The halls keep getting busier – today it was actually slow and difficult to walk between halls, just like a real Essen. the only difference of course is the reduction in number of halls being used – with a large part of hall 5 cordoned off, and Hall 7 and 4 not being used, I guess it feels more croded than it is. However most publishers seemed pretty happy with the fair, and by this afternoon a lot of the big games had been sold out, including the new Azul, Siege of Runedar and in fact all Ludonova’s stock, almost all of Feuerland’s stock, and so on.

Games I looked at today: Continue reading →

Well, this year is only the third year in the past 22 where I haven’t been at SPIEL in Essen… But, that’s not to say that I’m not trying to keep tabs on all the new games.  Admittedly, as the years have gone, it has become easier to learn about the games given the Interwebs, and especially due to W. Eric Martin’s SPIEL geeklist on BGG.  In the old days, there was essentially zero information on games; these days, it’s rare to not be able to read thru the full rules, and possibly have a playthrough video at your fingertips, prior to the start of the show. Continue reading →

Fridays at Spiel tend to be busier than Thursdays and today was no exception. Today really seemed as crowded as any other Friday, but I suspect that while there are more people moving around the aisles, there are less places for them to play, Nevertheless, all the tables in all the popular booths were full to bursting with people playing or watching.

Today I had a good look at some of the games in my “to check” list. This included: Continue reading →

I was standing near the entrance this morning at 09:45 when they let the punters in and as usual at Spiel there was a healthy buzz of noise and a rush of air as people jogged to find a space on their favourite tables. There was a queue at various booths to buy games with limited copies or which had the most hype – this year definitely made more noticeable by the problems of getting games to Essen on time. Notable long queues were for Arche Nova at Feuerland (only 20 copies in English); Devir for Bitoku (excuse the incorrect accents); Golem even though this year Cranio are in Hall 5; and Kosmos (no idea what they were queuing for though!).

Continue reading →