One of the biggest board gaming fairs is the Spiel in Essen, Germany. We decided to take advantage of our close proximity (England is a lot closer than the USA) and the Autumn half-term holiday (the kids were out of school in late October) to go. The convention hall in Essen is huge and we saw many different and wonderful things. Happily, a large area was devoted to entertaining children, which will get its own post.
We went on Saturday, which typically has the highest attendance. The place was packed with people looking at booths, trying out games, and generally having fun.
Since the convention is so huge, many contests are held there. The Carcassonne World Championship area was amazing, with large monitors overhead showing some of the games in progress.
Many new and old games were being demonstrated in hopes that people would be impressed enough to buy them.
Many companies and stores had booths to demo and sell their games. Other vendors sold collectibles, cosplay items, and even comics.
Of course, food vendors were sprinkled around the edges of the fair. Even though it was Saturday, I found the lines for food weren't so bad. Sure they'd get long at certain times, but often ten or fifteen minutes later the lines would vanish. I had a bratwurst (since we were in Germany) and also a spiral-cut potato on a stick (since it was unique and fun).
The lines that were bad were the bathroom lines. Not for the guys, of course, but the ladies' room was bad. J made a craft representing how bad the lines were.
This craft was made in the kids' area, which we will see in the next post!
We went on Saturday, which typically has the highest attendance. The place was packed with people looking at booths, trying out games, and generally having fun.
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| One section of the convention floor |
Since the convention is so huge, many contests are held there. The Carcassonne World Championship area was amazing, with large monitors overhead showing some of the games in progress.
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| Carcassonne World Championship |
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| Some of the competitors |
Many new and old games were being demonstrated in hopes that people would be impressed enough to buy them.
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| Star Trek Attack Wing waiting for players |
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| New Haven board game |
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| Pac-man the board game? |
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| Tom Vasel's Nothing Personal on sale (my pic of the players didn't come out, sorry Tom!) |
Many companies and stores had booths to demo and sell their games. Other vendors sold collectibles, cosplay items, and even comics.
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| Collectible collection |
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| More superhero collectibles |
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| Cute Godzilla for sale! |
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| Medieval cosplay wares |
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| Steampunk cosplay wares |
Of course, food vendors were sprinkled around the edges of the fair. Even though it was Saturday, I found the lines for food weren't so bad. Sure they'd get long at certain times, but often ten or fifteen minutes later the lines would vanish. I had a bratwurst (since we were in Germany) and also a spiral-cut potato on a stick (since it was unique and fun).
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| Potato on a stick! |
The lines that were bad were the bathroom lines. Not for the guys, of course, but the ladies' room was bad. J made a craft representing how bad the lines were.
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| People in Line for the Toilet, crayon and maize on paper |
This craft was made in the kids' area, which we will see in the next post!
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