By Trywin Games
Checks
Paper copy of Essen ticket. Check.
Paper list of stands to visit, along with interview timetable. Check.
Fully charged phone. Check.
Small rucksack containing wireless microphone set, bottle of water, power pack, demo copy of my game just in case, and numerous other trinkets to support any unfolding scenario. Check.
It’s the 40th anniversary of Spiel Essen. Let’s do this!
This is Spiel Number Two for me. The first, last year, was a tourist affair. My personal brief was to experience the event from the fan perspective. To enjoy the fair, but also to analyse it from a designer/publisher perspective to see the different tips and tricks to draw fans to booths and stands.
This year the brief was different.
In what may become a long running tradition, I was linking up with the gang who went last year to create a bunch of misfits each with our own desires and expectations of Spiel. In addition to the social aspect I had volunteered to grab interviews and sound bites from folks in the gaming world for the Meeple2Meeple podcast.
If planning had been a minor consideration last year, it was a big focus this year.
Each day was punctuated with specific meeting rooms or places for me to find, along with arranging on-the-fly sound bites with members of the Instagram community and checking out as many of the games from the Meeple2Meeple recommendations list. Between said missions I had a personal desire to explore as much of the event as possible.
So what was it like?
Travel
Travel into and from the event is often missed in summaries of the show but it’s a vital consideration. Notionally there are thirty-five hours available to you, if you are the first in and last out on each public day, Thursday to Sunday. If you want to arrive promptly then travel will be a priority for you.
The pre-show grapevine suggested that train schedules would be unpredictable and thus car traffic was likely to be higher and a knock-on effect to local car parks demand.
Our accommodation was in Duisburg, a circa twenty-five-minute car drive to Spiel. This journey could also be a rail ride, with estimates between one hour and one hour and a half.
Across the weekend a mix of methods was used. But suffice to say, despite using the rail journey (two trams, two trains) four times I never got the one-hour version of the trip.
How many people?
Thursday is the day for hardcore gamers.
The super fans will want to make the dash to their favourite stalls, often with large empty suitcase, to snag the priority games. Aside from the early rush the rest of the day is relatively relaxed, with stallholders looking fresh faced and happy to explain their wares. However, customs delays seemed to be prevalent with many gamers queueing for games to arrive at the show (rather than them already being at the stand as expected).
Friday is busier.
There is still room to move around but the bigger stands are becoming busy. The smaller booths have now realised that they need to schedule play tests so that their entire event isn’t spent managing would-be players.
Saturday.
You know that move you do when you need to squeeze through a small gap? Perhaps between a Ford Focus and a Toyota Yaris in the car park. Or maybe through a door, that hasn’t opened all of the way. That shoulder lift, the breathing in, the heightened sense of where your body is, trying not to collide with any of your surroundings.
Now add in all of the extras from Ben Hur, and get ready for some penguin shuffling all day. It’s hot, it’s cramped, it smells of coffee, pretzels, body spray and body odour and farts.
To answer the question of how many people are at Spiel on Saturday – all of them. Everywhere.
Sunday.
There is space. The air is fresher. There is a glazed look on the stall holders. Maybe they have slept over the last few days, maybe they haven’t. Maybe they have kept track of time, maybe they haven’t. Time has no meaning at Spiel. Sunday is a nice day to enjoy the event.
Games
There are so many to check out. Some I played, some I saw, here are my notes.
Played:
Furnace – already known, but played according to Jim’s rules. Fit and forget. Still makes me shudder. (Editors note: Not my rules, the official variant that makes it better! haha)
Ito – great game that reveals more about your fellow players than you might realise. Or want.
Nmbr9++ - The expansion to Nmbr9. A fun little puzzle.
Gay Sauna – What happened at the sauna, stays at the sauna.
Patterns – A two-player area control, tile flipping, point scoring delight.
Kavango – A nature lovers dream!
Spotted, would like to play:
Kelp – two-player asymmetric shark versus octopus
Flamme Rouge Grand Tour – campaign version of the classic, coming 2024.
Skyteam – two-player dice placement to successfully land a plane.
12 rivers – three-dimensional river valley which looks fantastic and gameplay seems great too.
Forest Shuffle – a sell-out at Spiel, nature-based ecosystem builder.
Too Many Bones – Intriguing dice roller to defeat big monsters.
Nokosu Dice – a recommendation….need to find out more!
Galactic Cruise – stunning table presence…need to know more!
Celtae – play as Celts, building your clan and fighting the Romans.
Western Legends Showdown – two-player wallet game. Looks fun.
Liars and Looters – bluffing to claim loot!
Master of Rules – multi-player-invoked-rule trick taker.
MLEM Space Agency – co-op push your luck in space. And cats.
Among Cultists – social deduction game that looks fun.
Lowlights
No open gaming.
For an event of this size and type open gaming would be enormously useful. Not only for resting but to help spread awareness of the games on offer. And to make new friends.
Not enough seats.
Even without open gaming there are nowhere near enough seats for the amount of people. Around the inside and outside catering areas people can be found in some sort of post-apocalyptic setting hunched up over a paper box of poutine with a wooden fork, sat awkwardly on the tarmac floor. Everyone is spying the couple across from them who are seated on two stacked wooden pallets. Oh to obtain the timber luxury!
No water refills.
At four euro per bottle, staying hydrated could be expensive. Free water seems inexcusable. Unless there was a spring that I failed to locate.
Highlights
Fresh air.
Between some of the halls were central loading areas that now housed the catering wagons. These areas were great for short term breaks, as well as grabbing food. Never has air felt so fresh than when emerging from the heady halls of Spiel.
Evenings.
Every evening is an opportunity for some great fun.
Thursday provided the ‘never to be forgotten’ comparison of which is more beautiful a Crow or Cheesecake in a game of Ito in the apartment Friday night.
Friday was a great big burger meet and eat at Traumkuh.
Saturday was a hearty meal at Olga’s. Creepy dolls didn’t detract from the deliciousness.
Sunday was a motorway service burger on the way leaving Spiel.
Demo of Can’t Go.
On each day I carried a copy of my game, just in case the moment arose to play. And on Saturday, in the Europa room as part of the Content Creator’s meeting space (above the foyer at the entrance to Hall 3) I demo’d the game with brodatyboardgames. That was cool.
Final thoughts
It’s a really tricky thing to culminate the whole Spiel experience into a few words.
Describing it as a wonderful, congested, frantic, exuberant, unique and bizarre experience goes a little way towards the feel of the cornucopia of tabletop gaming.
The thing that really made it memorable was the fantastic people I got to meet.
Thank you to everyone who said hi, or played a game, or shared a meal. You’re awesome.