Well, I’ve had a few days to travel around Germany prior to SPIEL, and I’ve had a grand time seeing old castles, beautiful vistas, and yummy plates filled with meat and potatoes.  We have taken full advantage of the Deutschland ticket and been able to use public transport of all sorts between Frankfurt and Essen, and it has been fantastic.  Really does make me wish that we had useable public transport at home.   But enough of that… family vacation time is over, and now it’s time to get ready for games!

If I have counted correctly (and it is quite possible that my memory has failed me), but I believe this to be my 25th trip to SPIEL, and I believe I’ve now spent more than 150 days in this beautiful city.  It’s funny to think that I have so many favorite shops and restaurants in a city that is across the ocean from my home.

Though the fair does not actually start until Thursday morning, there is still a lot that happens here on Wednesday – the first day for the Press.  This year, the fair is bigger than ever, and it has finally required the use of every hall in the Essen Messe.  It remains to be seen where people will wait prior to getting in – but that’s a problem for tomorrow.

From their press release:

“With the addition of Hall 8, the world’s largest public fair for board games is using all the halls of the exhibition grounds for the first time in its history. This marks a new space record of a total of 81,200 square meters full of fun, new releases, and creativity. A maximum of 230,000 gaming enthusiasts will be able to populate the halls this year to celebrate the fascination of board gaming together – meaning SPIEL Essen 2026 is also expected to set a new attendance record.

For these visitors currently 921 exhibitors from 53 countries, are bringing their newest games to Essen. Well over 1,500 new games are expected again, many of which will celebrate their debut at the fair.”

The halls are again mostly split up by type of game – though this is an inexact science.  For instance, if a company makes both a super advanced “kenner” game and a children’s game, where will the booth be allocated?  Unless they’re going to split their team, the booth can still only be in one place!

According to the map above, it appears the western side of the Messe will be for the serious gamers and the eastern side for the familienspiele.   Like many other large fairs, the maps are now available online, and you can even zoom in on a particular Hall or Area to find specific booths: https://www.spiel-essen.de/en/the-spiel/hall-plans

For my own purposes, Hall 1 is essentially a hinterland, never to be entered – that is, unless I need a quick exit to the outside through the South door.

Much of Hall 5 is also outside of my interests, the Artist Alley and CCGs – but the International Publishers will be in two large swaths, and I have plenty of games on my “t0-look-at” list that will be housed here.  I think that this organization will be helpful for the visitor as they can plan their trip more efficiently.  People will also be more likely to stumble into something they’re interested in as similar things will be grouped together. I will admit that I was skeptical of the arrangement when first announced (and implemented) a few years back, but it’s definitely growing on me, and I can see where it is useful for the majority of SPIEL-goers.

The scope of the fair has grown to the point where the Press Novelties Show has finally been pushed out of the Messe proper; this year, it will be hosted in the adjoining Grugahalle. This event is always one of the highlights of the fair for me, and I’ll surely be posting pics and thoughts from that tomorrow.  We’ll also get the reveal for the winners of the DSP at the press conference that preceeds the Novelties Show.

Places 1 to 3 in alphabetical order

Artengarten (Verlag: Feuerland, Autor: Mathias Wigge)

Boss Fighters QR (Verlag: Pegasus Spiele, Autoren: Michael Palm and Lukas Zach)

Galactic Cruise (Verlag: PD-Verlag, Autoren: T. K. King, Dennis Northcott and Koltin Thompson)

I should also make mention of the very helpful SPIEL app – it’s free to download, and it has lists of both Exhibitors and Games in a searchable database. The app also includes maps for the fair that you can always keep handy.  You should be able to easily find it in the Android or Apple App store (I just searched for Spiel 2026 and looked for their familiar logo).  Or go here – https://www.spiel-essen.de/en/the-spiel/spiel-app

If you do enough advance research, you can even mark things as favorites and then go to the Favorites tab at the bottom to make sure that you don’t miss anything at the top of your list!  You can even store your tickets on the app so it truly can be your one-stop shop for all things SPIEL.

Anticipation is building for Day 0 of Spiel 2026 tomorrow, but for now, it’s time to hit up one of my favorite restaurants for a well-deserved Döner Pide to eat and Apple Lift to drink and then an early bedtime so we can be ready for the Press Show tomorrow.

At the moment, on my personal prep spreadsheet, I have 214 games that I want to look at (and I only have 4 full days to do it!).  I know that I won’t be able to see everything that I want, but I already know that every minute at SPIEL will be filled with gaming goodness. Can’t wait for it to start!

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor