Gen Con 2026 is officially over, and ICv2 staff is working hard to send all of the stories and highlights from a particularly wild edition of the event to press. This year’s Gen Con offered fans a variety of games, thrills, and unexpectedly, spills (see “Constitution Saving Throws“). And, per usual (see “Buzzworthy“), I am are going to review the highlight reel and discuss some of the games that I thought were truly buzzworthy.
Here are what I believe were the most buzzworthy games of Gen Con 2026:
Dungeon Crawler Carl Game Lines by Renegade Game Studios. I don’t really know how deeply I need to go into explaining how much fans are clamoring for this game line at this point. I think everyone who is paying attention inherently believes the RPG is going to sell like hotcakes when it hits retail in Q4; the Kickstarter really speaks volumes as to how in-demand the RPG is (see “Rolls Past $13.29 Million“). I guess the only Gen Con anecdote I can add here is that I had to cut short my meeting with Jordan Gaeta, Senior Marketing Manager at Renegade Game Studios, because he was under siege at his booth, scrambling to help his team manage the sheer number of customers that were stopping by to acquire various Dungeon Crawler Carl game items. I think that pretty much covers how on fire this was at Gen Con 2026.
Riftbound TCG by Riot Games. This one was definitely an anomaly, as it is rare for a game to be one of the most buzzworthy at Gen Con two years in a row. Last year, the lines to get the Riftbound TCG demo decks were intense. At Gen Con 2026, those lines somehow got even longer as fans flocked to obtain the company’s Secret Garden convention release. This was another booth where staff were working nonstop, from floor open to close, to manage the number of attendees seeking product. On top of the long lines at their booth, Riot also announced two new booster sets for the game at Gen Con (see “‘Riftbound’ Lineup“). In general, this was one of the most talked about TCGs at the show.
Cyberpunk Legends: Into the Night by Night Crew Games. This narrative card game was previewed at the Asmodee Media Night (see “‘Cyberpunk Legends: Into the Night’“). There is a lot of buzz circling around this game, particularly because the game is well-designed and the Cyberpunk IP is red hot right now (mostly thanks to the Netflix series). As far as tabletop games go, this one is worth considering for holiday inventory.
Crossfire by Hasbro Games. Oddly, I had a number of conversations with people at show about this game. It seems that my generation of gamers all have the nostalgia feels about the re-release of this toy-adjacent game. The original iteration of the game was fun, and it had perhaps the most over-the-top toy commercial created in the 80s (see “‘Crossfire’“). The new version sports a sleek, compact design, and the real selling point is that, somehow, the game’s MSRP is only $19.99 (it was originally solicited as $29.99). This game is almost no-brainer as a Christmas gift for a pre-teen.
Azul Kids by Asmodee Kids. Azul Kids was mentioned a number of times throughout the show as being one of the more anticipated games for younger gamers. In an exclusive ICv2 interview with Julien Sharp, Country Manager of Asmodee North America, she mentioned it as part of a broader initiative to make some of Asmodee’s evergreen games more accessible to younger players (the full interview will be published at a later date). The game itself is fun, and easy to learn and play. It has the potential be a winner at hobby retail for Q3 and Q4 2026.
That is about it for the buzzworthy games of Gen Con 2026. The only real honorable mention is Gundam Assemble, but that game is a carryover from 2025 (it is only buzzworthy because it has taken a while to come out).
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
Source: ICv2
