Soon there will be the Spiel in Essen. For those who don’t know, it is supposed to be the biggest trade show in the board gaming industry.
My recommendation is usually not to go on the weekend but rather on Thursday or Friday. On the weekend the halls are crowded and you have to be careful not to step on the little kids that are running around along with their parents. The other thing is that the hot new releases are likely to be sold out by the weekend. There is however one advantage to going on Sundays. You are likely to strike good bargains on whatever is still left for sale. The booth operators usually don’t like to ship their merchandise back home so they will sell the rest of their stuff really cheap.
Sometimes when games are not yet released you can have a look at a demo (don’t go on Sunday if that is your plan, because many companies from overseas will have packed their stuff and gone by then).
Anyway here is what I plan to have a look at in Essen (and possibly purchase):
Andor
There is supposed to be a new expansion released and I really like the game as a puzzle.
Arcadia Quest
A competitive dungeon crawl if I understood correctly. Well I’ll have a look.
Warhammer 40K Conquest
Two player living card game from FFG. I expect of it something like Bloodbowl Team Manager but for just two players.
Dead of Winter
Semi cooperative game about the Zombie Apocalypse.
Star Trek Fleet Captains
An older title with nice miniatures and ship combat.
Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures
There are a lot of new releases I didn’t yet have the chance to look at.
Stronghold
An old title which seems to be interesting. It’s a two player battle of Orcs besieging a human castle.