FEATURED TABLETOPS
Emerald City Comic Con was filled with a smorgasbord of tabletops. From bluffing, bribing, and negotiation to breaking a cake with friends and robot chess, here are a few tabletop games we thought you might enjoy.
COUCH KINGDOM
While most games are played sitting around a table, this area control, action/dexterity game was designed to be played on your feet and around the house (or wherever you choose to play). From Very Best Friend Games (VBFG) comes a new party game, Couch Kingdom. With timed rounds, bluffing, bribing, and negotiation, players must take and maintain control of lands to become the ultimate ruling house. These “lands” can be placed all around the environment, encouraging frenzied fun that immerses you in the competitive roleplay. The game can be played with 2-19 players and takes approximately 30-45 minutes, which makes it an excellent feature for any dinner party or get-together with friends and family. VBFG is a North-West American husband and wife team, Beau Johnson and Nicolette Butler, who combine their skills of mechanics and art to create original board games. Keep an eye out for the Kickstarter, coming later in 2025.
OVERGROWN
Inspired by classic tile-combination and match 3 games, Overgrown is a beautiful tile placing game where in an abandoned city, players compete to overrule their opponents with the forces of nature and plant overgrowth. By strategically placing tiles, players can limit the resources that can be gathered around them, sabotaging others and forcing players to think critically about each move they make. Though these decisions can be difficult, the gameplay mechanics themselves are pretty simple, making it great for all ages. Designed and published by Good Time Hat, this game features 1–4 players with a playtime of 30–60 Min. This game is officially launching soon, so check out their Kickstarter to sign up for a notification for when it is available for purchase.
A.E.G.I.S: SECOND IGNITION
From the Zephyr Workshop based in Renton, WA, A.E.G.I.S., a merge/tactical skirmish tabletop game where you duke it out with teams of combined robots, is getting a sequel coming in the next month. Described as “robot chess” by the creator, players merge their robots to form new, more powerful armies to take down their foes. A.E.G.I.S 2 can be played with 2, 4, or 6 players, with game time increasing by 15 minutes per player. The original game is being improved as well, so combine the two games for more merging possibilities. Preorders are available for the release in the next month (April 2025), but if you simply cannot wait, it is also available on TableTop Simulator and printable copies are available now.
OUT OF SORTS
If you were recruited by aliens to help them sort their library, how well could you remember your own Dewey Decimal System? Developed by Always Awake Games, Out of Sorts is a real-time, cooperative card game for 2-4 people. Players work together in a team to organize “books” into three random categories based on symbols from the alien language. This game goes for three timed rounds for a total of 20 minutes, with each round becoming more difficult with more books to organize. Though this game is a shorter one, it has a large deck of symbols and many categories to choose from, making replayability high for hours of fun. Out of Sorts is available now for purchase.
Always Awake Games has also created Hedged In, a pen-and-paper dueling game booklet about sabotaging the opponent’s garden while maintaining your own. They are also in the process of creating two games (part of a “Ghost Party Bundle”), Club Spooky & That’s the Spirit, coming to Kickstarter in October 2025.
FRENEMY PASTRY PARTY
Created by Jesse Li, Frenemy Pastry Party is a light family card game from Solis Game Studio where players bake a cake with their friends. Players choose an animal friend and then choose ingredients to make a cake. Players can decide whether to pick ingredients that are already in play, or, like the game “Go Fish”, they can ask other players for specific ingredients to help them. This will give the player contributing points based on how many ingredients they share, but be careful! It is still a competition. This cute game is for 3-6 players and takes 15-30 minutes to play, which is perfect for small breaks or trips. Frenemy Pastry Party is available now for purchase.
