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 attend the press conference and then wander the halls while people are stilling setting up their booths. That last part unfortunately will not be something I’ll be able to experience as access to the hall is no longer allowed on Wednesday due to safety concerns while the construction work is still going on. Still, attending the press conferences and the “Neuheitenshow” (=presentation of new games) will be fun!
This brings a few new aspects to SPIEL for me. Where my last year’s daily coverage was more a spontaneous idea to make use of an hour long train ride back to where I stayed, this year I’m going with the explicit intend of doing as many spontaneous interviews as I can. I really loved it when last year I was at the Hegemonic Games booth and suddenly realised I was talking to Vangelis, one of the two designers of Hegemony. Or my hour talking with Martin Wallace for what later turned into the episode of Origin Stories on Brass. Or running into Amy and Maggie from ThinkerThemer, even if it was brief and I didn’t really have anything more to say than “thanks”. So I’m packing my recording equipment again, now with the clear intent to using it instead of having a lovely chat with Tim Fowers (Paperback, Hardback, Burgle Bros 1 & 2) and only later realising “gosh, I should have recorded that”.
I’m also for the first time ever staying directly in Essen and for all four days (plus press day). I’ve booked a hotel room and am kind of hoping I’ll be running into some fellow reviewers or designers for a chat and a little bit of gaming, that would be awesome. Realistically though, I’m a writer, not a YouTuber, so hardly anyone will recognise me. I guess it’s time to design a better logo and print a T-shirt or so … 😀
When it comes to the new releases, I noticed how hard it is for me to get really excited about most of them. I’ve discovered so many great games lately (Antiquity, Rise & Fall, I Napoleon, the Anno 1800 expansion, …) that I already struggle to get as many plays of each of those in as I would love to. I’ll of course pick up my annual Suchy game (this year it’s called Resafa), demo World Order (the next game from the fine folks that did Hegemony), and pick up a copy of Flamme Rouge Grand Tour (which I can’t believe actually is about to see the light of day after many years of delays).
I also used the BGG Essen preview list to narrow down what I want to demo and there should be some fun games in there for the daily evening posts. But must-buys? There are very few. So same as last year, my haul will likely be a rather reasonable one, something like 3 big boxes and a couple of little ones just to bridge the gap until the rest becomes available at retail anyway. I’m still quite happy with my selection from last year, even if Kutná Hora and Witchcraft weren’t my cup of tea and quickly left the collection.
So instead of giving you my “most anticipated games” list as everybody else seems to do right now, I’d rather do a shoutout and ask you: which games would you like me to check out? Especially if you won’t be able to attend, I’d be happy to be your proxy and write about that game you’re curious about. Also who would you love to meet? Top of my list are:
- Jeroen and Joris from Splotter: The more Splotter games I’m playing, the more I’m in awe with their design skills and how they just seem to do their own thing. They don’t do Kickstarters, they do reprints at their own pace, they do their own art style they like, rules are usually <10 pages, … I’ve been trying to convince those two to sit down for an interview for ages now! But even a casual chat over drinks with them and being able to say thanks for their games would definitely be a highlight.
- Ian O’Toole: Of course his artistic abilities are amazing, but I’ve always been fascinated by his information design. He seems to always be able to convey complex game aspects directly in the art and illustrations, craft iconography that is clear, etc.
- Efka and Elaine from No Pun Included: I really appreciate Efka’s writing and both seem genuinely good people that are fun to hang out with.
- Johannes and Sunniva from Board Gaming Ramblings: I’m following them on Instagram and they just seem like great folks to sit down and play with!
- Vangelis Bagiartakis: Such a lovely person to talk to and World Order really sounds like an interesting concept if they can pull it off.
- Martin Wallace: I’m still hoping my copy of Steam Power will arrive before Essen and we might have a bit more in-depth talk about that one, but Æterna and Casus Belli also look interesting, so definitely enough to chat!
- Asger Harding Granerud: I’d love to hear what’s coming up next for Heat and if he can spill details on why Flamme Rouge Grand Tour took so long to come to market.
- Vital Lacerda: No particular reason. I mean, who wouldn’t love to talk to Vital? 😀
- Candice Harris: Briefly chatted with her on BGG a while ago, just seems to be a great person to chat & play with.
- Reiner Knitzia: Again, who wouldn’t jump on the chance to talk with him?
Honourable mentions (because they won’t be at Essen): Cole & Drew Wehrle, Ryan & Melodie Laukat, Amy & Maggie of ThinkerThemer, Jamey Stegmaier, Ben Mendelker.