Saturday at SPIEL Essen started lovely for me: with a cloudless sky and the sun shining. The weather this year is a bit unusually chilly for SPIEL as most years the convention somehow manages to have good luck and nice weather. I can’t really remember a single SPIEL where there was rain going on … …
Read more “SPIEL Essen 2024 – Day 3: Tea Garden, Roads & Boats, and Meeting Lovely People”
It’s a good day if you unexpectedly meet people you don’t really know and they are happy to see you! Welcome to day 2 of SPIEL Essen 2024. The doors of SPIEL have closed and I’m back at the laptop before doing a little bit more gaming in the hotel. Having booked a hotel room …
Read more “SPIEL Essen 2024 – Day 2: Steam Power, Raas, and a Big Surprise”
And we’re back! Hello everyone to the first official day of SPIEL. I was a bit anxious what would await me with tickets being sold out and the German unification day coinciding with the first day of SPIEL, but it turned out to become a pretty great day. When I reached the Messe at around …
Read more “SPIEL Essen 2024 – Day 1: World Order, Landmarks, and a Sold Out Show”
Well, if you want to meet people you know from YouTube, let me tell you: the press conference for SPIEL Essen is the place to be! 😀 Hi everyone and welcome to Day 0 of my Essen 2024 coverage! Things kicked off today with the press conference and new games show. This was the first …
Read more “SPIEL Essen 2024 – Day 0: Press Conference, Novelty Show, and Making New Acquittances”
Another year, another Essen season is upon us! I just thought I’d make the most of my train ride to Essen by once again sharing what my approach for this year will be. A lot seems to be different this year, so should be fun! 😀 Pre-Fair Coverage, Pre-Orders & Demo-Only It’s quite noticeable how …
Aaah, Barcelona! It’s been many, many years since I’ve been in this beautiful city, but I still have fond memories of it: Sitting in the Parc Güell, visiting the brilliant Gaudi museum inside La Pedrera, or in general strolling through the city and being amazed by its architecture. All those beautiful moorish-inspired private gardens on …
Read more “First Impressions of Barcelona: Passeig de Gràcia – As Before, Good Timing Is Everything”
Tell me if this sounds familiar: you’re browsing through Kickstarter projects, skip over a whole bunch of projects that look just plain boring or like another fulfilment disaster waiting to happen, and suddenly you stop. You’ve found a game that looks amazing! The visuals speak to you, the production is lavish, and the few sentences …
Read more “First Impressions of Rise & Fall – There Might Still Be Hope for Crowd Funding”
Essen-time is soon upon us! This year, the kind folks of SPIEL have provided me with a press pass, which is a huge milestone for an independent reviewer like me. For all the years – or shall I say decades – I’ve been going to Essen, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to …
This issue of Origin stories is special for a number of reasons. I’m talking to Stephen Hurn, a designer who’s name you might not recognise but who’s contributions to the hobby you will have experienced when playing Martin Wallace’s Anno 1800: The Board Game and it’s recently released expansion. He has been deeply involved in …
Read more “Origin Stories: The Anno 1800 Solo Campaigns – An Interview With Designer Stephen Hurn”
I ran into a number of situations where the automa behaved oddly. So here is an attempt to patch them a bit with minimal rules tweaks or clarifications. I’ll update this post as I evolve the automa changes. Hope you like them! Last updated: Sep 1, 2024 General Barbarian (Yellow) Climber (green) Pirate (blue) No …