www.theblisspages.com - essen 2005
www.theblisspages.com - essen 2005
Instead of being considered a sad games geek, we are the norm
games mentioned on this page (I have not played those marked with *): Kingdoms : Power Grid : Ark : Carcassonne The Discovery : Shear Panic : Hazienda : Feurio! : Diamant : Sushi Express : Aloha : Elasund – The First City of Catan : Settlers of Catan 3D* : Railroad Tycoon : Old Town : Techno Witches : Zauberstauber : Saboteur : H20lland* : Freya's Folly* : Shadows Over Camelot* : Typo : Carcassonne - the river II*
As I start to write this, I'm sitting in an Easyjet A319 jet at Gatwick about to depart en route to Cologne. With me are Joseph, Fiske and Steve. It's 06.30 and I left home three hours ago. We'll be meeting Luke in Essen, and Richard will be driving there (for the day) on Saturday. I'd hoped to get an early night, but after packing, I had only two hours sleep.
After an uneventful flight spent planning my few purchases, we took the ICE express to Essen, then the metro to the Messe Halls of the fair. On the train, we had a game of Reiner Knizia's Kingdoms, a game that I was subsequently to purchase in Essen. The whole trip went off like clockwork, with no flight or train delays - due in no small part to Joseph's forward planning.
At 10.45, we joined the queue to get tickets, and within fifteen minutes, we were inside.
If you've never been to Essen, it's difficult to imagine the scale of the fair. It's the biggest games fair in the world, with over 150,000 visitors in 2004. Instead of being considered sad games geeks, we are the norm.
There were many female gamers and families.
It was an embarrassment of riches, a cornucopia of games. Games piled high, and players everywhere, tables occupied, as were any spare carpeted areas.
Almost my first stop was the Rio Grande stand, where I bought Power Grid and the France/Italy expansion maps. I enjoyed Friedmann Friese's Funkenschlag, but this updated version has improved gameplay and vastly superior graphics - and is in English.
I also bought Ark, sold as Arch on the Doris and Frank stand. This game has you loading animals onto the ark, but some are slower than others, and you can't put herbivores and carnivores in the same cabin without expecting trouble - it's reputed that that's what happened to unicorns. I've since played this with my children, and think it will play well with gamers too.
Carcassonne - The Discovery was my last purchase for the day from this stand, and I wandered on, my bag considerably heavier than on arrival.
The two-day gamefest is a bit blurred in my mind, so some of the chronology may be a little muddled, but that's what it's like in Essen.
The next purchase I made was of a pre-ordered game, Shear Panic by Fragor, who hail from Scotland. The sheep are superb, and I'm looking forward to playing it. Fragor had sold out from the pre-orders before the show even opened – I believe the print run was only around 300.
Half the fun of Essen is having demonstrations of games - often by the designer, and playing them. I had a game of Hazienda, which as yet has no English rules, but the game looked solid, and I went back and bought it on Friday. Rio Grande will be bringing it out as Hacienda. This Essen fair, my games group tried to avoid duplication, as in previous years we'd all bought many of the same games.
Some of the small sales stands had superb prices, particularly of older games, and I picked up Feurio! for five Euros, or about three pounds, and Diamant, another game I have played and enjoyed.
I had a game of Sushi Express and bought it. It had some interesting mechanisms, and should play quite quickly. Most of the games I bought this year fitted into that category.
Aloha, from Cwali, was another game I had read about, and I had high expectations. You wander between beaches, putting down sun-loungers, but if you're too greedy, you have to pick them up again. The demonstration game I had looked good, so I bought it. We played it that evening after dinner, and had some reservations about it, but we need to give it another go when we aren't so tired.
Elasund – The First City of Catan, is another 'Settlers of Catan' game, and an essential English-language purchase from Mayfair games. I have now played it, and as I suspected from my first quick reading of the rules, it gives much opportunity for stuffing opponents. A good game, if a little heavier than I first thought.
I also saw the limited-edition Settlers of Catan 3D retailing at well over two hundred pounds - for well-heeled collecters only.
It was now about six o'clock, and by this time we were pretty tired, so took the metro back to our hotel, the Korn. We had a good meal at the hotel, washed down with a bottle of claret, then a quick game of Aloha. I thought it played quickly, but later, Joseph and Fiske admitted they'd hidden some of the pieces, as they were very tired!
Next morning, we had a hearty breakfast, and then headed back to the games halls, arriving fifteen minutes before they opened at ten o'clock.
The games fair isn't just one room. There were seven halls in use, and I only got to hall twelve thirty minutes before we left. There is an open courtyard between halls five, six, nine and ten, and I sat out there whenever I needed a respite from the crowds. We were very lucky with the weather - blue skies throughout and warm enough for shorts in mid-October.
Hall four had many stands selling second-hand games.
Hall six specialised in fantasy, role-playing ...
... and miniatures.
Hall seven was for the children.
The first game I bought was one I'd gone back to a couple of times on the first day. Railroad Tycoon from Eagle games is a huge game. The box had a good heft factor – weighing in at around five pounds or more. The board was off-putting in its hugeness – 36 inches by 45 – bigger than my dining room table. The game looked superb, and the buzz on the rules was promising. It was a pared-down Age of Steam, with the bits I didn't like taken out, and the game is supposed to finish in two hours. In the end, I just couldn't resist it. Having read the rules myself, I'm even more enthused, and have played it once, but I will have to rearrange my lounge and dining room to play it at home. Our first game lasted two-and-a-half hours.
I then had a dilemma, as I wanted two more games but didn't quite have enough money.
For a long time, I've wanted Old Town by Stephan Riedel. He talked me through the rules of this unusual game. When I explained I was short of cash, he handed me the game, and said I could pay later using PayPal. I was really impressed by this, and managed to borrow a little cash and pay him just before I left.
The last game I bought was Techno Witches. I'd short-listed Zauberstauber – literally translated as magic duster, which sounded intriguing, and this was the English version. It's a fairly simple race-game on high-tech vacuum cleaners, it looks like fun, and I played it with my children on my return. The programming of the vacuums looks rather less brain-numbing than that found in RoboRally. I didn't have quite enough money, but as I'd bought about five other games, they kindly gave me enough discount to get it.
I left the halls to go to the airport totally skint, but Joseph pressed some money on me to get some food and drink for the journey – I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Thanks, Joe! The return journey was good and we arrived home on Friday at midnight, tired but happy.
Fiske stayed over before returning to the Cotswolds the next day, and we spent a few hours talking games and printing out English rules. I was particularly taken by a small game he had bought, Saboteur. I am waiting for the English rules to Hazienda, but have everything else.
I was intrigued by H20lland, and thought Steve would like it. I recommended he look at it, and was not surprised to see him later with a copy under his arm. I look forward to playing it.
I was tempted by Freya's Folly, but didn't have enough money left. It does look interesting. The picture is unfortunately taken from the side. Dwarves are mining to make pieces for a Norse necklace.
This display of Shadows Over Camelot looked amazing. I couldn't resist taking a picture.
Garry, who I kept bumping into at Essen, has sent me a link to his trip to Essen Spiel '05, which I found very interesting.
For more information about Essen 2005, look at www.gamefest.com and www.gameboardgeek.com.
You can see maps of the halls at www.merz-verlag.com.
Richard was at Essen on Saturday, and he kindly bought Saboteur for me, a small card came at six euros (four pounds).
I was also given a couple of freebies, Typo, from the Cwali stand, and Carcassonne - the river II.
Overall it was a very successful and enjoyable Essen, even if a little more expensive than I had planned.
I have already sold one of my games, Stephenson's Rocket, and hope to sell a few more to finance the trip. See my gots page for more details.
updated Thu 13 Mar '08 give feedback...
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: © Mike Bliss 2009