Spiel is huge. Imagine the dealer’s room at GenCon, but bigger. With less gamer funk. In a foreign language. The focus is on board and card games, with a little roleplaying and LARPing thrown in. At least five or six booths were selling boffer weapons. These were molded and painted, very nice looking. There’s a whole section of comic book retailers, one with people selling used games, another with fun stuff for the kids (the live-action foosball is a riot).
The main activity at Spiel is game demos. Huge swaths of booth space are dedicated to them. They are run in German by default, so joining in or following along can be a challenge. I would wait until a particular demo was over, and politely ask the booth monkey if they could run one in English. This was more effective when Todd and I would team up. One morning we met a couple of guys from Scotland, and became a mighty tribe. The other players at the show were very nice, and offered to translate a demo for me on more than one occasion.
There were a few people in costume. Quality ranged from OK (standard cloak and pointy ears) to terrific (the space marine and the goblins were standouts). Smoking is allowed inside the convention center. This wasn’t a big problem for me, but it could be distracting. On the plus side, two booths were selling mead by the bottle, and one refreshment stand offered slushies (vodka optional).
Here are most of the games I tried. Some are currently available in English, some will be, and others may never be.
Piraten Gold (Pirate Gold) – A beer-and-pretzels game of sailing around and collecting treasure. The randomly-determined wind affects how you can move, and there are cards you can play to shake things up. Not deep, but a lot of fun.
Flashenteufel (The Bottle Imp) – A card game based on an Arabian Nights tale. Try to score as many points as you can, but don’t get stuck holding the bottle. I’m not much for trick-taking games, but this one wasn’t bad.
Pompeji (Pompeii) – Players put their meeples on a layout of the doomed city, and try to get them out when the rumbling starts. A gripping game of strategy and screwing over your opponents. Guess where the casualties get placed…
Niagara – Guide your canoes up and down the river to gather gems, without going over the falls. I liked this game, but things get hairy when the river picks up speed.
Versunkene Stadt (Sunken City) – The players explore the ruins of Atlantis, laying down streets and buildings to discover treasure. Beware the vengeful water spirit; he returns the city to the murky depths, taking you with him if he can. Not bad.
Im Auftrag des Königs (In the Name of the King) – An Arthurian card game of questing knights. Players try to bring the most glory to the Round Table, by completing missions and winning tournaments. Good game, nice artwork, low price (€6).
Zauberschwert und Drachenei (Magic Sword and Dragon Egg) – Despite the somewhat cumbersome title, an engaging game of dueling wizards. Players can either work together or compete with each other to fight monsters and win artifacts. Simple, but effective.
Ozeanien (Oceania) – The latest game from Klaus Teuber. Discover and lay claim to islands as you sail the ocean. It’s like a simplified, two-player version of Carcassonne, and I don’t mean that negatively.
Die Weinhändler (The Wine Merchant) – Players bid on four-bottle lots of wine, in order to collect matching sets and enhance their collections. An intriguing auction mechanic keeps things lively. Nice game.
So maybe you’ve read this account, and are thinking of attending next year. Here’s some advice:
Despite the atmosphere, Spiel is not a typical game convention. There’s no pre-registration, no costume contest, and very few scheduled events. The guests of honor are the game designers (I got one of my purchases signed by Herr Teuber. w00t!).
Book your room early. We started looking in the spring, and couldn’t find anything in Essen. We wound up in the Ibis Hotel in Gelsenkirchen, which turned out to be great. The town is a 10-minute train ride to Essen, and the station is a two-minute walk from the hotel. Plus it’s inexpensive, and right next to a big shopping area. Every train station has an information booth; they’re very helpful. But if you stay in Gelsenkirchen, do not take the U-bahn from Essen back to the hotel. Trust me on this one.
Although the show is four days long, you may not need to attend all of them. I was there for 3½, and that was pushing it. The best day to go is Sunday, when game prices drop significantly. Saturday is the most crowded, and thus the one to avoid, if any. When considering a purchase, bear in mind how you’re going to get it home.
Be a good attendee. Don’t stink. If you don’t know German, learn some. Remember your bittes and dankes.
And you may want to think twice before ordering that frikadelle.
