I love a different style and focus of wargame. A game that takes a look at an important but somewhat obscure or rarely addressed historical topic, such as espionage or intelligence, and creates a gaming experience tailored around the events to highlight and evoke the difficulties and tension that would have been present. In January 2026, GMT Games announced such a game in Checkpoint Charlie, which is a solo or cooperative game focused on SIS espionage missions in Berlin in the 1960’s designed by Russell Brown. We have posted an interview with Russel and it was very well received and he has now agreed to create a series of History Behind the Cards to highlight the events of the 1960’s Cold War struggle in West Germany but also to share aspects about the game play and how it models the history.

*Note: The cards highlighted in this series and their event text, as well as any pictures used showing any of the various components, are still in the design and development process and as such event effects and text might still change prior to final development and publication. Also the art and layout of the cards are only for playtest purposes at this point and the game will enter the art department as it nears publication.

History Behind the Cards – Checkpoint Charlie from GMT Games – Card #5: Berlin Film Festival

Every summer since 1951, Berlin had hosted the international Berlin Film Festival (the Berlinale) and awarded the Golden Bear to the best film in each of five categories. Venues in both East and West Berlin were used for screening of films. As summer approached in 1962, Berlin found itself cut in two by the Berlin Wall amid growing tensions between East and West. It seemed there were any number of events that could trigger a war over the city. And yet, the Film Festival was held, entirely in West Berlin this time. The festival drew thousands of visitors to the city, including Hollywood stars like Jimmy Stewart and Tony Curtis. Screenings took place in venues throughout the city and, we can assume, brought a much-needed sense of normalcy and continuity to the residents of West Berlin and perhaps a sense of what was lost to those in the east.

The festival took place every year throughout the Cold War, and after reunification it once again began film screenings in the former East Berlin. The festival continues and this year the Golden Bear award for best film went to “Yellow Letters.”

The Berlin Film Festival card in Checkpoint Charlie assumes the Berlin Hilton is full up with visitors and cannot function as a Honey Trap. The card also assumes that the extra traffic in the city, including thousands of additional pedestrians trying to get a glimpse of celebrities, negates any Ongoing Card Effects that allow additional movement during the Movement step.

In the next article in this series, we will take a look General Clay Steps In as he is appointed by President Kennedy to resolve issues in West Berlin.

In my opinion, this game looks extremely interesting and I am very much excited to learn more about it. I am appreciative to Russell and his efforts to bring us these cards and to write these entries to share with our readers. I am also very glad that this topic is being covered in a game and look forward to playing this one day soon.

We published an interview with the designer Russell Brown on the blog and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2026/02/23/interview-with-russell-brown-designer-of-checkpoint-charlie-from-gmt-games/

You can catch up on the posts in this series to date by following the below links:

Card #1: Cousins Operation

Card #2: Cuban Missile Crisis

Card #3: Demonstrations

Card #4: Faceoff with the Soviets

If you are interested in Checkpoint Charlie, you can pre-order a copy for $48.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1211-checkpoint-charlie.aspx

-Grant

North America’s biggest tabletop gaming convention, Gen Con, has continued its record-breaking run after more than 74,000 attendees left this year’s sold-out show bursting at the seams.

Gen Con’s latest hefty attendance figure extends its steady post-pandemic growth, following record crowds of 70,000 in 2023, 71,000 in 2024 and almost 72,000 last year – which all broke the 2019 pre-pandemic high.

But the convention, which has sold out before opening for three consecutive years, is operating at a hard capacity ceiling at the Indiana Convention Centre. Gen Con president David Hoppe told the Indianapolis Business Journal last year that the show’s growth had left it “capacity constrained”, saying: “We fill every nook and cranny of this downtown core area.”

He added in that interview that he would love to get 80,000 attendees at the show some day – and Gen Con is set to take a step closer to that goal for its 60th anniversary show next year thanks to a significant floor space expansion and opening of a new Signia by Hilton hotel.

That expansion includes an extra 143,500 sq ft of floor space – roughly the size of 2.5 American football fields – and 800 new hotel rooms.

Indianapolis already claims to have the most hotels and hotel rooms connected by enclosed skywalks into a city centre in the US – and the new expansion will boost that capacity to more than 5,200 rooms.

Gen Con’s organisers did not say how many extra exhibitors or attendees the expansion is expected to accommodate, how much of the new space will be devoted to the exhibition hall.

Exhibitor and vendor numbers reached almost 800 at the packed out four-day event, Gen Con said. The show reported a then-record 575 exhibitors showcasing their wares last year, although the inclusion of “vendors” makes it unclear if the 2026 figure is directly comparable.

BoardGameWire contacted Gen Con’s press office earlier this week for confirmation on how much additional capacity next year’s expansion will create, and for clarity on exhibitor numbers in 2026, but is yet to receive a response.

This year’s convention also faced an unexpected operational test after severe thunderstorms prompted a tornado warning on Saturday evening, and caused water to shower down into parts of the Indiana Convention Center.

The worst affected areas were the convention’s playtest area and part of Exhibit Hall B, with attendees told to relocate to safer parts of the building while the warning was in place.

Exhibitors affected included Tycoon Games, with managing director Ben Rathbone telling the Indy Star, “As we were doing our demos and tournaments, drop of rain started coming through the ceiling up there.

“We immediately started pulling our stuff back, then there was a deluge came down, flooded the whole floor there, and we had to move all our games and store them out of the way.”

He added that the publisher’s games had been damaged “only a little bit”, saying that most of them were out of the way.

Gen Con said staff responded quickly to ensure safety and make repairs, adding that there was “minimal disruption” to the convention due to the leak.

This year’s event was also impacted by heavy amounts of construction work taking place around the convention site, leading to large build-ups of foot and vehicle traffic.

Gen Con president David Hoppe said of this year’s event, “Even through construction and thunderstorms, Gen Con 2026 was bigger and better than ever, with a record-breaking number of attendees gathering in Indianapolis for the best four days in gaming.

“We can’t thank Indy enough for hosting us, and we’re already looking forward to our 60th anniversary convention in an expanded Indiana Convention Center next year.”

Next year’s Gen Con is scheduled for August 5 to 8, with badges set to go on sale in early 2027.

The post Gen Con tops 74,000 attendees as record-breaking show preps for much-needed venue, hotel expansion first appeared on .

Holt mich hier raus.

Wir wurden zur Wiedereröffnung eines Hotels eingeladen. Doch ganz überraschend sind wir im Fahrstuhl gefangen und müssen uns den Weg nach draußen rätseln. Clever gemacht ist dies schon: Wir öffnen eine Tür für einen Raum und suchen dann ein Lösungswort oder eine Zahl. Hiermit soll sich dann erschließen, welches der Raum mit dem nächsten Rätsel ist.

Fazit:

Von Moses. ist man gutes Material und eine schöne Verpackung gewohnt. Leider kann das Spiel und die Rätsel hier nicht mithalten. Ein Rätsel war ok, allerdings wären für die Lösung erforderlichen Informationen leichter zu bekommen gewesen. Oft waren die Rätsel einfach sinnlos, oder auch nicht lösbar. Wenn dann die Hilfestellung zur Auflösung selbst ein Rätsel ist, dann hilft das nicht. Eine Hilfestellung passte auch gar nicht zum Rätsel, war für ein anderes Spiel gedacht. Ich habe den Eindruck, dass keiner das Spiel probegespielt hat, da wären viele Fehler aufgefallen. Die dunkle Schrift auf leicht dunklerem Hintergrund hätte als Prototyp schon nicht bestanden.
Mit der Rätselauflösung gibt es auch eine Anleitung, wie man das Spiel zurücksetzen kann, um es an Freunde weiterzugeben. Aber das kann ich nicht verantworten.
Auch unklar ist, warum die Empfehlung für 3-8 Personen ist. Hätten wir Freunde eingeladen, wären die nie wieder gekommen. Zum Glück war alles nach einer Stunde vorbei. Das mit Abstand schlechteste Krimispiel, dass ich bisher gespielt habe. Dabei ist das Material so schön. Und von der sinnlosen Story habe noch gar nichts geschrieben …

Stubenscore: 3,2 / 10

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DAS GEHEIMNISVOLLE GRAND HOTEL

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