The news that the Spiel convention (the largest consumer convention for board games and related products) has been sold to the Spielwarenmesse convention (a large German toy convention aimed at professionals) gives me – together with the start of the summer convention season – the occasion to finally put my convention report on Spiel 2021 on digital paper. Due to the worldwide COVID pandemic, in 2020 the Spiel convention could – unfortunately but obviously – not take place in physical form. Therefore, in 2020, the convention organizers opted for a digital convention. In a very short time they managed to set up an online platform and they were able to convey the feeling of this special convention in digital form. However, it just wasn’t the same. Weeks of anticipation and trade convention planning, getting up early and sitting in the car just pouring excitement, those feelings you only get while (pre-)attending the physical convention. Fortunately, the 2021 convention was able to take place physically and after some doubt (despite vaccinations, testing and measures during convention, there was still a pandemic going on), we decided to go. Unlike 2019, I decided to spend two days at the convention in 2021. As in 2019, Chris and I – this time unfortunately without Rick – left in Chris’ car for Essen on the Friday morning, to spend a day around the convention filled with a lot of press meetings and greasy hot lunch. On the second day I accompanied Michiel de Wit from Gaminbiz and helped him presenting newly published games, including Victory Tank: my own design. With a longing nostalgia for this special convention, a personal milestone (publication of my first game concept) and good company, the 2021 convention was therefore a special experience that I am happy to share with you!
As I wrote above, Chris and I left for the convention early Friday morning. Although for us – as border residents – it is not a far drive to Germany, we are both morning people and wanted to start the day early. As “members of the press” we had the opportunity to enter the convention hall earlier and our first appointment was planned before the convention even began. When we arrived in Essen it was still quiet. The calm before the storm presumably. After we had parked the car and had caught up with Felix Albers, author of Paco Sako (and guest of Tussen de (Spel)regels door!), and our tickets had been scanned, we could enter the exhibition hall. Most exhibitors were still busy cleaning up and setting up their stands for the day, which gave us the opportunity to explore the layout of the exhibition halls before we had to go to our first meeting. Right away we already bumped into several acquaintances, including the boys and girls of Jolly Dutch who had managed to book a very large stand at a central location. There was a large sign at the stand showing the three card games they were presenting at the convention, of which the cat card game ‘If It Fits’ would be their big convention hit.
Meeting (or remeeting) people, by the way, turned out to be the highlight of this convention. Throughout the day we met old friends and new acquaintances from both the press and the industry. Many people we had only met digitally before visiting the convention. In particular, in addition to the various exhibitors we spoke to, I would like to mention our real-life encounter with Jim from https://www.whatboardgame.com, Dick and Anna from www.budgetgaming.nl and Raymond from Boardgame Heaven.
There is something for every gaming fanatic present at this convention. Virtually every European game publisher or designer is present and even internationally the convention attracts plenty of exhibitors. There is something for everyone. Children’s games, family games, expert games, party games, toys, dice, role playing games, wargames, miniature games and accessories. Everything can be found in the exhibition halls except a healthy meal. After exploring the still somewhat empty show floor, we headed to our meetings and gaming tables armed with packs of Stroopwafels to discover the novelties in board gaming world.
The first meeting Chris and I had on Friday morning was with Gamelyn Games, better known as the publisher of the Tiny Epic series: “big” games in a small box conceived by Scott Almes. On our website you can find reviews of Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, Tiny Epic Mechs, Tiny Epic Galaxies and Tiny Epic Kingdoms, among others. Gamelyn Games is as American as they come and we were greeted enthusiastically with open and welcoming arms. Nathan showed us the latest addition Tiny Epic Dungeons: a dungeon crawler in pocket format. As I write this, another crowdfunding campaign for Tiny Epic Vikings is already well underway. We were trying to get Nathan to divulge some information about possible future titles. When we suggested Tiny Epic Racecars, his eyes were sparkling….
At Czech Games Edition we spoke with Jana who proudly showed us a giant version of the amazing solo game Under Falling Skies and alerted us to an equally giant version of Galaxy Trucker, the chaotic spaceship building game, the latest edition of which had been released during Spiel. Slowly, the convention began to come alive in the morning. It was not yet as crowded as in 2019, but everywhere people walked looking for gaming fun. Playtime was thankfully plentiful. In addition to the many games that were demonstrated, there were plenty of toys present at the convention and a store with beautiful hand puppets caught our attention. We were less charmed by the Frisbee planes that flew around our heads.
Bitoku and Ark Nova got a lot of love and attention at the convention and these titles were played in abundance on the exhibition floor. Also, these games were sold out quickly. A title I was eager to try was Wonder Book, recently published in Dutch by 999 Games. The demo did not keep our attention. Fortunately, I later gave the game another chance. I was glad I did, because in my opinion it is a fantastic title. This just goes to show that a good demo setting is important, because first impressions are often the most important. On to the next appointment.
At Lucky Duck we were warmly welcomed by the always cheerful Az. It felt like we had been friends with Az for years, even though we only knew each other through email. Lucky Duck Games is known for its hybrid games: a combination of board games and mobile apps. With Az we played a game of Yummy Yummy Monster Tummy, a hilarious cooperative game where players have to combine colors. With Az, we also tried to extract information. In our Halloween-special of Tussen de (Spel)regels door! we briefly discussed the game Destinies by Lucky Duck Games and mentioned that a Horror theme would be perfectly suited for this game. Az jumped up and accused us (jokingly of course) that we had hacked his inbox. Laughing, he gave us a hint: the now-announced The Dark Quarter.
As a vegetarian, it was difficult to find a decent lunch on the show floor and only the loaded fries were a valid option. Carnivore (actually omnivore) Chris couldn’t help but enjoy the wide selection of different types of sausages the Germans have on offer. After some Almdudler and Mezzo-Mix to lubricate our throats we could talk for another afternoon. After lunch, the convention was very busy and the German families also found their way to the exhibition halls. This, of course, also created the friendly, family-friendly atmosphere that Spiel is so well known for. There was fun everywhere and the pandemic was almost forgotten despite all the measures.
Some stands were quite a happening. The Dutch boys and girls of Bar Pig always pull out all the stops at trade conventions and in 2021 they had once again rigged up a whole bar (without a tap, unfortunately). Bar Pig’s tavern was crowded and brought the necessary alternative cosiness to the exhibition hall. Unfortunately, Game Brewer was unable to serve their usual beers due to the pandemic. To stay in the theme: other neighbors to the south came with the game the Belgian Beer Race. At the stand they sold their own brewed beers and the author and illustrator of the game were present for a talk and signing session. Chris could not stay behind and had his newly purchased deluxe copy beautifully signed. At the Gaminbiz stand my own design Victory Tank was present (a novelty at the convention). The publisher had a stack of games ready from people who wanted an autograph. That felt pretty surreal.
After a visit to the British Alley Cat games, who gave us an extensive impression of their new releases including short demonstrations of a prototype Dice Theme Park and Star Fighters: Rapid Fire, we also spoke with Malachi of Keen Bean Studios about his indie game: Roll! Camera and how he managed to develop a board game as a filmmaker and cartoonist. Our final conversation was a rather impromptu meeting with the American chief of DEVIR. I had been instructed by someone who could not attend the convention to send greetings. This way we could still get to know a little bit of the sold-out Bitoku and Lunar Capital. The first day came to an end and Chris and I left with a fully loaded car full of games back to the Netherlands.
On day two I left Nijmegen together with Michiel de Wit from Gaminbiz. After we had made the stand ready for the convention, the second day could begin. On the second day I was mainly busy with demonstrating games, but I still had the opportunity to explore the exhibition floor and visit publishers which I didn’t have a chance to do on the first day. With Anna from Budgetgaming, I headed over to our French friends at iello and we played a short game of Sticky Cthulhu where you try to fish chips with sticky hands.
The absolute highlight of day 2 is that I personally got to explain my own design to enthusiastic game fans and that people and other publishers were actually interested. Fortunately, I still have plenty of idea for game designs and hopefully I can present a title again during Spiel in the future. All in all, the convention was wonderful again. I missed the convention and I was not the only one. Everyone I spoke to expressed relief that they were happy that Spiel was possible again and that we could all meet again. The name of the convention says that the games are central, but in my opinion the people we play with are central.
