Here is my report of Essen Spiel 2016!
It's safe to say, I wasn't expecting an event quite so big. 174000 people visited the Messe Essen over the 4 days! It's hard to give an appreciation of scale, but I'll attempt to cover the highlights of the weekend. There are many photos in this report, sorry if it takes some time to load!
Day 0: WednesdayAn early start for me. I had to drive to Danisthirty's house, which is about 2 hours away:
I arrived at Dan's in good time, and took a sneaky photo of his boot/trunk. A present for KJW:
I won't bore you with the details of the journey. But a huge thank you to Dan for driving. Our journey was almost uneventful and we arrived in Essen around 3pm local time. Just enough time to go for a walk and find the Messe.
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Time for some dinner - we found the following restaurant on our way back to the hotel - we both thought it was very apt:
Once we got back to the hotel - time for our first game of Carcassonne. First victory to Dan
(Victory Count: Dan 1 : Tom 0)
Day 1 - ThursdayWe were lucky enough to meet MrNumbers & Skane in the atrium, with so many people in the hall, it was lucky MrNumbers is so tall!
First 'famous' person seen: Nikki from Gamenight - she took a photo of all the people waiting.
The main halls opened a few minutes early. I'll avoid the long story here, but I have been after a Japanese game, which was available at a booth in Hall 7. Japanese games are notorious for: not shipping to Europe and going out of stock very quickly. At 10:02 we were already 15th in line for the Shop. I picked up Coffee Roaster & a meeple t-shirt.
Hall 7 was also home of the Cundco booth - so we grabbed the watchtower expansion and I picked up the Star Wars Expansion too. I can't find a photo of the cundco booth, but they had a 'bar service' which was at least 2 rows deep the entire weekend. Most of the cundco booth was demoing Stone Age Junior, there was a wooly mammoth, for children to sit on.
Next to the cundco booth was the spielezentrum booth, where the Carcassonne Championships would be played on Sunday, Dan was told we were not allowed to enter, but other people did. I think this was the HiG tournament. Here's a photo:
Time for our first demo - Kumo:
This was a victory for me, although the rules were somewhat unclear. The game was lavishly produced, but I think it was over-themed, so decided to pass (Victory Count: Dan 1 : Tom 1)
We also spoke to Basically Wooden, they seemed to be doing very well and often had people asking them questions. I picked up a Spiel16 box which is just the right size for transporting a few tiles.
At 1pm - it was about time to meet all the fans from Carcassonne-Forum who made it to Essen. It was very nice meeting kettlefish in person. We also met with Benny, Ratz65, Maike63 and BigBoss. A
very big thank you was needed for BigBoss who kindly brought the following item to Essen to give me, so I could save on some postage money:
A big thank you to kettlefish too, for organizing everyone so we knew when & where to meet for the very special evening event and also the fan meeting on Friday.
Second Demo - GIPF. The GIPF project has been on my radar for quite some time now, I like abstract games, so long as it's not clear who'll win. It turns out I got a rule wrong, but we both really enjoyed it and Dan & I both purchased it later in the convention. The booth we demoed it at didn't have it for sale and directed us to a shop that didn't sell it
(Victory Count: Dan 1 : Tom 2)
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Within Minutes Dan earned another victory:
(Victory Count: Dan 2 : Tom 2)
The 'Evening of Carcassonne' started at 7pm, so we left the Spiel16 just after 5pm. We didn't get back to the hotel until 6, and the estimate was another 50minutes. Not wanting to be late, or risk it raining on Dan's picture, we justified ordering a taxi from the hotel.
We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted by Udo and his daughter and we signed a guest book. We chose a table and kettlefish was kind enough to sit with us. A friend of Moritz Brunnhofer (Sören?) also sat with us.
Udo Schmitz had organized a very special evening for friends and fans of Hans im Gluck. Before dinner, Klaus-Jürgen Wrede was very modest and wished to play a short piano concert to thank everyone for all of the support Carcassonne had received over the past 16/17 years. I'm not very musical, but twice during Mr Wrede's performance the hair on the back of my head stood up on end. The songs chosen were very important to him and that was clear in their wonderful performance. Also, KJW's English was exceptionally good, I have always wondered.
I spoke to Klaus-Jürgen Wrede on Sunday and he was kind enough to allow for a few minutes of his performance to be shared with everyone, so over the next couple of days, I will clip the music into a slide show.
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede was a very talented, but humble person - he did not want to play all evening because he thought people would be hungry; however I think everyone in the room would have happily listened to another performance. I believe kettlefish has a full list of the music played, 5 or 6 songs in total. After the concert, it was time for dinner.
Kettlefish has already shared the menu of classical German food. It was all very very very tasty. So much so I went back for a second helping. The kartoffelkloesse were most excellent, but the salmon and pork was delicious!
Once dinner had finished, Moritz Brunnhofer gave a short speech and thanks to kettlefish's intervention allowed Dan to present KJW with the gift we all helped to construct.
Dan will be able to cover this much better in his report, and I did video Dan's hilarious speech, so hopefully I'll be able to share it with you in the next few days.
Dan did a brilliant job presenting KJW with his gift and it was gratefully received.
After the formalities we got to play Amazonas - the following games were available:
Udo explained the rules to us and helped Sören on his first turn and Udo's daughter explained things we were not clear on and kept score. I lost this game and Dan won, so: (Victory Count: Dan 3 : Tom 2).
You'll notice we ran out of table, and have to continue a 2nd stream!
We then got to play a trick-taking card game that Sören was developing with Christof Tisch. Neither Dan or I won any of those games, so the Victory Count remained the same
Udo presented Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and Bernd Brunnhofer were presented with very special editions of Carcassonne that were made using medieval methods from a craftsman in Saxony.
Benny then showed us a prototype Magnetic Carcassonne he had been developing - like all good craftsmen he was never happy with the results. I thought it was brilliant and no respecting Carcassonne Fan would be without one on their fridge:
If that wasn't enough for one evening, Willie Weber presented the Carcassonne Action-Quiz, a knockout multiple choice contest. Mr Numbers won by answering some incredibly difficult questions and was presented with a South Seas tile.
What an amazing event! This was by far the highlight of the 4-days being able to share time with very kind and hospitable friends, then take part in an event that was like no other. It truly was was remarkable!
Big thank you to Udo for organizing such a brilliant event.
Dan and I took another taxi back to the hotel. High on the enthusiasm of the event, we cracked open Amazonas and played in the hotel lobby. Plenty of space on the long tables
Dan tried to steal majority of large city, but needed the one and only VVVR tile. Instead he used his Spiel16 tile, Guess what the next tile he drew was
Another Victory for Dan, 140 plays 146 (Victory Count: Dan 4 : Tom 2)
Day 2 - Friday:Dan and I were in the zone on Saturday morning, we knew how to get through the halls and went straight to a game Mr Numbers had recommended - Habitats. The rules were very clearly explained, and I knew we were onto a winner before we even drew the first tile. I did lose the game, but that didn't stop me purchasing it!
(Victory Count: Dan 4 : Tom 2)
During the day, Dan and I were at the cundco booth again, picking up assortments of bits and KJW popped over to say hello to us and thank Dan for his hard work on the picture again!
At 1pm, we met with kettlefish and Udo to play Carcassonne Amazonas in the Atrium. The hall was very busy, but we managed to find a table.
It was a very close game. But Mr Numbers won! Most importantly though, everyone shook hands; even me and I wasn't playing!
Dan also left a small gift for the next person using the table:
I went and got some more photos of the inside of the Special Edition Carcassonne Box:
We then got to play GLUX:
This seemed to be the only photo I took, we were joined by a 3rd player, who shouted 'mit spiele' at Dan until I translated. The guy explaining the rules wasn't particularly helpful here. I wasn't too fussed by this game, but the mechanics were simple - Dan won again - I've got some serious work to do: (Victory Count: Dan 5 : Tom 2).
So I took Dan to play Cacao - an easy victory for me that time
(Victory Count: Dan 5 : Tom 3).
On the way home we visited a place called MEAT and although the service was incredibly slow, I had an amazing burger!
Look away if you're not a carnivore.
Here's a photo of my Day 2 Haul:
Dan and I were adamant we'd play a new game this evening, maybe Dice City or Habitats, but we realized we were both tired, so decided to stick with what we knew best and play with watchtowers:
I won't talk of the score.....(Victory Count: Dan 6 : Tom 3)
Day 3 - SaturdayBy far the busiest day at Essen Spiel. It didn't seem too bad though.
I forgot to mention Kettlefish was kind enough to take Dan and I to Spielmaterials on Friday. They make all sorts of wonderful wooden game components.
First thing was to get to Schmidt Spiele's booth and try Klaus-Jürgen Wrede's new game: The Builders of the Colosseum. Dan and I were joined by a very nice gentleman that explained the rules to us (they were in German). We both really liked the game; I was particularly fond of the simple mechanics but relatively deep strategy and decision making process.
Dan: 47 points, Stranger: 45, Tom: 40.
(Victory Count: Dan 7 : Tom 3)
Dan had all the victory points:
The gentleman we played with recommended another game: which I can't remember the game of: 'Arthruimancy'.
The game took too long to play and the demoer randomly set the game up as if it was mid-game, so we had no idea of how the game felt. I think it would turn into a painful resource gathering game, that took ages to do anything. Neither of us was taken with it.
We both liked GIPF from day 1, so decided to try out Tzaar, Yinsch and pffft:
(Victory Count: Dan 8 : Tom 6)
Time for the Carcassonne Central Essen Meetup - Thanks to Jere, Jungleboy, MrNumbers & Skane for attending - look it happened!
Skane and Jere were set to play their World Cup game, so Dan and I went back to the halls.
I wanted to play Agamemnon, which is a tile/worker placement/area majority sort of game. I really liked it, so decided to pick it up...(and was very tempted to throw it at the man who was asking inane questions before we could play a game).
I pulled victory out from under Dan's feet when I suggesting his last moved should be to secure a particular thread; allowing me to neutralize 6 or 7 points and take the game by a point. I'm glad I did looking at the Victory Count
(Victory Count: Dan 8 : Tom 7)
We walked past the Cundco booth to see the German Carcassonne Championship final taking place. The man with the tile won the game and got to represent Germany on Sunday.
Last chance to play a game before meeting Jungleboy and Jere and going for dinner. We played Böhmische Dörfer with a couple.
Dan and I both lost this game, the winner had more than 20 points advantage. I lost a lot of points before the glassworks and granary were completed.
Time for the second Carcassonne Central meetup of the day:
We were then kindly invited to dinner with Jere and his family at 'Vapiano' a very nice restaurant. I had an epic Calzone - but I can't seem to find the picture now.
We headed back to the Hotel with jungleboy and played Amazonas - a solid victory for jungleboy and then played Medici - a victory for me there. (Victory Count: Dan 8 : Tom 8 )
Day 4 - SundayDan and I started the day with Lembitu, a co-op tower defense game set in Estonia. The mechanics were simple and we really enjoyed it, so we both grabbed a copy. At 10:30 the biggest event in the Carcassonne Calendar began and 3 of our forum members were taking part in it, which is incredible! I'm sure MrNumbers and Jere will give more detailed reports of the games, but I took some photos, which hopefully grab the intense atmosphere in the room!
While the first games were underway, Dan and I snuck into the booth and met KJW.
He signed our copies of Colosseum and was kind enough to sign some tiles for us to share on the forum. He said we could come back at any time and speak to him and he was happy to sign anything else we could think of. I'm still amazed at his genuine interest in his fans and he was very kind to let us speak with him.
Some games were displayed on overhead screens:
Time for one last rematch:
(Victory Count: Dan 9 : Tom 8 )
and a game of Carcassonne iOS at the HiG booth:
(Victory Count: Dan 9 : Tom 9)
I took some videos of the Semi-Finals and Final; hopefully I'll share these in the next couple of days. I think I've waffled on for more than long enough now. Here's a single photo of the final:
SummaryI've only been to the UK Games Expo once before Essen. Many times I've heard about how amazing it is, but really I think the thing that made is amazing was all the people I got to meet. The HiG team and Carcassonne-on-tour team were fantastic organizing the special event on Thursday evening. I very much doubt I'll ever get to do anything quite so incredible. Meeting KJW in person was an honour and hearing him play the piano was quite wonderful. We were very lucky to meet Kettlefish in person too, and I'm sure none of the events or organization would have been the same if, she had not been so kind to do it. It was especially nice to meet Benny too and see his wonderful magnetic creation!
Most of all though, I'm especially grateful to Danisthirty, for being my compadre during this adventure. Very few people can put up with my wittering on for 5 solid days ( ;though I was asleep most of the way home). Visiting Essen was a goal I'd have only dreamt of and having a like-minded gamer to share it with made it all the more special.
Having said this though, it looks like it's 9 games all. I think we'll have to organize a decider in JCZ...but not tonight...I need to sleep...