gravwell too! We're all about playmats here at ToG! The other game Renegade was debuting was Double Feature, a game about movies. If you've seen movies, you can play, but you don't need to cram your brain with un-needed trivial knowledge! It looks like a great party game!

Feels Right Design

My boys were immediately won over by Poop The Game. That's right: Poop the Game. I'll be writing my full review of the game soon, but it's a simple card-playing game in which players take turns pooping into a toilet. But if you clog the toilet, you've got to take all the cards into your hand! The object is simply to be the first player without any cards. My review of this one is coming soon!

Blue Orange Games

Blue Orange has a lot of really slick-looking games, ranging from simple children's dexterity games, to their newest release Prohis. Extremely streamlined mechanics, but a game of great deception, bluffing, negotiating, and flat-out bribery! I so want to get my hands on this game! I went back on Saturday to pick up a copy only to find it was sold out! Noooooooo!!!!

I also can't go on without mentioning...

Sherwood Games - I met Duncan Davis who handed me few review copies of games including Exploit, a pirate-themed hidden-agenda game. I'm really looking forward to digging into that one!!

Crash Games - Patrick sat and played Tiny Epic Kingdoms: Heroes' Call with us Friday night, and handed me copies of Yardmaster, Yardmaster Express and a pre-release copy of Dead Drop! Look for those review very soon!! Crash always has something great going on, so it's exciting to see what's coming next!

Mayday Games - I swung by and said hi to Seth at the Mayday booth and he gave me a quick rundown on their upcoming release: Viceroy. And let me tell you, it looks awesome! Think a streamlined 7 Wonders, with some great ways to adjust your strategies in the midst of the game. I'm very intrigued by this one!!

So there you have it, a whirlwind tour of my whirlwind trip to Origins!

Were you there?!?! What were the highlights of the con for you?!? Let us know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

***Note*** Yes, we at ToG are aware of the perils of Vertical Video Syndrome. Unfortunately, for the time being, when you're broadcasting with Periscope it's the only option. Once Periscope supports landscape mode the world will be a much happier, and properly aspect ratio'd, place!