Dire Wolf at Gen Con ’25 Recap!

Another Gen Con has come and gone, and this was one for the books! With the debut of Lightning Train, hosting nearly a hundred events, and thousands of enthusiastic fans stopping by to say hi, there was never a dull moment!

Lightning Train Takes Off!

Dire Wolf’s newest game, Lightning Train, debuted in a limited Gen Con prerelease, and it blasted out of the station in spectacular fashion! As one of the most anticipated games of the show, countless attendees were excited to see it in the wild for the first time! As a side note, Lightning Train is available for preorder on the Dire Wolf web store up until Friday, August 15th!

Lightning Train on display!

Each morning when the exhibit hall opened, a line of hundreds quickly formed around the Dire Wolf booth!

Lightning Train games were running in our event room every day of the show!

Behold: The Transcontinental Railroad! 

Underworld Makes an Appearance!

Clank! Catacombs: Underworld was on display in the Dire Wolf display case, and on a table at our booth. These are the only two copies of Underworld right now, but with the Kickstarter just having ended, many more are on their way for later this year!

Dune: Imperium Uprising North American Championship!

It wouldn’t be a Dire Wolf Gen Con without a fair share of Dune: Imperium, and the North American Championship played out over the course of the con! 256 players entered the fray, battling through four rounds to produce a new North American Champion!

Our four finalists, with our winner, Michael Young, holding the coveted trophy! This wouldn’t be the first tournament he’s won… could this be the Lisan al Gaib?

Fortunately, our competitors were much more good-natured with each other than the actual House Leaders in the world of Dune. Who knew the War for Arrakis could produce such camaraderie?

The pros at work!

The final score – talk about a tight game!

The final conflict was one for the books, but sometimes sandworms, Sardaukar, and even a mighty army aren’t enough to secure victory over a certified Kwisatz Haderach!

Clank! Catacombs Special Events!

Clank! Catacombs had two special events at Gen Con this year, both taking place in the evening after the Exhibit Halls had closed. In these events, an entire room of players played through two new custom scenarios that we prepped specifically for Gen Con: Escape from Dracotraz, and A Royal Rescue! 

Clank! Catacombs always makes for a fun time, but the excitement in the air was electric. Nothing like the threat of dragon fire to bring people together!

What looked unassuming from the outside was an absolute party inside, with 72 players over 18 tables enjoying a Clank!-tacular evening in special custom scenarios!

The Catacombs at full capacity!

Each event had a special promo card that players got to take home!

The Royal Rescue scenario kicked off with a letter from the kidnapped princess herself! As a bonus, the winning players got to keep these scenarios and their components!

Wild Tiled West Shenanigans!

Wiled Tiled West had a great run at Gen Con as the tile-placement game wrangled a fair share of new fans!

Attendees were able to learn how the west was won!

It’s hard not to crack a huge smile after a good game of Wild Tiled West. The winning strategy in the game pictured here? Tombstones! A little bit of rootin-tootin-cowboy-shootin’ can go a long way.

Bashing Baddies in Invincible: The Hero-Building Game!

Like Wild Tiled West, Invincible: The Hero-Building Game also got on the radar of many a tabletop gamer over the course of the show. Bag-building? Push your luck mechanics? Cooperative gameplay? Unique, scenario-driven missions? This game’s got it all!

In our event room, players were able to learn the game and play through the very first mission. Some groups cleared it with the efficiency of a well-oiled team of seasoned heroes and found themselves craving the next scenario, while others barely made it out alive! But one sentiment was common throughout: beating up baddies is a blast!

We encountered these players in a moment of desperation when we walked up to this table — this group pushed their luck a little too hard and found themselves with three heroes crashed out! They suffered casualties and nearly tasted defeat, but with a little bit of teamwork they ultimately ended up showing those Flaxan invaders who’s boss!

See You Next Year!