Who was there? What'd you do?
I'm not going to write 'real' reviews :)
but the commercial board+card I got to try were:
SENATOR - Roman senators bid on various 'agenda' tiles. Try to collect the most 'non-conflicting' agendas. A bit complicated (esp. for early Sun morning), but pretty good.
NEW ENGLAND - Best of the bunch. Pilgrims try to farm land. Tile/board strategy with great bidding/selection mechanics.
CITADELS - Build a medieval city. Also based on bidding/selection mechanics. 2nd best.
ALL WOUND UP - Only appealing to kids. Wind-up zombie figures negotiate their way through a cemetery.
Free Plug: The designer said he's still tweaking and talking with publishers, so it's not commercially available yet - but LAB RATS was a solid offering. Players play tiles and special cards to try get their rats out the maze first.
I played COLOSSAL ARENA, Fantasy Flight Games' release of TITAN: THE ARENA. Just as good a game and includes several new monsters. I recommend either (of course COLOSSAL should be easier to get).
I played a thorough demo of DRACULA'S REVENGE, a new strategy board game from Human Head Studios, and published via Green Ronin. The designer, Matt Forbeck, was kind enough to walk me through the basics.
*snip*
designer, Matt Forbeck
I've known Matt for years, but I never knew that he designed two of my all-time favorite games: SPACE HULK and BLOOD BOWL. Good stuff.
Look for a review of DRACULA'S REVENGE in Undefeated #9, coming November 2004.