Table of Contents SPIEL Guestbook 25/10/23 23:59 Our SPIEL 25 discussion at Boardgamegeek Index of all Convention Days Tuesday 21st: Tiny Epic Dungeons, Bohemians, Map Masters Wednesday 22nd: The Press Conference, Deutscher Spiele Preis, New Games Show - Part 1, Algae Inc., New Games Show - Part 2 Thursday 23rd: Public opening, 12 Rivers, Natera, Skirmish: Battle for Drakonia, Biathlon Blast Umami Firefighters on Duty Thebai Friday 24th: Badflix Scareville, A Carnivore Did It!, Railroad Tiles, Twinstar Valley, Ladies' Day, Koi, Under Our Sun expansion, LUDOS Ancient Games of the World, Flow, Emberheart, Yotei Saturday 25th: Prestige, Five Families, Sword & Sorcery: Abyssal Legends, WunderWaffen, Paddy, Malediction, Dirt & Dust, Insurrection, Little Kingdoms, Don Quixote: The Ingenious Hidalgo, Legends of Andor: The Distant Land, Champions of Wind & Fire, The Ballad of the Dragonslayers Sunday 26th: Duel for Cardia, Das Phoenix-Projekt, Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, Whispwood, Valpiedra: Descensus ad Tenebras, Farewell at KUMAGERA NISEKO, Farewell at CAPTAIN GAMES, The Ballad of the Dragonslayers – The Next Mug of Mayhem The SPIEL '25 Games Convention at Essen / Germany 23rd to 26th October 2025 Sunday, 19th of October: SPIEL 25 reports starting soon! On Tuesday 21st of October we will start with our report, but today I already took a few pictures for you on our evening walk. As you can see, the Messe Essen is ready for the SPIEL 25, and if you look closer, you can even discover the the first booths are set up! No wonder, because the big booths of the major industry players certainly take more time to get ready. But still, it's nearly SPIELtime! And by the way, we have added a bit of code to ensure better readability on mobile phones, increasing the text size but (hopefully) leaving everything else unchanged. Tuesday, 21st of October: Here we go! 3... 2... 1... Lights on, Camera ready, Micro open... "Full SPIEL ahead!" Folks, here is Essen, the boardgaming capital of Germany ! Is the calendar wrong, or has a year passed already? It seems like yesterday when Ralf and I took you into the halls of Messe Essen for SPIEL 24, and now we are back in the halls (and on our desks) for another week of boardgame mayhem! For those of you who have stumbled upon this report for the first time: Congratulations and Welcome aboard! You have found the oldest existing SPIEL convention report in the internet (at least to my knowledge)! Video-reviewers come, podcasters go, but we are still here. But we have one big advantage on our side, because Ralf and me both were born at Essen, and for us the SPIEL is virtually just around the corner. So this always will be a home match for us! If you wonder why this webpage looks *mildly* outdated, rest assured that we are running with an html sourcecode which is well tested for 29 years now. Sometimes I marvel at the fact that the old Gamebox-code still works with all the new things which came into the web over those three decades, but so far the backward compatibility of browsers is not failing us. As a matter of fact Ralf and I are trying to tweak the appearance of our report a bit, making it display somewhat better on mobiles and tablets. I am not yet fully satisfied, but there is no time for more testing, so we will go into SPIEL 25 week with what we have. The age of this website also is one of the reasons why we don’t call our SPIEL coverage a *blog* but a report. At the time when we started the term blog did not even exist, and so we describe our activity of the next few days with an old fashioned term: it’s a report – but as you will see it’s a long one! Two things which I would like to mention are our Guestbook and our current SPIEL 25 discussion thread at Boardgamegeek. Since we lack shiny *Like*-buttons and other social media interactive frills, the guestbook and the BGG thread are the best options for your feedback and for getting in touch with us during the show. As a matter of fact, we like hearing from you, and your feedback is the fule which keeps us going during those nighttime writing sessions for the rest of the week. We will also try to answer the one or other post from you at BGG when we find the time, but time certainly will get a rare commodity in the next few days. But be assured – no post will go unnoticed. And actually there is nothing better at the end of a typing night than looking at all your kind commentaries and acknowledgements! Indeed, many of you have followed this report for decades, and it is you dear friends to whom we dedicate all our writings. Sit back and enjoy your “Armchair Essen” from countries all around the globe, or scan quickly through our recommendations before you take your own dive into the halls of SPIEL. It’s just great that so many people around the globe are still following our ramblings, and we hope that you come along with us for another wonderful week full of boardgames. And as it seems, we aren’t so outfashioned after all. Over the weekend we even made the top of the hotness list over at BGG. So you have come to the right SPIEL place! But before we will look at the first new game of the show, I would actually like to take you onto a short trip into the Netherlands. My wife Nicole and I have been to the coast for a bit of holidays at the beginning of September, and although we are usually lucky regarding the weather, it wasn’t on all days as nice as on the photos above. We had some stormy days as well, and of course a part of our car’s trunk is reserved just for this occasion: no holidays without some boardgames in the luggage, even if it’s only to guarantee that we will have sunny beach weather on all days! However, for two years now our aging cat Kira also needs to come along, and with all necessary gear in the car the space is getting ever tighter packed. For this reason I kept an eye open for some smaller games, and I finally landed with the Tiny Epic series of GAMELYN GAMES. We had several titles with us, but one game really was a blast for us and took us through several afternoons of doubtful weather. Long time readers of this report will know that I always had a sweet spot for dungeon crawlers, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect of a complete dungeon crawler which was promised to be packed in a truly tiny box (and an even smaller expansion box). Nonetheless, Nicole and I chose our heroes and embarked onto a cooperative journey into Tiny Epic Dungeons, and what we found in these dark corridors was truly astonishing for us. A tile-based variable dungeon layout, a rather broad choice of heroes with different abilities (and nice miniatures), a range of monsters going from goblins to the big boss and lots of treasures – all the necessary elements of a big dungeoneering game can be found in Tiny Epic Dungeons. However, there are a few elements which need to be mentioned here, making the game not just an average subterranean delve, but a truly outstanding journey into the dark which has made the game an obligatory travelling companion for future voyages. For one, the game is really tough to play, even for seasoned coop players like Nicole and me. After each players’ turn the torch of our adventuring group burns down without mercy, and the search for powerful items, the fight against goblins and major monsters already takes up pretty much time before we hopefully find the boss’ lair. Here once again the torch timer is reset, but the boss isn’t just fought and defeated, but instead we must use the given time to lure him out of his lair to some altars all over the dungeon, because otherwise he cannot be banished. It is extremely difficult to manage this within the given time frame, and it requires very good teamwork of the players, but to our taste such a game needs to be challenging and Tiny Epic Dungeons delivers extremely well. In addition, the game features a very nice system of skill checks (which are also used in combat). Depending on a character’s level in the three skills, he rolls one to three dice for a skill check, choosing one die to be his final result. However, the other dice aren’t lost, but instead they can provide valuable energy boosts which the heroes need to power their special abilities, and the lowest results actually feature a +1 or +2, meaning that they can be added to one of the other dice – thus producing a higher result but at the loss of the energy symbols. This system is quite satisfying, because a higher skill level doesn’t just mean an increased chance to pass the test, but also to profit from additional symbols of the dice which aren’t chosen for their numeric result. A nice, somewhat unusual twist. Finally, the variety which can be found in Tiny Epic Dungeons is rather astonishing. Equipment, spells, potions, various heroes and monsters, traps etc. all contribute to a playing experience which leaves no wishes open. The only caveat here is the iconography. Before acquiring the game I had read at BGG that the rules are somewhat bulky, but for us the rulebook wasn’t a real problem. What turned out to be a bit more difficult to interpret were the icons used on some cards, and here an official appendix which can be downloaded at the GAMELYN website was of great help. After consulting this we had no open questions left, turning each underground expedition into a thrilling adventure. And talking about adventures, with Tiny Epic Dungeons Adventures GAMELYN actually prepares a second game in the series. It will be slightly bigger packed, but it is promised to contain a full campaign mode and the modular map tiles now will be accompanied by a map book which features additional gameboards for special and outside missions. This sounds quite promising! As you can see, the box is Tiny Epic Dungeons indeed is incredibly small for a game of this grandeur. Nicole and I still wonder how much stuff can be squeezed into it, and to our opinion it’s one of the best games in GAMELYN’s Tiny Epic series. And yes, we also took The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship on our trip to the Netherlands, but Galdriel strictly forbid me to talk about it tonight! This brings us back from the Netherlands right into SPIEL week, a time full of boardgaming, meetings friends and nice traditions. Indeed, one of the nicest things happening almost every year is a visit by my friends Brian and Dale Yu from the US. They usually come to my home for a gaming night right before the whole thing starts, and tonight wasn’t different. With Brian straight out of the plane from L.A., we set out to get the first SPIEL novelty onto our table, a game freshly delivered by my friend Ignacy Trzewiczek from PORTAL GAMES. So, what could be better than start SPIEL week with some good friends and a promising new game? Playtesting session: Bohemians – PORTAL GAMES (booth 3J120) Bohemians by designer Jasper de Lange drops you into the bohemian quarters of Paris, where you play as a struggling artist - painter, poet, sculptor, or composer - trying to balance romantic ideals, fleeting inspiration, and the harsh realities of survival. The theme is richly implemented: round after round, your “Routine” board will represent typical days in your artist’s life, filled with habits, muses, hardships, and fleeting passions. But while the clever composition of each day is your main challenge in Bohemians, even narration becomes part of gameplay, because you are encouraged to tell the story of your days, which makes the theme feel a bit more alive. At its heart, Bohemians is a deckbuilder: you begin with a small deck of simple “Habit” cards, representing your artist’s daily activities, and gradually enrich it with more evocative and powerful cards. Each round is structured as a “day” in three phases. In the Wake Up phase, you draw up to five Habit cards and place them into your Routine board, which has four slots corresponding to times of day. These cards contribute fragments of Inspiration symbols, which you’ll try to combine into complete icons for Inspiration points. Alternatively, you can insert your Job tile into one of the four slots - a reminder of the mundane need to earn money. Doing so shields you from Hardship, but it may cost you valuable artistic growth, since you lose a slot where a fourth Habit card might have gained you more Inspiration symbols. Already this small detail reflects perfectly the deep thematic roots of Bohemians, because each day the players decide anew whether to earn some money and avoid Hardships, or spend all their time and energy pursuing their art. To my mind this wonderfully captures the essence of a Bohemian artist’s life. Returning to the setting of the Routine board during Wake Up phase, Muses enter the picture here as well. Muse cards are placed beneath your Habits, symbolizing relationships that inspire or shape your work. Each Muse affects only the Habit above it, sometimes boosting Inspiration, sometimes adding conditions or flavor. Choosing who accompanies which Habit is a deeply thematic puzzle—your poetry might be sharper under the gaze of a critic, or your stroll through Paris might be more joyful with a companion. In the Day phase, you are encouraged to narrate your day’s Routine, then count up all the Inspiration gained through complete symbols, Habit effects, Routine color harmony (matching card suits to the right time-of-day slot), and Muse bonuses—while subtracting the penalties of any Hardships. Inspiration then becomes the currency of the game, and it can be spent it in two ways: One possibility is to spend inspiration is at the Market, where you buy new Habits and Muses from a face-up display. As outlined above, Muses and Habits differ in so far as the Habit cards are used by the players to create their artists’ daily routines, whereas Muses cannot become part of the routine themselves, but instead can be used to boost the effects of a single Habit card played that round. Quite impressively, each Muse and Habit card which can be acquired during offers a unique combination of functions and symbols, so that Bohemians actually allows the players to follow a quite varied gameplay and options for strategy. However, the Market is constantly refreshed - each time you buy a card, a new one is revealed from the deck – and because of the unique cards timing and choice greatly matter. Do you grab a possibly matching card before someone else takes it, or do you wait for a better fit in a later round? Th other option to spend Inspiration is in the Atelier, a shared track where you invest leftover Inspiration to turn it into Atelier points. With this option the players have a possibility to save unused Inspiration, and instead of going waste, the Atelier points can later be spent on powerful effects like drawing extra cards, removing unwanted ones from your deck, or ignoring Hardships. This clever mechanic ensures no Inspiration is ever wasted, giving you a long-term engine in addition to your deck. When all players have finished their Day phases, the Sleep finally phase resets the table: you discard your Routine, refresh the Market, and - if you skipped your Job tile - you take on a new Hardship. These represent the burdens of poverty, anxiety, or bad habits creeping into your life, and they clutter your deck with negative effects, perfectly embodying the starving-artist theme. Looking at the cards with a bit more detail, it is useful to note that the Habit cards themselves come in distinct suits, each capturing a different bohemian lifestyle and playstyle: Green (Discipline): focus, productivity, and steady progress, often tied to scoring Achievements or advancing in the Atelier. Pink (Romance): passion, desire, and relationships, usually rewarding interaction with Muses. Blue (Adventure): freedom and curiosity, often letting you draw more cards—sometimes helpful, sometimes overwhelming. Orange (Companionship): social gatherings and café life, offering ways to manage or mitigate Hardships. White (Revolution, used only with 3 or 4 players): activism and rebellion, introducing cards that interfere with other players and stir the social pot. However, these cards have no color and serve as jokers, thus making it a bit easier for the players to create matching card combos at a full cast. Already explained is the fact that Muses create boosting effects, whereas Hardships always have detrimental effects. However, both card types share the effect that a player gets an additional card draw at the moment he receives such a card. These effects are cumulative, so that a player with several Muses and Hardships in his deck may actually start his round with a card number well exceeding the initial hand size of 5 cards. In this fashion the strategic options of the players grow nicely during the course of a game. What makes Bohemians’ deckbuilding unique is how the cards integrate into the narrative structure of a day. In addition, placement of cards highly matters: putting a Habit of the right color in its preferred time slot grants extra Inspiration, and pairing it with the right Muse can boost a small action into a powerful move. On the other hand, Hardships don’t just slow you down mechanically; they tell the story of sacrifices and struggles. And unlike many deckbuilders, where resources vanish at turn’s end, here they flow into the Atelier, letting you build momentum across days. Bohemians is a richly thematic deckbuilder that blends considerable mechanical depth with a bit of storytelling (if the players are inclined to do so). Every Habit, Muse, and Hardship feels like part of a larger narrative, and the tension between art, love, and survival is visible with each new day. It’s less about building a sleek engine and more about shaping the messy, fragile beauty of an artist’s life. For players who enjoy deckbuilding with story, heart, and a touch of Parisian melancholy, this is a must-try. Unfortunately my wife Nicole couldn’t join us for our gaming night because she is still stuck with a cold which she has caught last weekend. It’s perfect timing for SPIEL week, but at least there is still hope that we will be able to do our traditional Ladies’ Day in the halls by the end of the week. And talking about the halls, I received an urgent call from my friend Cedrick Caumont this afternoon. He also couldn’t join us tonight because he was still busy setting up his booth of CAPTAIN GAMES, but he has met Dale in the halls and so we actually received one of the first copies of Map Masters for our gaming night! Playtesting session: Map Masters – CAPTAIN GAMES (booth 3Q600) Quite surprising for a cardgame, Map Masters by CAPTAIN GAMES presents a fascinating dual concept: it is essentially two games in one, offering both cooperative and competitive modes that share the same thematic foundation and many core mechanisms. The game places players in charge of adventuring parties delving into a sprawling, ever-changing dungeon. Depending on the chosen mode, they either collaborate to complete daring missions against a variety of foes or compete over several rounds to amass the greatest discoveries and treasures. This combination of teamwork and rivalry, bound together by the same creative system of map-drawing and dungeon-building, makes Map Masters an unusually flexible and engaging experience. At the heart of both versions lies the same essential structure. The dungeon is built from cards depicting hallways and rooms, connected into a continuous labyrinth. These Dungeon cards feature both main floor and underground levels, creating a sense of layered exploration. As cards are played, the dungeon grows card by card, and the players must chart their parties’ routes directly onto the cards using dry-erase markers. Each drawn path represents an adventuring group’s progress through tunnels and chambers, collecting treasures, avoiding traps, and confronting monsters printed on the cards. The act of drawing is not entirely free, however - paths must follow the given hallways, cannot cross themselves, and may not traverse the same passage twice. However, players can enter rooms multiple times and even pass above or below previously explored sections thanks to the two-level design, but a mistake in connecting corridors or running into an obstacle without collecting the right tool earlier on means a dead end. The dungeons are full of discoveries. Some are items - coins, swords, keys, ropes, scrolls, and barrels - which are circled when collected. Others are obstacles like monsters, padlocks, pitfalls, and lava pits. Each obstacle requires a specific way to overcome it: a monster is defeated with a sword, a padlock opened with a key, and a pit or lava flow crossed using a rope. These challenges may also be solved by finding and collecting them earlier on the party’s path through the dungeon, or by expending Fairy tokens which are small, purchasable aids that can stand in for missing items. However, these tokens are limited to one of each type per group and are flipped facedown once used. In addition, powerful Spellbooks can be bought, offering magical effects that might allow a player to move differently, ignore a hazard, or modify their route. As these resources can be used only one each round, managing them carefully becomes as important as charting the right path through the maze. The cooperative and competitive modes share these fundamental systems but diverge sharply in tone and objective. In cooperative play, all players jointly command the same set of adventuring groups, coordinating their moves to fulfill the goals of a chosen mission. Each mission offers a distinct setup, with a map layout, specific objectives, and occasionally unique restrictions or bosses. The group must discuss strategy - how to place dungeon cards, which groups pursue which objectives, and who carries essential artifacts – already before entering the dungeon. Communication is vital, because once the exploration begins and the first paths are drawn, equipment cannot be swapped and decisions become permanent. Success is determined collectively: when all mission objectives are achieved, the players win together. Many missions culminate in encounters with powerful Boss cards that require multiple routes to be completed, such as the recurring goblin Jean-Michel or later, the Fairy Queen and the necromancer Vlad. These bosses usually have the challenge that the different parties of adventurers need to collect a certain amount of specific objects to defeat the boss. Although this may sound easy, the task becomes much more challenging when you consider that each group may only bring one kind of items to each entry of the boss lair, and so the players really have to cooperate to ensure that each party will find the right items in the right quantity on their trip through the dungeon. Some missions also introduce new twists which make the task even more tricky, like fog-covered rooms, barriers that split the dungeon, or moving elements such as rafts. Each mission feels like a small story with its own tactical puzzle, and later ones escalate both complexity and difficulty. In the versus mode, by contrast, every player builds and explores their own personal dungeon in a series of six rounds. Each round introduces an Objective card that specifies what kind of discovery or items yields the most victory points - perhaps scrolls one round, swords the next. Players first visit the market to buy Dungeon cards, Fairy tokens, or Spellbooks for their own adventuring party, paying with coins they earned in earlier rounds. Then, using a hand of five cards from their deck, they assemble a compact dungeon layout and race to draw their path, maximizing the number of discoveries that match the current objective while collecting additional coins for future use. Some rounds include a “time bonus,” rewarding the first player to finish their path with extra points. At the end of each round, players tally their scores for both the primary and a secondary objective, then reset for the next round. After six rounds, the player with the highest total victory points wins. Because each player maintains a deck that evolves with every purchase, this mode introduces a light deckbuilding aspect. Those players who invest in stronger Dungeon cards or versatile Spellbooks will see their long-term options expand, allowing for different strategic builds and playstyles. This is strengthened by the optimizer icons which can be found on some Dungeon cards, and when these are collected, a player is allowed to take a card back to his hand or even to destroy a card from his deck after the end of the current round. A nice twist which gives the versus mode some additional playing depth. Both modes have their distinct appeal. The cooperative missions emphasize shared planning, discussion, and collective problem-solving. The available number of missions with bosses such as Jean-Michel, the Twin Knights or Owen the Dragon provides narrative variety and escalating challenge. The versus mode, on the other hand, highlights personal optimization, creative route building, and competitive efficiency, enhanced by the evolving personal deck and the tension of limited market resources. Players fond of teamwork and progressive scenarios will likely favor the cooperative experience, while those who enjoy individual strategy and short, replayable sessions may prefer the versus format. In the end, which mode players will enjoy most really comes down to personal taste. But whichever side they choose - cooperative teamwork or competitive rivalry - Map Masters stands out thanks to its wonderfully inventive idea of actually drawing the adventurers’ paths right onto the Dungeon cards. Few games capture the joy of exploration so directly. Every line drawn with the erasable marker feels like a little story: a brave charge through corridors, a sudden detour to dodge a monster, or a triumphant sweep towards coins or useful items. The table fills with laughter and concentration as the dungeon slowly takes shape under everyone’s hands, a living sketch of adventure and improvisation. Of course, when a round or mission ends, all those daring lines have to be cleaned away again, but that, too, is part of the charm. The box includes everything needed for a quick reset: good-quality markers, small sponges, and thick cards that are easy to wipe clean. The whole process takes only a minute or two, and it feels a bit like brushing the dust off an old map before setting off again into the unknown. What makes Map Masters so unusual for a card game is how easily it mixes so many familiar ideas into something fresh. There is a touch of deckbuilding, a modular board that shifts with every card placement, and the feeling of a real dungeon crawl packed with monsters, treasures, and surprises. Yet despite this mix, the game never feels complicated. The icons and layouts on the Dungeon cards are clear and instantly readable, so players quickly understand what each symbol means and where their heroes can move. The design invites relaxed play and encourages creativity, rather than forcing everyone to look things up in the rulebook. It’s the kind of game that feels clever but never heavy, and after only a few minutes, players find themselves sketching paths and sharing ideas as if they’d been dungeoneering for ages. Above all, Map Masters has a special energy that turns every session into a story worth remembering. Whether players are working together to defeat a boss or racing to outdo each other in the versus mode, the act of mapping out a dungeon creates plenty of excitement and sometimes roaring laughter. The fun comes as much from the mistakes as from the clever plans - the sudden dead ends, the near misses, and the perfectly timed rescues. It’s a light-hearted adventure where creativity and strategy go hand in hand, and where even the cleanup feels like part of the game’s rhythm. With its mix of imagination, humor, and smart design, Map Masters fits beautifully into CAPTAIN GAMES’ distinctive line of titles: small in size, but full of charm, originality, and the promise of many more unforgettable journeys through its ever-changing maze. Both Bohemians and Map Masters have been perfect for our pre-SPIEL gaming night: entertaining, innovative, and with that special unique twist which compels you to play them again right away in order to explore the possibilities a bit deeper. I wish that Nicole could have joined Brian, Dale and me, but there will always be a next time. Tomorrow is press day and Ralf will join me for the press conference and a special SPIEL highlight – the New Games Expo! So see you all back here soon! Wednesday, 22nd of October: Press Day Hello everybody! It’s press day, and with the press conference the first official event of the SPIEL 25 took place this morning. As a matter of fact, more and more media creators are finding their way to Essen, and so there was the first SPIEL 25 queue as well with journalists waiting to enter the big foyer of Messe Essen. Indeed, several hundred people were in there for the press conference, but I had been there early enough so I could also reserve a seat for Ralf. However, I also met my friend Eric Martin from Boardgamegeek News, and we had a nice chat before things started. One of our topic was the use and helpfulness of CHATGPT, a tool which I am using regularly both at work and in private. I think it’s quite amazing how advanced artificial intelligence has become, but at the same time you must always be weary about the correctness of the results. When doing legal research in office, I have seen it invent whole court decisions with page numbers, quotes and everything. It looked interesting, but it was total nonsense. Also, for fun I have tried to instruct it to write a game review, loading the rules of an older game into the system to see what it would make of it. The result was quite useful, although once again there were some minor faults and misunderstandings. Writing better instructions, a longer prompting, helps very much to improve the results, but in the end the whole text generation depends very much on how much time the user invests to instruct the AI. So yes, it’s a nice helper, but it’s not (yet) replacing humans. Ralf also arrived in time, and at 10 AM the conventionists from MERZ VERLAG begun with the press conference. Carol Rapp and Robin DeCleur were presenting the facts and news about the fair, and once again the SPIEL 25 will outdo the last SPIEL on all numbers. So, the SPIEL 25 is reclaiming Hall 7, the hall which has been used last year as a waiting area for the morning crowds. In former times, Hall 7 was numbered 10 and 11, and it’s the place where the much smaller SPIEL still took place many years ago. If you go into my older reports, you will discover some old pictures from this hall, and it is crazy to imagine that SPIEL fitted in just two halls at that time. However, these times are long lost in SPIEL history, as the size of the modern SPIEL is shown by sheer numbers. Approximately 1719 (!!!) new game releases have been announced for the SPIEL, and 948 game publishers from 50 countries from 4 continents will present the games here. I just can shake my head at these numbers, since there once was a time when I could claim to have reported on most of the major game releases of the show. Then we moved down to approximately 10 percent, but today we will only cover a ridiculous fraction of all these new games. With such an overheated market, preparation for the show is everything, and I hope that Ralf and I will have made some good choices of games to present to you during the next four days. However, there is also time for the one or other surprise find, and so I think you can still expect us to tell you about a nice mixtures of different games. The opening of the new hall became necessary because many exhibitors didn’t get a booth last year, and this also meant that the visitor limit will be raised this year from 204,000 to 220,000 people. Last year we first had a limit introduced because of security reasons, and this resulted in sad scenes outside the halls with foreign people standing there, raising signs in desperate search of tickets. This situation wasn’t forgotten two months ago when ticket sales started, and within minutes the whole sales system collapsed due to the sheer mass of people trying to get tickets. However, in the end the problems were resolved and everyone was served within a couple of days. But still, at this SPIEL there will be no possibility to buy tickets at the entrances anymore. Only internet purchases were possible, but Friday and Saturday are already sold out and MERZ VERLAG expects Thursday to sell out within the next few hours. Carol and Robin also were also asked about a major change in the ticketing system - you can’t buy a four-days-pass anymore. Not everybody was happy with this decision because four single day passes are much more expensive, but due to the visitors cap the abandonment of the four-day-passes actually gives more people a chance to visit the show, and the sales numbers show that people seem to have arranged with it. In addition, the SPIEL is more popular than ever with families, because the biggest amount of family tickets in SPIEL history has been sold this year. The increased space with the additional hall also has given MERZ VERLAG the opportunity to rework the general layout of the show, increasing the area available for the different game types and also introducing something truly new. In Hall 4 they have installed the new “SPIEL Talks”-Stage, a place where a lot of live events is scheduled to happen during the next four days, ranging from talks with designers to a big Cosplay parade on Sunday. All will be hosted by professional journalists and presenters, most prominent among them Mháire Stritter, this years’ SPIEL Ambassador and official face of the SPIEL. Last year this position had been given to Alea, the frontman of medieval rock and metal band Saltatio Mortisan enthusiast gamer who was very well received by the community. Now MERZ VERLAG continues the concept with Mháire Stritter, an enthusiastic gamer and presenter of Orkenspalter TV who is particularly well known in the role-playing, LARP, and cosplay scene. With this, MERZ VERLAG wants to inspire new people to join the gaming world this year and send another signal about the importance of the board game community and the diversity of gaming culture. So, if you ever wondered about the new appearance of the SPIEL advertisement posters, the reason behind this is rooted in cross media marketing for the whole event. Talking about events, the SPIEL will be teeming with all kinds of game events ranging up to the European Golden Demon Awards ceremony on Sunday. All the participating miniatures can be found in an exhibition in Hall 1, and as a moderately skilled painter of miniatures I always marvel at the skills of true pros when they present their work here at the show. Before we move on to the Deutscher Spiele Preis awards at the end of the press conference, let’s quickly touch a few important SPIEL-related issues. For one, MERZ VERLAG has updated and improved the SPIEL app for mobiles, a tool used by approximately a quarter of all visitors. It greatly helps for navigating the halls and finding exhibitor’s booths, and now it’s functions have been expanded by a possibility to rank games in priority and to filter games for available languages. All very useful, and the app is certainly one of the nice extras introduced by the new owners of MERZ VERLAG. There will also be a new SPIEL game. This year no one less but Friedemann Friese could be won over to design a SPIEL game, and Fair Enough will be available in the loot bag available at MERZ VERLAG, and a very small number also is for purchase at the booth of SKELLIG GAMES (bboth 3C300). Be quick if you want one of those! Finally, MERZ VERLAG once again pointed out that the SPIEL will remain at Essen for the new few years – a statement that was met with big applause from the press audience. In addition, they finally revealed the dates of SPIEL ’26, and it will be from 22nd to 25th of October 2026. Save the date and come back here for our 30th SPIEL report anniversary! This one will be truly special. Deutscher Spiele Preis Next on schedule was the awards ceremony of Deutscher Spiele Preis, an audience awards which is based on a voting open for all game enthusiasts who want to participate. This year the awards was special for me, because I have been friends for a long time with Petr Murmak, CEO of CZECH GAMES EDITION (CGE). This year the CGE team actually succeeded in winning both the main awards and the awards for the best children’s game, and I am really happy that the gaming enthusiasts from CGE were able to achieve this, especially after all the discussions about Codenames: Back to Hogwards. But more about this later. The awards for the best childrens game went to Little Alchemists, a famility friendly version of the big deduction game. Designed once again by Matúš Kotry, the game actually enthralled the children of almost all CGE team members in the design process. The kids often brought along different groups of friends, always wanting to present the game to as many fellows as possible because they liked it so much. And indeed, the CGE kids seems to be on the right track, because the audience now confirmed their initial response to the game. However, an even bigger surprise winner was SETI, a rather complex game about space exploration which was able to beat both 2025 Spiel des Jahres awards winners Bomb Busters and Endeavor: Deep Sea here in the public vote. Designer Tomáš Holek had been a hobby astronomer all during his childhood, and he poured both his knowledge and his passion for the topic into the game. All of it contributed to a highly acclaimed, deeply thematic implementation, and the game deservedly had risen in popularity ranks ever after last SPIEL. In fact, Petr Murmak pointed out on the stage that they were getting a lot of comments from the scientific field of astrology, ranging from very good praise to the discovery of the tiny error that the hadn’t given the correct number of Saturn’s moons in the flavor text on one card. Funny enough, the number had been correct at the time the game was sent to the printer, but actually more moons were discovered after the printing approval, and now CGE has to think about updating all the information if they do a second printing. As mentioned, the runner-ups in this year’s awards were also the winners of both Spiel des Jahres 2025 awards, and so we see a rare coincidence of both major German games awards favoring the same games this year: 1. Seti by Tomáš Holek (CZECH GAMES EDITION) 2. Endeavor – Deep Sea by Carl des Vissen and Jarrat Gray (BURNT ISLAND GAMES) 3. Bomb Busters by Hisashi Hayashi (COCKTAIL GAMES) Congratulations to all the winners! At the end of the press conference you usually can notice a bit of unrest taking the audience. Everybody is waiting for the opening of the new games expo, the first possibility to get a glimpse of the new games. No different today, and Ralf and I were swept along with a huge group of buzzing media creators who eagerly entered Hall 8 to finally see the main attraction of SPIEL – the games! Before I tell you what I have found in there, let’s first take a look what Ralf had been doing! Hello back from me too! So, here I am again at last. After having to take it a bit easier at last year's convention due to a heavy illness, I thought this year would be the time to really get going again. So, I started analysing, studying and making contacts quite early. What came easily to me at the beginning of the summer became increasingly difficult as September progressed. Various other commitments called, and so I am now not much better prepared than last year. Well, at least I am still in good health, so now it's time to close my eyes and go full throttle. Frank has already told you quite a lot about the press conference. I still miss the little soup that was served at the press conference in previous years, but that's just nostalgia talking. Otherwise, I have to admit that today's press conference was once again professional and entertaining. The fair can happily continue like this. The press conference traditionally ends with the opening of the novelty show, so the crowd of journalists, video bloggers, Instagram influencers and other content creators moved just a few metres further to take a closer look at the 921 new games presented at this novelty show. Or rather, a tiny part of them. While it used to be our goal to discuss a large portion of the new games in our coverage from SPIEL, this is simply impossible today. 10-15% of the new games was still one of our goals for quite a long time. But even that is now a distant prospect. Of course, we are prepared and have done our research. But that also means we have filtered, simply ignored a large part of the new games and still hope to have selected interesting titles in preparation. The novelty regularly teaches us better. Here, it is the chance of discoveries, partly because you are simply approached in the aisle, that lead you to one game or another that you would otherwise never have noticed. And that's exactly what this novelty show is meant for, and that's why I love it so much. But enough gossip talking, let's see what the trends for the new games are this year! A first trend I noticed was that there seemed to be more small publishers at the novelty show than in recent years. More and more people seem to be taking the plunge and publishing their own games. I won’t even imagine the logistical effort involved. And many of these small publishers seem to be making their way at the moment. For example, I was delighted to find the small German publisher BIBERSTEIN SPIELE again at the show. The publisher is currently releasing the excellent small, but complex games in the small boxes from the Spanish publisher LOOPING GAMES in German. These games all deal with significant events or periods of the 20th century, and each game has a specific year of the century in its title. However, the games are not simply localised, but also further developed and co-developed, in a kind of cooperative publishing community. This year, BIBERSTEIN SPIELE is presenting two new releases: 1906 San Francisco and 1923 Cotton Club. I will definitely try to play a round or two of the games during the course of the fair. The small publisher STEINBOCK BRETTSPIELE, which I had the pleasure of getting to know in the spring of this year, is appearing at SPIEL for the first time. The couple of the publishing house actually met and fell in love in a boardgame shop. And what could be more natural than to found a publishing house at the beginning of the year and publish games that are environmentally friendly produced and won’t be forgotten in a year or so? Der König des Waldes (The King of the Forest) has been a huge hit and was very well received. The aim of the game is to lay out as many animals as possible with lots of points in front of you. To do this, you place a card in front of you or one of your fellow players each round and carry out what the card tell you. And this is where the fun of the game begins, because there is stealing, cheating, preventing, blocking and many more to find in these texts. Often, the last card decides the winner of the game. The publisher's next title, Bobbidi BOOM!, is a bit simpler, more of a family game, and definitely suitable for younger children: BOARDGAME RACOON is also a small publisher, consisting more or less of just one person. Here, Zwischen Licht & Schatten - Zwielicht caught my eye, a solo game, the second part and released at this year's SPIEL. The game is a small campaign game in which you develop a character and make decisions based on dice rolls. While the first part is a classic roll & write, the second part now focuses more on placing the dice on cards. This is not yet a worker placement game, but it is certainly more complex than the pure roll & write in the first part. And with a campaign duration of around 20 hours, it is also much longer and more entertaining than many other solo games I have come across in the past. For this again, I will see if I can find a time slot to take a closer look at the game at the fair. Finally, a small Japanese publisher consisting again of a couple presented themselves, having designed and produced all the game materials themselves. They did all the drawings themselves and even sawed out the wooden pieces themselves. Yotel is the name of the game and is certainly worth a closer look: Of course, classics with ever-new variations are also an integral part of SPIEL. I find it amazing that new variations are still being found for Uno. Uno Zero is the name of the latest offshoot, in which the cards are no longer held in the hands but laid out on the table in a grid. Uno is a classic family game that can even be played with younger children. But there are now also lots of great children's games that adults should also enjoy. In my youth, this was the absolute exception; most games simply involved rolling dice and moving pieces forward accordingly. In Das Schloss der 7 Schlösser by ZOCH Verlag, for example, small marbles are stored in the towers. When you throw the balls in, you can tell from the sound of the impact how deep the bottom of the tower is likely to be. The next time you pass the tower, you can try to open it, but to do so, you have to guess the right key. A simple principle, great presentation on the table and certainly a great fun for younger children: SMART GAMES has now firmly established itself as a specialist in puzzle games for children and families. A new addition here, a logic game called Grusel Gruft also looks very promising: And DREI MAGIER is always a guarantee for entertaining children's games: Things get a little trickier with Amazing Body from Finnish publisher TACTIC. In the game, various questions about the human body must be solved. There are always three possible answers. The questions are by no means easy, but the possible answers (e.g. about the length of the bloodstream in the body) are designed in such a way that even children can come up with the solution with a little thinking. But of course, there is also a lot for parents to learn. Last but not least, physical exercises are also part of the tasks to earn victory points. The author of the game is none other than Reiner Knizia. Speaking of Reiner Knizia, I've come across his name a lot today. I recently leafed through our old reports on SPIEL and realised that we had already declared a Knizia year back in the 1990s. But even this year, after all these years, the author appears in many new releases: So, SCHMIDT SPIELE is releasing Qwirkle Flex at SPIEL, a new standalone variant of the great success where the backgrounds of the tiles differs. This makes it possible to score points from the diagonals, which makes the game more complex and tactical. The author also features at AMIGO. In Meister Makatsu, the aim is to lay down your set of cards in such a way that, in a round where everyone lays down two of their four cards, there is always another player who has laid down a higher card in the respective colour. Because, if you play the highest card, you receive negative points. The trick is that you keep the remaining cards that were not played for the next round. Woe betide you if you hold back cards that are too high, because in rounds 2 and 3 the negative points increase. Finally, I also encountered Reiner Knizia at DENKRIESEN, where I played a game of Mücken Drücken. This is a fast-paced game in which cards are gradually revealed until a player slaps the cards and receives them. Of course, there are good and bad cards, and some cards only make sense in combination. So you have to pay close attention to what is revealed and what you have already collected, because each player can only slap the cards three times in total. Once I arrived at the DENKRIESEN booth at the novelty show, the author Hamlet of their other new game, VelmohRa – Im Bann der Tiefe, invited me to play a quick test game. In the game, we search the seabed. To do this, each player receives their own game sheet, on which a new hexagonal field is opened up each round by drawing from the centre of the game. The number on the newly reached field then determines the steps that the game piece is moved forward at the edge of the box. In the space were we end our move, we can find corals that become our property, provided that the shape of the coral matches the path we have opened up on our game board. In addition, opening up the spaces can trigger various scoring opportunities, similar to the principle in a classic roll & write game. In any case, it's tricky and so interesting that I'll take a closer look at it after the fair: There are so many other interesting new discoveries that I'm afraid I won't be able to do everything I've set out to do. In any case, I've got my eye on Beast from Studio Midhall, who brought the 2nd revised edition and the 2nd expansion Beast: The Great Hunt to the fair, in which a former hunter has become a monster itself in a campaign. I also really want to try the 2-player social deduction game Dark Romance by FUNTAILS, especially because I personally didn't enjoy the large rounds of the last successful games. Well, I'll just share a few more pictures with you: Anyhow, my day at the novelty show ended at the B-Rex group, which is home to a whole bunch of German publishers who mainly offer localisations. I was particularly interested in Algae Inc., which was presented in English last year by GAME BREWER. This year, the German version was released, which is now the only version that will continue to be produced after the Belgian publisher went out of business. There are still a few new English editions on the market, but in future, people will probably have to resort to the German version by GIANT.ROC. This is not really a problem, as the game material is language-independent. If only it weren't for the complex rules. There are no plans to adopt the English version, but I am sure that players who are really interested in the game will be able to cope with the printed rules. I was able to test the game in the run-up to the fair, so read for yourself what you can expect from the game: Playtesting session: Algae Inc. – Giant Roc (booth 2E450) In Algae Inc., we take on the role of department heads in an algae empire. There are four different departments, each of which plays slightly differently: biofuel, bioplastics, cosmetics and food. Each player receives a personal game board on which the four different algae raw materials are transported from machine to machine and finally processed into end products. You see, the two young authors have chosen an unusual, fresh theme. Instead of fantasy, the Middle Ages or Vikings, there are tanks full of aquatic plants. But before we can get started, we first have to set up the extensive game materials. There are almost 650 individual pieces in a full game. And that takes a little while to set up, especially in your first games. Once everything is sorted and you are familiar with the game, this should be go much faster. With so many game materials, the topic of resource management quickly comes to mind. And indeed, resources are the be-all and end-all in the game, and you often find yourself short of one resource or another. Fortunately, as usual, there are exchange actions, but these quickly become expensive and should therefore not become the norm. Collect algae, run it through machines, export products, reach milestones. That's a rough summary of how the game works. But that wouldn't do the game justice. In addition to this main storyline, which takes place entirely on your own game board, the so-called department board, there are many side actions. First, qualified personnel, namely logisticians, engineers and scientists, must be hired in order to be able to carry out the actions with real power. And many fields on the department board can be gradually improved or even activated step by step. You always start the game with a single algae storage facility, in which you can only store a certain type of algae from the general supply on the main game board. However, there are a total of four types of algae – red algae, brown algae, spirulina and chlorella – whose storage facilities can only be unlocked during the course of the game. From these storage facilities, the transport belts sometimes take completely different routes within the company, and only then can other machines be activated and other end products be produced. Machines can also be upgraded, which means that by-products can be generated during transport, these can often be turned into good money. As said, the departments differ significantly — each requires a different strategy. Incidentally, the improvements are taken from a personal side board through an engineer action, which creates space that can be filled Tetris-style with science tiles acquired in the game by activating scientists, which in turn leads to one-off effects and victory points again. Finally, the logisticians are there to export the final products. And this is where most of the main game board comes into play, showing us a map of Europe with many interconnected cities. Starting from the company headquarters, our algae company gradually opens up other cities for export. Once the first department has delivered to a city, all other departments can also deliver to this city, but the first delivery is the most challenging and is therefore rewarded with a bonus. Also worth mentioning is the action plan, on which we select our actions in each round using a decision tree, which changes slightly each round. Some actions are easier to achieve in one round, but can only be carried out if you decide on a path early on. It's clear that Algae Inc. is not a game that you can just teach your aunt over coffee. However, after a short period of familiarisation, the symbolism makes it quite easy to master the game, or rather, to play along. Because saving the world through algae production can be quite a puzzle. This is also reflected in the fact that Algae Inc. has virtually no luck factor. Of course, it does depend somewhat on what the other players have done before you, what actions they have chosen and what algae they have left for you. But much of the other things can still be planned. I find the theme really exciting, the game mechanics are very well thought out, and the feeling of building a small green empire is amazingly satisfying. However, deep contemplation and long-term planning should definitely not be foreign concepts to your fellow players if they want to enjoy the game. And with this my day ends. See you soon tomorrow again! Yours, Ralf So, after joining Ralf on his trip into the New Games’ Expo, it’s now my turn to take you along to see what I could discover in there. Indeed, I was really curious to see many of the games which I have read about in the past few weeks, and apart from this I was also keen to talk with some publishers – there are rumours of a birthday surprise somewhen in the future… My most tiny discovery actually was for the one game which has hit our gaming table most often after the SPIEL ’24: The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth! Being devoted fans of Tolkien’s works, this fusion of his epic classic with all-time hit 7 Wonders truly has met the tastes of both Nicole and me. We are still amazed that this small game actually brought together both the hunt for the Ringbearers and elements of the ongoing military campaign in Middle-earth, and the game often had seen an instant replay when we finished a game. REPOS PRODUCTION now is presenting an even smaller expansion for the game. It’s just a booster pack with fourteen cards (seven for each player) and a few tokens. These cards show important allies of the Free Peoples and Sauron, and for each game each player will receive three randomly drawn ally cards. Activated by tokens which can be collected from cards in the general layout, these allies can be real gamechangers. Showing iconic characters, the special powers of these cards offer considerable possibilities for changing the gameflow, gainging benefits removing cards and so on. If used with correct timing, these characters will have a great influence on the outcome of a game, and so this expansion shouldn’t be underestimated by its rather compact size. My next stop was at CGE (booth 3V400) where I wanted to congratulate Petr and his team for their feat in Deutscher Spiele Preis. Petr was still busy with many photographers taking pictures of the winning games, but this gave me time to check out some of CGE’s impressing portfolio of new releases. Michaela “Mín“ Štachová and Michal “Elwen“ Štach, the designers of Lost Ruins of Arnak were presenting Twisted Paths, their newest expansion for the game. It is the last major expansion for the game, and it features once again a new double-sided map with special research tracks varying greatly from those of the base game. Lots of new elements are included like lanterns which bring stronger research rewards or dark tablets which give strong benefits but corrupt the players, resulting in a loss of points at the end of the game. Spiced up with additional guardians, sites, assistants and solo components, Twisted Paths seems to bring even more variety into the great game, and it seems that the voyage to Arnak which has begun in 2020 comes to a spectacular end. Of course CGE also has brought along expansions for some of their best selling titles, and so I was also able to get a first glimpse on the new Seti: Spaces Agencies and Galaxy Trucker: Do What?! expansions. Especially the latter one brought a smile to my face, because I still remember many hilarious Galaxy Trucker sessions, and it’s great to see that CGE still keeps the wonderful game alive. However, a game which really surprised me here was Wispwood by Reed Ambrose. I must confess that I had missed this cute tile placement game about woodland spirits during my pre-SPIEL-preparation, but talking to Reed I decided that this is a game which I need to take along for my wife. Nicole loves intricate tile placement games, and in Whispwood both a cute theme and a simple but intriguing mechanism come together. Whenever players acquire new tiles for their forest, they must place them into a 4x4 grid, but not only the taken tile but also filler tiles in order to create a certain shape. It requires a good eye for shapes to make many placements in the small grid, and things really take off in the second round when the fillers are removed and the grid is slightly enlarged. This challenges the players once again to make new placements around their existing tiles, and taken together with some special effects which can be triggered through friendly woodland spirits the game sounds like a perfect tactical placements and careful planning. I was also able to talk a bit with Petr, both about the awards and the things happening about their final new game Codenames: Back to Hogwards. The discussions about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling had hit CGE with a storm of outrage, with lots of accusations being made against CGE for releasing this game. Things got worse when CGE tried to get into a more matter-of-fact discussion when they blocked words like “fascists” which were used against them in social media, and they then had to face even more accusations for “blocking individuals” – something which they hadn’t done. However, CGE always had been highly active in charity. After the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, they had donated all their profits generated from Russian customers in the past years to help Ukraine, and they also had created a special Czech-Ukrainian version of Codenames to help Ukrainian refugees. With this background, CGE will donate as much money as they paid for the game’s license to charitable projects helping LGBTQ people, whereas the rest of the profits generated with Back to Hogwards will go to other charitable projects. A noble gesture, and at the same time a strong proof of CGE’s sustainable social commitment. It seems that I could spend a whole afternoon playing games just at the CGE booth, but of course there were many other games to discover at the New Games Expo. Two of the games which really caught my attention during my stroll through the aisles actually shared a similar thematic approach. In Emberheart by MINDCLASH GAMES (booth 3G115) players have to save a dragon island against an invasion of cruel hunters, whereas the players in Champions of Wind & Fire by IDVENTURE (booth 6A201) will become Dragon Riders, training their dragons to win in a great tournament. Both games look beautiful and intriguing at the same time, and I made a note that I need to check them in the following days. The New Games Expo truly is a treasure trove where you can find unusual games and ideas how to spend your time in SPIEL week, and I next met Lars Max Jensen and Carl Tenland, a team of Scandinavian biathlon enthusiasts who have come to the SPIEL to present their debut game Biathlon Blast. It sounded like they have put a lot of care into the design, including many elements like wind, shooting skills and pulse control which make biathlon such a fascinating sport. Nicole and I both like watching the one or other biathlon contest during winter season, and so this certainly was another game for me to check. Actually it’s always nice to see how some of the publishers try to get us media people interested in their games, and from vicious swordplay to alluring fairies there are quite a few sights here at the expo. I also discovered an interesting looking rally-themed game presented by ALBI (booth 6E110). Dirt & Dust doesn’t look like your typical racing game, but it seems to take the rally theme quite serious, transferring it into a deckbuilder in which the players have to focus on skillful driving and good car control. This certainly sounds like a somewhat unusual approach and seems to be worth checking out. Another unusual game seemed to be Natera: New Beginning from HORIZON GAMES (booth 4D115), a worker placement game where sentient animals strive to take over the remains of human society. The theme sounded somewhat similar to Afthermath from PLAID HAT GAMES, but here it is implemented as a deep Euro-style game with lots of possibilities to tweak, finetune and score. Really cute-looking was Yotei from yet unknown Japanese publisher KUMAGERA SEISAKU (booth 5L500). They have come with a small team from Niseko on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to present a game which is actually themed about the beautiful landscape of their home. It challenges people to build the most charming town at the foot of Mount Yotei, using a variant of worker placement and also secret bidding mechanisms. This indeed is a typical SPIEL find, a game created by a small team of gaming enthusiasts in which their have poured their love and dedication. And let’s stay in Asia a bit longer for the final game which I would like to show you today. Koi from DV GAMES (3J400) is the successor of Bonsai, and while the games share some general mechanisms it seems to have a bit more playing depth and variety. However, really beautiful is are the playing components, with transparent Koi-tiles and standing landscape elements which give the players the impression like they are really designing a beautiful garden. This is something my wife will love! There are many more games which I could mention, but I guess I will leave this to the next few days. I need to finish typing, my hands are getting sleepy. However, there is one more meeting to tell about, because there was also a meeting of gaming dinosaurs in the New Games Expo: on my way out I met Tom Vasel, and he was astonished that I am still doing these reports after almost 30 years. Tom still remembers the times when he was reading my reports before ever going to Essen, and it’s always touching for me to hear how many grand gamers actually made their first Essen experiences through my reports. But this really ends today’s reports! Ralf and I are getting some sleep now, gathering out strength for the four days ahead of us. Tomorrow the gaming will start, so stay tuned and – of you are at Essen – enjoy your day at SPIEL! Thursday, 23rd of October: First Convention Day Finally it’s Thursday! The SPIEL ’25 today opened its gates for the public, and thousands of gamers were waiting in Hall 8 for admittance at 10 AM. However, I can count myself lucky, because I can enter 30 Minutes earlier with my press pass, and so, without further ado, let me take you on a quick walk through some of the halls. A few people were busy with last minute preparations, but overall things were looking fine. The people could come! Actually I entered by the side entrance of new Hall 7, and being a SPIEL nostalgist it felt a bit like coming home. After residing for many years at the other end of Messe Essen fair, SPIEL now finally had reclaimed it’s ancient home hall. But wait a minute! Empty halls? Not quite, because I actually found the first queue of SPIEL ’25 at exactly 9.35 AM in Hall 5 at the booth of FRACTAL JUEGOS (booth 5F315). Yes, there are still those games which are hyper-hyped before the show, and so many people with exhibitor’s passes actually were waiting to get a copy of Feya’s Swamp. The game looked promising indeed, but I waived all hopes of getting a copy at this show, and indeed the game sold out quickly today. I don’t know how many copies exactly they brought to Essen, but when a hype develops games are gone in hours. And it’s still a fair for the whole games business, not just for the major industry, and so some small publishers indeed come to the fair only with 150 or less copies, resulting in quick sellouts already on Thursday. Some publishers react by limiting sales numbers for each day, but this varies from publisher to publisher. If you really want a game, the best thing to do is to place a preorder. I know, it’s somewhat not matching the SPIEL spirit of first playing a game and then, if you like it, buying it. This is still true for the majority of games at least half through the fair, but the holy grails sometimes are gone faster than lightning. Or you have to bring your best running shoes to outdistance the crowd once the SPIEL opens. Continuing my walk, I came upon the booth of CARLMAX (booth 5F125) where Biathlon Blast is presented. I met the designers yesterday at the New Games Expo, and I made a mental not to come here later today. Being a biathlon-fan, the game certainly has some special appeal to me, and so I wanted to playtest it later today. I have used my 30 minutes before opening with careful planning, picking up games which I have preordered and arriving at the booth of BAD COMET (booth 4E310) just at opening time to purchase the first of about 100 copies of Shallow Sea, a rather cute looking reef-building game which I read about during SPIEL preparation. Unfortunately the game isn’t on presentation here, otherwise I could have shown you some pictures. Having finished my most urgent shopping stops, I started my search for promising games, but actually I made it just one aisle downwards. On the booth of GOOD GAMES PUBLISHING, I actually discovered the game 12 Rivers which I first saw at SPIEL ‘22. At that time it was one of these game which sold out quickly because the Chinese publisher had only brought very few copies to Essen, but now it was re-released by a bigger publisher, and as I learned they had also tweaked and polished the rules. So, I couldn’t resist and just sat down for my first game of the show. Playtesting Session: 12 Rivers – GOOD GAMES PUBLISHING (booth 4G315) 12 Rivers by Good Games Publishing invites players into a serene yet lively world of mountain streams and glimmering treasures. High above, a mystical lake spills its waters into twelve slender rivers, carrying pearls in sparkling currents toward a valley village. The game’s most striking feature is its raised 3D board: a miniature landscape with real sloping brooks where marbles – the magical pearls – actually roll down the rivers. It’s a wonderful sight each round when the floodgate opens and the pearls tumble and clink their way downstream, turning the table into a living diorama of movement. Beneath this spectacle runs a tidy and playful strategy game. Over five rounds, players take turns sending out their tribe tokens, which act less like workers and more like small dams. Placing a token in a river section stops the pearls for a moment, letting the player grab one before the rest continue their downward journey. Each turn is a small calculation of timing and economy: pay more cards to climb further upstream and place a dam there for early access, or linger downstream hoping the right pearls drift your way. Alternatively, players may place in the village to make friends with new villagers, who later help store and score the collected pearls. The simple act of dropping these tokens turns into a satisfying blend of planning, positioning, and mild mischief, as everyone competes to intercept the choicest pearls before they slip away. When the placements are done, the floodgate is lifted and the pearls begin their descent — the highlight of every round. One by one, players collect from their dams, keeping a single pearl and letting the others roll on, often into the waiting traps of their rivals. The rhythm is clear and fluid: watch, catch, release, and prepare for the next flow. Later, in the village, players recruit villagers and hand over their pearls for safekeeping. Villagers not only hold pearls but also offer special scoring conditions: some reward variety, others favor collections of one color, and a few grant points for resources left unused. Pearls still sitting on a player’s alpaca board (for transport to the village) at the end are worthless, a gentle reminder to pass on one’s treasures before the game’s final season. Scoring feels both straightforward and rewarding. Pearls on villagers grant points according to color and placement, villagers add their own bonuses, and players can earn extra points by achieving certain pearl patterns or color sets. The player whose small network of rivers, villagers, and fairies brings the greatest harmony wins. The game’s tactics unfold in a gentle but meaningful tension between exploration and development. Each tribe token placed must serve one of two purposes: either to intercept pearls along the rivers or to send a representative to the village to recruit new helpers. Focusing too much on collecting pearls may fill the alpaca board quickly but leave nowhere to store them for points, while concentrating on villagers too early risks watching valuable pearls slip away downstream. Camp cards form the economy that drives these decisions — they are spent to move further upstream or used in matching pairs for special actions, like repositioning a token, claiming a fairy, or taking extra turns. The fairy tokens, meanwhile, add a layer of small but tactical spice: They can be collected when placing a tribe token at specific locations among the rivers, and some act as wild cards that replace camp costs, others allow pearls to be moved between villagers, or let a player collect an extra pearl when the river flows. Together, these elements ensure that every round offers more than mere placement — it’s a dynamic balance of timing, resource management, and adapting to the ever-changing rhythm of the rivers. Beyond its theme, 12 Rivers shines through its physical design. Watching the pearls cascade down the raised board is charming indeed, but the beauty of the rivers hides no emptiness; the game beneath is brisk, thoughtful, and full of pleasant tactical choices. While not as deep as heavier strategy titles, it offers a perfect balance for families and casual gamers: approachable, clever, and refreshingly original. 12 Rivers is the kind of game that proves even a light current can carry something truly magical. Another more family-type game which I found in Hall 4 was cute-lookning Nestlings which I discovered at the booth of APE GAMES (booth 4H120). At its heart a roll-dice-and-collect game, the topic of bird parents feeding their youngsters is rather cute, and there are at least some tactical options available for collecting food from specified sources to complete resource rings for extra scorings. The game offers a direct confrontation which is almost getting rare these days, because the players constantly have to watch out for the others, possibly claiming food which another player could use well for his end-game scoring. However, this doesn’t really feel destructive because players usually can advance their own scoring chances with the food they claim ,and so the few turns which I played felt rather easy-going. And on the table Nestlings is certainly an eye-catcher. Halls 4 and 5 are the halls where most of the smaller publishers are located, and as it seems the God of games had fated me to spend most of today’s SPIEL time in these halls. Of course I also did check in some of the other halls in order to get a first overview, but for the first time ever the total of now seven halls seems to be more than I will be able to see in these four days. Usually I try to look at as many things as possible, but with 1700 new games released this year and so much space to cover the challenge is probably a bit too much. But as a matter of fact, I ended my round once again in Hall 4, this time not for a something on the lighter side but for a meaty Euro-type game. Playtesting Session: Natera: New Beginning – HORIZON GAMES (booth 4D115) Natera: New Beginning is a nice example of a modern worker-placement game that integrates a rich thematic background with an engine-building core. The story unfolds in a near future where a scientific experiment meant to amplify human intelligence has gone disastrously wrong. The unstable compound was released into the atmosphere and devastated humanity, reducing people to helpless beings incapable of survival. Yet the same compound had an unexpected effect on the animal kingdom: it awakened reason and self-awareness among them, and over time intelligent animal tribes emerged to claim the ruins of human civilization, exploring the remnants of the old world in search of knowledge and resources. Within this setting, each player leads one of these tribes, guiding it through exploration, scientific progress, and territorial growth. At its heart, Natera is an almost pure worker-placement design. Each player commands a tribe leader and several explorer tokens, sending them onto a large city board divided into five thematic districts: Forest, Farm, City, Coast, and Military. Each district contains several locations where workers can be placed to collect specific resources - Food in the Farm, Supplies in the City, Power Cells in the Military, and combinations or exchanges of resources in the Coast and Forest. Every placement of a worker in one of these districts does not only collect resources at the worker’s location of placement, but it also immediately increases that player’s Authority in the district, symbolizing the tribe’s growing control over the territory. Authority is both a gateway to more advanced locations and a major source of points at the end of the game, and so each district’s separate scoring track ensures continuous competition as players try to maintain or overtake others’ dominance. In addition, the districts begin with only basic Tier 1 locations available, but as players gain Authority, more advanced Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations are gradually revealed and can then be used by tribes with sufficient standing in that area. These higher-tier locations offer stronger rewards and often combine resource gains with other benefits such as card draws or growth bonuses. Because the tribe leader tokens block the spaces they occupy while the smaller explorer tokens do not, the placement system creates an ever-shifting contest for the most efficient and lucrative positions, balancing short-term rewards against the long-term goal of establishing dominance through Authority. A game of Natera is divided into four seasons (rounds), and each season consists of an Action phase followed by a Rest phase. In the Action phase, players perform one action per turn, choosing between sending a worker, playing an Exploration card, hiring a Specialist, using an ability, or establishing a Settlement. In the following Rest phase, players retrieve their workers, produce resources, and draw new cards, allowing their tribe’s engine to grow steadily from season to season. The cards form the backbone of this development: basic Exploration cards help generate resources, while advanced ones translate them into venture points. Specialists, hired with Food, add conversion abilities for Power Cells that strengthen resource efficiency. This overall structure creates a flowing cycle of collecting, building, and converting - a system that rewards foresight and well-timed execution. Apart from the competition for Authority, another small element of player interaction also is added by Settlements. When a player establishes a Settlement on a district location, he will gain a bonus whenever the location with the Settlement is activated during the rest of the game. So, players will consider whether they really want to trigger this windfall effect for their opponent, but sometimes the lure of a location’s benefit is too big to let the opportunity pass. In a way, this is similar to the “open locations” in Everdell, where workers could be sent to some locations of other players, but here the benefits which can be gained by the Settlement’s owner are much stronger, especially at Tier 2 or Tier 3 locations. So, a player contemplating to set up a Settlement is well advised to keep an open eye for the strategies pursued by his opponents, because the Settlement will create most income at a location which is in high demand. To my mind, this easy trick guarantees a much higher interest in the activities of other players, giving an additional incentive to stay attentive during their turns. Even though Natera features more playing depth, the comparison with Everdell is natural, as both games employ a seasonal rhythm of worker placement and card play centered on growth and efficiency. However, Natera directs these mechanisms outward rather than inward. Where Everdell focuses on constructing a personal city, Natera emphasizes control across the shared district map. Every worker placement pushes forward Authority, unlocking new tiers of locations that yield better rewards. This interplay between personal development and territorial influence distinguishes the game, transforming a familiar mechanism into a broader contest for dominance and discovery. Another distinctive feature of Natera lies in the Science Boards which represent the rediscovery of knowledge left behind by humanity. Each player has a personal board depicting a branching structure of research spaces. Progress along it is achieved through growth bonuses gained from Exploration cards bearing the Science tag. When a player advances, they place a Growth token on a connected space, forming an unbroken chain from the starting point on the Science Board. Each new step grants rewards such as production increases, immediate resources, or victory points. The further one climbs, the greater the benefits, making scientific progress both a narrative and mechanical expression of the animals getting to grasp with human technology. The asymmetric tribes further enhance the individual experience, each offering a different route toward mastery. The Beaver Corporation focuses on settlements, the Gorilla Consensus favors scientific advancement, the Fox Syndicate excels in the use of Forest district locations, and the Mole Band interacts uniquely with other players. These differences are not overwhelming but shape how each tribe approaches Authority, card play, and resource management. In a way, these traits reveal a diverse ecosystem of strategies that nicely mirrors the idea of animals evolving along distinct paths toward intelligence. The whole thematic presentation of Natera is coherent and thoughtfully interwoven with its rules. The Authority tracks visualize the reclamation of territory; the Science Boards turn discovery into progress; and the Exploration cards tell fragmented stories of lost technologies and recovered ingenuity. The game’s focus is not on survival in a hostile world but on exploration and reconstruction - on learning, adapting, and shaping a future after humankind’s fall. Across its four seasons, the game evolves from cautious scouting to full-scale development. The pacing - one action per turn, frequent resets, and consistent production - maintains tension while the players build their engines. Like Everdell, the game rewards good planning and sequencing, but it adds the urgency of shared territories and competing for Authority. Worth mentioning here is the fact that the iconography in the game is rather catching. When you look at the gameboard the first time, all the symbols there may a bit intimidating, but even with my long-standing gaming background I was truly surprised how quickly the elements fell into place. Once you sit down and begin exploring the city ruins with your tribe, things will fastly begin to *click*, getting you rather nicely into the complex but at the same time straightforward gameflow. It somehow seems that the game’s designers Eric Fugere and Hugo Tremblay-Ledoux perfectly matched to balance playing depth and accessibility, and that’s a great feat for a newcomer publisher. In the end, Natera: New Beginning stands as a nicely diversified continuation of the worker-placement tradition. It captures the satisfaction of engine building while introducing a meaningful element of area competition, and everything is mounted in a fitting thematic background. In a way, Humanity has destroyed itself by overreaching and tampering with nature – or have they placed too many workers? Now the mantle of intelligence passes to the animals, who explore the ruins of their predecessors with curiosity and ambition. The question that remains - one that quietly lingers while the final score is counted - is whether these new thinkers will learn from the mistakes of the past, or whether they too will repeat them. And as it seems, news about good games is spreading rather quickly here at SPIEL, and so I also met my friend Dale here at the booth. We both happily bagged a copy of Natera, and then we continued the hunt through the halls. The afternoon moved on as I resumed my stroll through the halls, until my eye was caught by a sign for Skirmish: Battle for Draconia at the booth of ICE MAKES in Hall 3 (booth 3M300>. It’s a battle cards game where up to four players set their fantasy factions against each other and while I was still contemplating whether I should sit down for a game a kind member of the staff approach me and ask whether I would want a chance to win a game. I gladly agreed since the game interested me, and while we sat down I was explained that they could sell the game here at the show because the whole edition had been manufactured with a color mismatch of the cards. The colors hadn’t turned out the way the designers wanted them, and although these problems weren’t visible on first sight, the company had decided to go for a full reprint. However, instead of destroying the whole shipment, they decided to give the game away here as contest prizes to everyone who would win a game of it. Introduction: Skirmish: Battle for Draconia – ICE MAKES (booth 3M300) Set in the fractured realm of Draconia, Skirmish draws players into a world where six rival kingdoms vie for control over a mystical ore known as Draconium. This precious mineral grants its wielders immense strength, and with its discovery, old alliances crumble and ancient rivalries ignite once more. Each faction embodies a distinct martial tradition and strategic flavor: the Ironshroud are disciplined soldiers with unmatched defenses and efficient fortification; the Scorching Sands thrive on rapid assaults and tactical feints; Amazania’s jungle assassins employ poison and guile to wear down their enemies; Frostfjell’s fierce clans fight with brutal courage and vengeful ferocity; the Highwood archers master ranged ambushes and relentless bombardments; and the necromantic Zig-mar can even raise their fallen back to the battlefield. Together, these factions represent a big range of rather different approaches to combat, with each faction striving to become the true champion of the Skirmish. Mechanically, the game is a tightly structured duel of card deployment, bluffing, and timing. Each round unfolds in six distinct phases that maintain a brisk and rhythmic pace. Players begin by secretly deploying three units onto the battlefield, one per battleline, creating a tense guessing game about where the next strike may come. Units are revealed in the Order Phase if they possess the Haste ability, determining who will act first. The heart of the round lies in the Action Phase, when players choose between an all-out Skirmish, a more measured Cautious Attack, or taking a Rest to build resources. Combat is direct and personal: each unit can only attack the enemy directly opposite unless its abilities state otherwise. Attack and defense values decide outcomes, with the difference dealing damage to the opponent’s health. Supporting systems like Fortify and Supply tokens enhance attacks or bolster defenses, while the Back Line Phase lets surviving units activate ongoing abilities such as healing, bombardments, or revivals. Cards that survive return to the Camp for later redeployment, while fallen units fill the Graveyard. A player loses when their health drops to zero or when eight of their units lie dead—a simple but effective condition that ensures every skirmish matters. Tactical depth in Skirmish is considerable, born from the unique powers and synergies within and across factions. For example Ironshroud excels in attrition warfare through layered defense bonuses, Amazania’s poison negates stalemates by punishing blocked attacks or Highwood’s Arrows and Bombard create deadly opportunities across the entire field. Each faction’s asymmetry invites experimentation, and players can discover quite a few combinations of abilities and timing-based interactions. A well-timed Ambush can overturn a superior attack, while resource management and card positioning shape long-term success. Conflicts are immediate and decisive, yet the game’s flow encourages adaptive play and calculated risk-taking. Victory hinges on reading the opponent as much as on raw numbers, a balancing act of aggression, deception, and resource control that captures the essence of battlefield cunning. In a nutshell, Skirmish: Battle for Draconia offers a duel of wits wrapped in a vivid fantasy setting. Its blend of direct confrontation, modular decks, and distinct factional character creates a strategic experience where every card placement seems to carry weight and each decision can tip the balance. In the end my archers actually laid an effective trap for the opposing troops, and the loss of his last life points turned disastrous to my opponent. However, for me it meant that I had indeed won a copy, something which didn’t happen to me very often here at the SPIEL. I remember that I played my way years ago through a tournament of HANS IM GLÜCK’s Majesty, but I think that was the only time I won a game. Anyway, I was given a claim tag, and I went to fetch my copy of Skirmish! Winning a game certainly unlocks a lot of energy, and with still some time left I went back into Hall 5 to return to the booth of CARLMAX where I had spied Biathlon Blast earlier this morning. Carl Tenland and Lars Max Jensen were delighted to host a game for me, and so I put on my skies in order to compete in this unusual racing game. Playtesting Session: Biathlon Blast – CARTLMAX (booth 5F125) In fact, one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports in Germany is Biathlon, and indeed I try to watch the one or other Biathlon contest in TV during winter season. This now actually was my first go at a game themed on this sport, and just like the real thing Biathlon Blast challenges the players’ biathletes with a contest that blends endurance racing with precision shooting. Where many racing board games focus purely on speed, this design here balances the stamina of skiing with the focus required at the Shooting Range. The theme is unusually strong for a racing game: terrain plays a real role, with uphill, flat, and downhill steps demanding careful use of a player’s Skiing cards, while the mid-race shooting sessions provide interruptions where pulse, wind, and accuracy come into play. Shooting does not simply penalize misses in the traditional biathlon sense; instead, each hit gives bonus moves, a small but striking inversion that keeps the game close and fluent. It shifts the tone from punishing mistakes to rewarding success, keeping the momentum high without diluting the pressure of firing under stress. The core of play lies in the Skiing cards. Each biathlete begins with nine, and every card presents two actions (a top and a bottom) plus an initiative number that sets turn order when cards are revealed. Movement on a card is expressed as a number of steps tied to terrain type: uphill steps (the strongest) can be spent on uphill, flat, or downhill; flat steps can be spent on flat or downhill; and downhill steps are usable only on downhill spaces. Steps may be spent in any order and mixed across terrain types as the card’s allowance permits, and the active biathlete can stop early if desired. Certain cards allow wind changes or pulse adjustments that affect both movement and later shooting. Quite interestingly, played cards go to a player’s personal discard pile, but they only return to his hand once a player has used his full contingent of 9 cards, or when a player decides to spend one of his scarce Bullet tokens which allows him to pick up all used cards again. This does not only demand players to make sharp decisions about tempo versus bullet expenditure, but it also reduces the element of luck which is usually connected with using a deck of cards. Here it is up to the players whether they want to spend limited ammunition to regain options instantly, or whether they accept a lull while the deck cycles naturally to come back to their hand completely. The tactical options are even increased by the fact that the Skiing cards usually offer two different options, but whereas the use of the upper action means that the card goes into to player’s discard pile, the lower action is a (somewhat stronger) one-shot option, forcing the player to remove the card from game after use. Bullets and Ski Wax serve as the expendable resources in Biathlon Blast, giving the players the possibility to enhance their biathlete’s performance if used at a crucial moment. As indicated, Bullets can be spent to reclaim a player’s discard pile early, but they can also be used to add extra hits after rolling the shooting dice at the Range. Ski Wax on the other hand comes in different colors and enhances actions in specific ways - providing extra movement on the different types of terrain, reducing pulse cost, or letting a player treat a Skiing card as if it had the wind symbol. Each player color starts with a different stockpile of Wax, a subtle asymmetry that influences opening strategy and biathlete choice, and along the course, Coach Zones offer temporary boosts that give immediate bullets or wax effects which must be applied that turn. This nicely simulates a coach’s timely encouragement and occasionally allows a surprise recovery or a decisive push. Pulse and wind are features that tie the theme to the mechanics. Pulse acts like a stamina meter: aggressive Actions and headwinds raise it, drafting or tailwinds lower it, and exceeding the pulse limit results in elimination - so pacing is constantly under scrutiny. However, the place where both pulse and wind come together is the Shooting Range. Here a low, medium or high pulse decides on the general probability of making hits with the five shooting dice, so that a biathlete arriving at the Shooting Range with a very high pulse may be well advised to wait a round to calm his pulse a bit before starting to shoot. Crosswinds impose a -1 hit penalty on hits at the range, whereas a calm (windstill) grants a +1 hit bonus, and bullets also may be spent to add hits after the roll. After shooting, each hit translates instantly into extra steps on the trail, turning precision into forward momentum rather than a simple penalty avoidance. Nicely implemented without unnecessary fluff, these elements tie in perfectly with the rest of the playing mechanism, giving players some additional possibilities for tactics without bogging the game down. Staying at the Shooting Range a bit longer, this is one of the places where the individual strengths and weaknesses of each biathlete come into effect. Different mixes of card suites and accuracy profiles characterize each athlete, and whereas one athlete might excel at steady pulse control and flat efficiency, another may show high initiative bursts and aggressive final climbs. Those identities feed into decisions about when to spend Wax or when to spend Bullets for a discard pickup, and the result is nice replayability and a satisfying variety of approaches. Small design touches further polish the experience and reward attention. Each Action on the Skiing cards has a “sweet spot” location on at least one trail where its steps align perfectly with the terrain ahead; using a card at this spot elevates the card’s effectiveness and rewards forward planning. In addition, a player’s shooting results also may leave an impression on the following player turns, since some of the Skiing cards have no fixed values, but instead will generate moves or pulse based on the last result rolled with a specific shooting dice. Also, the flags representing each biathlete’s nationality are a quick visual shorthand for his skill ratings, making it easier to compare strengths at a glance, while their bib numbers actually are their accuracy thresholds for low, medium, and high pulse at the Shooting range. These brief additions demonstrate the care invested in the game’s design, and they give each biathlete a distinct, easy-to-read personality. Altogether, Biathlon Blast is a considerable debut game of Carl and Lars, the Swedish / Danish team of biathlon enthusiasts who stands behind the label CARLMAX. Biathlon Blast nicely integrates stamina, weather, and precision into a racing framework with remarkable thematic fidelity. The game echoes familiar card-handling rhythms from modern racing designs but layers on pulse management, wind and shooting outcomes, and combined with asymmetric resource starts and characterful biathletes every contest feels distinct: the race becomes an unfolding series of tempo decisions, calculated risks, and well-timed breaths - a rare instance of theme and mechanism skiing in stride. Out of curiosity I quickly checked out other Biathlon-themed games at Boardgamegeek tonight, and here Biathlon Blast seems to be one of the strongest competitors in the field, so it is well worth to take a look at it here at the SPIEL if you are a fan of Biathlon or racing games! Slowly making my way out, I stopped at the booth of the Japanese team of KUMAGERA SEISAKU (booth 5L500). After yesterday’s meeting at the New Games Expo, I wanted to see how they fared today, and being the first time at the SPIEL, they told me this morning that the sheer size of the whole show was a bit intimidating. However, they also really like the experience, and in such a good spirit the next three SPIEL days certainly can come! See you tomorrow! A warm welcome back from me. Thursday, the first official day of the fair. Every year, a very special day for me. After all, we have all been eagerly awaiting this day for a long time. Admittedly, some more than others. And of course, everyone has their own way of preparing for it. Traditionally, Thursday has been the day for pre-orders, buyers and bargain hunters for many years. I haven't put myself through this stress for a few years, but instead I arrive relaxed at least an hour after the official opening. And I'm always amazed at how many games you can buy or pick up in an hour, because when I arrived, the longest queue was at the baggage drop booth, where suitcases full of gaming achievements were being handed in. Instead of this, my wife and I strolled relaxed through the first two halls, where we saw few free tables, but the aisles between the stands were still quite relaxed to walk through. Finally, we found what we were looking for, a free table, and played our first simple game at the RUBIKS CUBE stand, which was basically a 2D magic cube. As in previous years, many booths were finely decorated, with the big manufacturers in particular coming up with some great ideas for their big deals, either at their booth or in form of walking acts: My first appointment for today was at HEIDELBÄR GAMES. The publisher is a permanent partner of CZECH GAMES EDITION and localises all new releases from this publisher. There are also permanent collaborations with HORRIBLE GUILD. However, as we still have separate appointments with the two other publishers, I was particularly interested in HEIDELBÄR's own developments. And there are two of them this year, or rather one new game and a reissue of an older game. Let's take a look at the new game first: First Impression: Umami – HeidelBÄR Games (booth 6B200) The theme of cooking is no longer a new territory in the world of board games. Titles such as Rival Restaurants and Kitchen Rush have already explored the battle for the best dishes in a variety of ways. Umami joins this list, but is significantly more compact than the other games, as it is a pure card game in the typical small box from HEIDELBÄR GAMES. The game was developed by Don Eskridge, who is particularly well known for The Resistance. Umami is not quite as tricky, but it has its own charm, as you will see. So, what it's about: In Umami, each player runs their own small food snack stand in front of them. In each round, ingredient cards are played to this stand and combined to make delicious dishes. On each turn, players choose one card from their own hand and one from the open display and place them in one of their three columns. The aim is to combine these ingredients in such a way that they appeal to the guests on display. The cards are divided into different colours and numbers for this purpose. For example, a guest might request two red and one green card, but at the same time does not want two ingredients of the same number. As soon as a dish matches a guest's preferences, the corresponding card is moved to your this dish– and thus earns you points at the end of the game. The corresponding ingredients are then blocked and cannot be used for other guests. However, the points are not yet secured. Each guest indicates on the edge of the card whether they prefer a dish with the highest possible value or a lower value. And the guests are quite picky. As soon as an identical dish is available somewhere on the table that the guest prefers in terms of value, the guest moves to this other player’s dish. On the one hand, you want to collect the right ingredients as quickly as possible, but on the other hand, you have to constantly keep an eye on the other players so that you don't end up without a guest. The game is therefore very interactive and ensures a lot of dynamism in the short games of 20–30 minutes. I think that Umami is a small but family-friendly card game that combines familiar rules in a new way. So, what I learnt: Don Eskridge can also do family games. The other small new release from HEIDELBÄR GAMES is Zoff im Zoo, a reissue from the late nineties, written and designed by Doris & Frank, who ran their own publishing company for a long time with classics such as Ursuppe. I am always delighted when I find new editions that I reported on 20 years ago. Zoff im Zoo is not one of them I wrote about, but I am of course still familiar with Doris & Frank. And the drawings on the cards immediately reminded me of the origins of our internet magazine. In the meantime, the halls had become much busier, and you had to be careful not to bump into one or the other strange character: Yes, it could be quite frightening, so I quickly took refuge at ARTIPIA GAMES. This year, the booth was significantly smaller than in previous years. In particular, there were no tables to try out the games. But at least the games were presented and explained. And so I listend, that the new game this year was Firefighters on Duty, which I had explained to me in more detail, so see why I was excited about the game after that. Introduction: Firefighters on Duty – Artipia Games (booth 3T200) OK, a real-time game. Hectic, wild babbling, wild insults, rising blood pressure and pulse. Firefighters on Duty puts us in the middle of a burning city, where we take on the role of firefighters to fight the fires, rescue the injured and generally try to prevent the worst from happening. For me, the fire brigade is a topic that I deal with from time to time, not acutely, but in the background. So as soon as I saw the name on the list of new releases, I knew I had to learn more about this game. And I have to say, the real-time mode chosen for this game seems to work very well, as it allows the challenges and high pressure of a live operation to be translated very well into game mechanics. But first of all, things are quiet, because the game board consisting of modular city tiles has to be assembled. In addition, there are various vehicles – fire engines, water transporters and ambulances – as well as numerous markers for fires, injuries, debris and equipment. There is a lot of material for a real-time game I must say. But so far, things are still calm, so that's not really a problem (yet). That changes, because the central element of the game is the real-time phase, in which we have two minutes to act in a coordinated manner. Of course, Firefighters on Duty is cooperative, like many real-time games. And as in many real-time games, dice are the central action for starting our firefighting attempts: the possible results of a dice roll are: refilling water at the central stations, moving vehicles, extinguishing fires, rescuing injured people or clearing debris. And, of course, this has to be done quickly. The time pressure creates an intense dynamic that requires clear communication (who goes to which fire, who helps whom?) and quick decisions – just like in a real emergency. Now, two minutes isn't exactly a long time when you consider everything you have to manage in that time. In any case, the hectic phase is followed by a calmer evaluation phase. However, depending on the success of our firefighting efforts, this phase is not exactly positive for us. Fires continue to spread, new dangers arise, and sometimes entire buildings collapse. If you haven't worked well in the previous phase, disasters can quickly ensue. It seems that the game is able to capture the feeling of operational stress without becoming totally confusing (as I sometimes imagine it to be in reality). The rules, which I read before the fair, are relatively extensive for a real-time game, but they are logically structured, and after the first game, much of it should work intuitively. Firefighters on Duty thus appears to be a tactical, thematically dense real-time game. This morning I started my journey in the more family-oriented halls in Hall 3, but now, in hall 3, I found myself back in the familiar trade fair atmosphere with crowded aisles, a noisy backdrop and few to no free tables. Fortunately, I had made provisions and scheduled my next stop in advance. At BOARD & DICE, I was greeted by a white demigoddess who let me in on the publisher's next plans. Here at the booth, I was able to take a first look at a prototype that will be released next year by the Polish publisher. Rivalry is about a fictional competition between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. The game is a team game; in a 4-player game, for example, 2 players play for one painter and 2 for the other. I was told that the game is highly asymmetrical. This means that, in addition to the main board, the two sides have completely different game boards of their own, which also lead to completely different victory point conditions. I seldom saw an asymmetry in such a big Eurogame so far. In addition, interesting scorings take place on the main board each round. As usual with BOARD & DICE, there are many opportunities to earn victory points and other benefits. Finally, Deck-building elements can also be found in the game. Without giving too much away, I can definitely say that a very interesting development, perhaps even an experiment, awaits us here. In any case, it's quite an unusual approach for a Eurogame. I can also reveal that another Nucleum expansion will be released in spring next year and that there will of course be something new at SPIEL again. There may also be something big in store for us, but that's all I could get out of the explanatory demigoddess. Still, one thing is already clear, however: the new release at SPIEL 25 is Thebai, so let's take a closer look at this title: First Impression: Thebai – Board & Dice (booth 3G200) Even at first glance, it's clear that Thebai is not going to be an easy game. The large amount of material and the weight of the game box confirm this. In the game, players take on the roles of noble families vying for power and prestige in a divided Thebes, while enemy armies stand at the gates. At the centre is the large city tableau, which represents the city of Thebes and its seven gates. This is where Cadmea tiles (i.e. city components) are placed, dice are moved and conflicts are resolved. At the same time, each player has their own tableau, the so-called Estate Board. This personal game board is where you manage resources, have Cadmea tiles at your disposal and gradually improve your options. At the beginning, the Estate Board is still partially blocked – many action fields are occupied by Cadmea tiles, which you can only remove during the course of the game or – and this is the far more attractive option – place in the city. This is the win-win-situation: the more you participate in city building, the more action options you unlock in your own area. In many places, there are action spaces where you can place citizen cubes. Each of these cubes indicates a level of strength – from weak to powerful. Stronger cubes result in more efficient actions: for example, more resources, greater progress on the paths of the gods, or the ability to fulfil contracts. On the city tableau, you can use Cadmea tiles from your own personal board to represent the city of Thebes. Whenever you place a new tile on the central city map, you check how many roof colours match at the edges – each match triggers a bonus, such as upgrading dice or drawing new contract cards. The archons, the players leader figures, also move around the city map. They can be used to activate certain fields, gain resources or influence opposing dice. So, if you jump over an opponent's dice with an Archon, they are upgraded – if you cross your own, they are weakened. So you have to plan carefully when and how you move around the city. There are lots of side effects to consider when moving. In addition to the citizen dice, there are also the so-called hoplite dice – military units responsible for defending the city. They are placed on rows of the city map, each corresponding to one of the seven gates. These rows are important for later battles, as they determine how strongly you can defend in each zone. Of course, you will earn the most victory points in defence if you contribute the highest defence strength. In each round, you may perform various actions with one of your citizen dice. The game forces us to constantly make decisions and set priorities, because not everything can be achieved at the same time. The players' actions are followed by the so-called Fate Phase, in which – depending on fate – Comfort or Conflict events are triggered. While the Comfort events are all positive, Conflict events result in an attack by the threatening forces. Woe betide you if you haven't provided enough defence power at the appropriate point. Thebai is certainly a powerful, multi-layered strategy game that is worth exploring in more detail. Compared to Tianxia, it is said to be even more complex, definitely something for self-confessed Euro gamers. And now that I had arrived at the BOARD & DICE booth, I was tired, thirsty and hungry. So, it was a big joy for me that I was invited to the booth party. After a long day at the fair, I was of course happy to accept and will therefore say goodbye until tomorrow with some last pictures from the party! Yours, Ralf Friday, 24th of October: Second Convention Day Friday, Day 2 of the show. Welcome back to our report from the world's largest public board game fair! As you already know, yesterday was the day for novelty hunters. Traditionally, there is a lot going on outside the halls early in the morning before the official start, with long waiting times just to get into the fair. On Friday, things usually calm down again. But when I arrived shortly after the fair opened today, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had never seen such a long queue in front of the entrance before. The large square in front of the east entrance was completely filled-up with people, and visitors were lined up in several loops in front of the entrance. Fortunately, board gamers are peaceful people, so everything proceeded in a very disciplined manner. The staff at the entrance were also very professional, so entry proceeded very quickly. Nevertheless, it was yet another sign of how crazy this fair is and how many crazy people from all over the world now come to SPIEL. Once I arrived in the halls, I quickly hurried from the east to the west end, a distance of about 700 metres. At the booth of the relatively new German publisher TILL5AMGAMES, I had arranged to meet Lutz, who also acts as a reviewer for us from time to time, to test the push-your-luck game BADFLIX Scareville by Marcel Dehlinger, who is probably better known to most people under his Instagram name Docdehli. Playtesting Session: Badflix Scareville – till5am Games (booth 3Q120) The author was there in person at the booth and introduced us to his game. The game is about making horror films, and we players take on the roles of the monsters from the films. Each of us is assigned a monster with a special ability. In addition, there is a set of hand cards for each player, four of the seven cards are identical for all players. The individual setup is rounded off by a set of three dice and a small cube, which serves as a counter to unlock your own special ability. A game board is then laid out in the middle of the table, showing six film strips of varying lengths, labelled with numbers from 5 to 10. Above the film strips, cards show which effect is performed when the film is finished. Of course, as monsters, we want to appear in a film as often as possible, so the aim is to see which player can do this first. And since this is a push-your-luck game, dice are used for this. Every time it is our turn, we roll our three dice. And we have to use all of them if possible, because only then can we roll them again. But what does ‘use’ exactly mean? Well, there are two markers that are placed on the different film strips and go up one step each time we roll the corresponding value of the film with the dice. We can sum up dice values, but we always have to hit the exact value of the film strip, with or without addition. So, for example, if we roll 5-2-5, we could place one marker on the five and the other on the seven. Two markers, but six film strips – how does that work? Well, once you have moved both markers, you can only use those film strips. So, in the above example, if you roll a 6-2-6 next time after your first roll, you would not be able to use any of the selected film strips, as neither a five nor a seven could be formed from the dice. In that case, all our progress would be lost and it would be the next player's turn. If however, only one die cannot be used, it can be placed on your own game board, thereby increasing your skill level by one so that you will increase your possibility to execute your own special ability. Passing is also allowed after a roll of the dice and is more than sensible, as it secures the markers achieved on the film strip as save points until your next turn. So next time, we start a little higher up the film strip, which increases our chances of completing the film. Of course, our hand cards and activated special abilities cause quite a bit of confusion in this order, but that's probably how the setting of a horror film should look. The game was definitely a lot of fun for me and I'm already looking forward to its release next year. Finally, a push-your-luck game to my liking with some nasty moves to annoy my fellow players. Monsters in a horror film – it was inevitable that I would move on to the Italian publisher HORRIBLE GUILD after that. As has been the norm in recent years, a whole series of new releases awaited me here. Let's jump right in with a small logic game: First Impression: A Carnivore Did It! – Horrible Guild (booth 6C110) b>A Carnivore Did It! takes us to Furrow Heights, where Chief Inspector Fox Banner's police department is desperately trying to bring order to a chaos of contradictory statements. The suspects – an illustrious zoo of various animals – chat away merrily, but not all of them are telling the truth. And that's where the fun begins – or rather, the brainwork. Mechanically, A Carnivore Did It! is purely a deduction game that turns logic puzzles into a game. At the beginning, you choose a case from a dossier, lay out the appropriate suspect cards and assign them a series of statement cards. These statements – sometimes provocative (my neighbour on the left did it), sometimes ambiguous (no one suspects me) – form the heart of the game. The case on the selected card reveals how many of the statements made are true, and with this information, the real brainteaser begins: which combination of truths and lies results in a coherent overall picture that fulfils all the conditions? The game is entirely cooperative, so we read, combine, discuss various possibilities together. The mechanics are strictly logical – there are no elements of chance, no hidden dice rolls, just pure thinking. Each game is therefore a small test of whether we can recognise patterns, test hypotheses and argue deductively. After all, we still have to convince our fellow players of our opinion. The puzzle is solved with the help of a small ‘magnifying glass’ that is locked onto the selected case. By turning the card over, the solution can then be read. The more difficult the case, the more suspects come into play and also the clues become more ambiguous as the difficulty increases. I really liked what I saw of A Carnivore Did It!, I also did solve a fist case myself (still a very easy one). For me this was still quite easy to solve, but as the case number increases, I was told that it gets really tricky. There are a huge number of cards, so it's unlikely that you'll have to solve a case twice. Of course, the problem of one player dominating the discussion does exist in this type of game. I can think of one or two mathematicians in my gaming group who would be guilty of this. However, such a player still has to convince their fellow players and cannot simply impose their opinion. Quick to set up, quick to explain, quick to play – what more could you want from this type of game? Of course, HORRIBLE GUILD came also with a new expansion for Evergreen and a new variant for Similio this year. Both have been favourites for several years now and continue to enjoy great popularity. I also learned that the eagerly awaited The Queen's Dilemma will finally be released next year, that are really good news for us. The time of release should be some time around spring. However, the biggest new release this year was the tile-laying variant of Railroad Ink.: Overview: Railroad Tiles – Horrible Guild (booth 6C110) Railroad Tiles takes the familiar theme of track building, but transforms the roll & write principle into a tactical tile-laying game. The game is turn-based, with each turn divided into four phases: Firstly, in the turn setup phase, new track tiles are drawn from a bag and laid out in columns under a central station board. In addition, the placement markers a station board are moved forward – they determine which types of figures (cars, trains, travellers) may be used in this round for transport reasons. In the tile selection phase, players take turns choosing a column of track tiles, which they then all add to their own map. As in Railroad Ink, the tiles show different combinations of roads, railways and blank sides. They must be placed in the player's map in such a way that they are compatible with existing connections – motorways to motorways, railways to railways. The tiles may be rotated or mirrored to form the most efficient route networks possible. In the pawn placement phase, the networks come to life: depending on the active placement markers on the station board, players may place cars, trains or travellers on suitable spaces in their display. Of course, this earns prestige points, the victory points of the game, depending on how many similar figures are already connected to each other via the network. At the end of the round, unselected columns are upgraded with a star marker, making them more attractive in the next round, as this also counts towards victory points, but can also be used for special actions. The game ends after eight rounds. In addition to the points for pawns placed on the map, some special points are then awarded, and open route ends give minus points, as in its little brother. As I have learned today, the new variant has been very well received here in Essen so far, especially by players who have not really warmed to the roll & write principle. Even though Railroad Tiles is not as compact to take with you when travelling, I think the publisher has come up with a really good variant here, which I will certainly be playing more often in the coming weeks. By now, all the visitors had arrived in the halls, and in Hall 3, it was once again impossible to move quickly through the aisles. The sales booths with the big bargains were also very popular again today, as evidenced by the long queues in front of the entrances to the sales booths. But when you move slowly, you have a little more time to look around, and so I discovered the booth of DRAGON DAWN PRODUCTIONS among the crowds of visitors, where I met publisher and author Ren Multamäki. I have known Ren well for several years now, and so it happened that he asked me in the run-up to the fair if I could receive his new product, Mine 77, by post before the fair. Ren had sensed early on that there would be difficulties with deliveries from the Far East by land and by sea, so he wanted to play it safe. And so it came to pass that I received a whole bunch of parcels in the run-up to SPIEL, which then found their way safely and on time to the exhibition halls. Incidentally, I was able to test the game in advance of the fair, you can find the review on our website. At my last stop for the day, however, the situation was quite different, and I found a frustrated publisher, Tom Delmé, at the JUMPING TURTLE GAMES booth, who now, after two years of development, was left without his big new release, Twinstar Valley. Although the ship carrying the games had made it to Belgium on time by mid-October, a strike meant that the container was not processed any further. And then customs decided to take a closer look at this particular container with the games, and since then, virtually nothing has happened. The game will therefore not make it to Essen in time for the last days of the fair, which is a big disappointment for the small publisher. After all, there were still some sample copies on the tables, so at least you can try out the game. Lutz had joined me again and brought his family along too. And so we embarked on a test game with great enthusiasm, as the author David Ausloos took the time to introduce us to the game himself: Playtesting Session: Twinstar Valley – Jumping Turtle Games (booth 2B125) Twinstar Valley takes us to an idyllic valley in Norway, where sustainable agriculture and skilful planning go hand in hand. Behind the tranquil theme lies a tactical family to expert game that scores with simple rules but appealing tactical depth. The aim is to plant very special fruits, supply markets and secure advantages for future rounds through research. We play two ‘years’ in the valley, and each year, action discs are placed alternately on an action grid, triggering the main action for the respective player. Your discs must always be placed adjacent to your own discs already in place. In a four-player game, there are 7 action discs per game year, so theoretically you have 7 main actions. However, if you form a 2x2 square of your own tiles on the action grid when placing your disc, you must end your year immediately. By skilfully placing your own tiles, you can thus limit the range of action of your fellow players. There are four main actions available: building, growing, delivering and researching. However, you must of course achieve these on the action grid based on your own tiles, otherwise you will often be left with only the second-best action. Building is necessary in order to connect the plantations where the fruit grows to the marketplaces. To do this, you place up to two buses from your own supply on the hexagonal fields to create trade routes. These trade routes can then also be used by other players, but a toll must be paid to the other player for their use. In addition, the action can also be used to build marketplaces, which can then be used by all players. The Grow action replenishes the plantations. To do this, tiles are drawn from a bag and then distributed among the plantations as desired, up to a capacity limit of four tiles. There are four different fruits, which is important to note. Delivery is the actual core of the game. Deliveries can only be made from a plantation to a marketplace if the route between them is fully developed. The length of the route determines the number of fruits that can be delivered in one turn. In addition to the toll for using foreign routes, a fee must also be paid for using foreign marketplaces. And then each marketplace also has its own preferences in terms of fruit. Only fruit that meets these preferences may be stored on your own game board; all other fruit must be sold immediately for a mere thaler. Storage usually makes sense, because the true sales value of fruit depends on the market. If supply and demand match, this brings in much more than just one thaler. Finally, research can be used to unlock useful special abilities that open up more opportunities in the long term (e.g. two deliveries when choosing the Delivery action). Contracts, which provide additional income at the end of the game, round off the game further. In the simple, less tactical version, however, these can be omitted for the time being. Twinstar Valley played very smoothly and was not difficult for Lutz's daughters either. In the test round, we tried out a lot of things, with most players focusing on their own trade route and trying to deliver only via this route. However, it was already clear that the game could also be played in a much more tactical way by interrupting the trade routes of other players with your own bus markers and thus earning money from customs duties on each delivery. It definitely offers enough depth to keep even experienced players engaged, but remains light-footed and easy to learn. Even though the game will probably not be available here in Essen, I recommend stopping by the both or adding the game to your watch list if you are interested in a tactical little building game that is easy to learn and quick to play. I definitely hope that both the author and publisher will be able to make up for this year's delivery problems with sufficient demand after SPIEL. And with that, I have reached the end of today and will now quickly go to bed so that I can appear fresh and lively at the fair tomorrow and present you with more interesting news in the evening. Stay tuned! Yours, Ralf It’s Ladies’ Day! For those of you who have followed my SPIEL reports over the years, Ladies’ Day is a standing ritual of every SPIEL. For one day my wife Nicole will accompany me into the halls, and we will stop and play wherever she likes. For me this is always a very special experience because my wife usually picks out games which I might have guessed. SPIEL doesn’t feel complete for me without this shared experience, and we did it today because Nicole will attend and online seminar during the weekend. However, before even entering the halls, I first had some to do some groceries shopping. Nicole had been sick over the last few days, and she just recovered enough for our trip into SPIEL today. So I took my bike to do the shopping, because the streets where our house is located were totally blocked with cars of SPIEL visitors who desperately wanted to get to a parking. Passing the main entrance of Messe Essen on my bike about 30 minutes before opening, a really long queue of people was waiting outside (indeed Ralf's queue), and this hadn’t subsided when I returned half an hour later. To be honest, you need to be here either early, or you should come at least 45 minutes after opening. This might be a bit different at the other entrances, but usually a bit of waiting is part of the show. So Nicole and I entered the SPIEL at about 11 AM through a different entrance, and there were no problems with waiting people anymore. We begun our expedition through the halls in Hall 3, but the first game where we stopped actually was something which I could have predicted with 100 percent certainty. Nicole came to a full stop when she discovered Koi from DV GAMES, and luckily one table just had finished a demo round so that we found two seats. Introduction: KOI – DV GAMES (booth 3J400) Koi, the new release from Italian publisher DV GAMES, immerses players in the art of breeding and caring for ornamental carp, creatures revered especially in Japan for their extraordinary beauty. Essentially a tile placement puzzle, the game immediately conveys the sense of serenity and contemplation associated with Japanese gardens, yet beneath the calm surface lies a nice combination of placement decisions, timing, and a bit of resource management. Players gradually assemble ponds from hexagonal tiles, populating them with koi of different sizes and enhancing their ponds with foliage, water-lilies, lanterns, bridges, statues etc.. The result is both visually stunning and mechanically challenging, because each placement shapes not only the look of the pond but also its scoring potential. But let’s first go back to the year 2023. In that year DV GAMES published Bonsai, a game by the same creative team which I covered in my report from SPIEL 23. In Bonsai, players grow miniature trees by combining wood, leaf, flower, and fruit tiles, with the bonsai trees expanding organically from their pots. The players can acquire cards which provide tools, helpers, and other opportunities to cultivate more efficiently, and points are awarded for the arrangement of tiles, the achievement of goals, and parchment cards collected along the way. What made Bonsai stand out was the way its simple turn structure – meditating to acquire cards and resources, or cultivating to expand the tree – embodied the patience at the heart of bonsai artistry. It was accessible, quick to play, and suffused with a somewhat contemplative atmosphere. Apart from the similar theme, Koi now inherits the fundamental turn structure, but deliberately broadens and deepens the scope of the game. Once again, turns alternate between meditating, which means drafting cards and gaining resources, or working, which involves placing tiles and shaping a player’s garden landscape. There is again a shared card row from which the players can acquire cards, creating tension as players have to weigh the gaining of resources and other improvements against the placement of new tiles, koi and other landscape elements. The cards give the players access to a variety of benefits, ranging from new tiles or coins to different kinds of Helper cards. Especially the helpers are quite important for setting up a player’s “landscaping engine”, because a player may trigger the abilities of all his Helpers when he chooses to work. So, a player with a greater workforce will develop his landscape much more efficiently, but since the game’s end will trigger when either the deck of cards or the stock of koi is used up, a player who meditates too much to gain additional cards will not be able to score enough points to compete for victory in the final scoring. At this point the differences between both games become more and more visible. Where Bonsai focuses on organic growth with fairly direct placement rules, Koi introduces a layered system of tile placement and economic management. Each player controls a sensei board with limited storage, forcing careful handling of tiles and koi until they are placed in the pond. Coins are needed to purchase koi, while luck tokens serve as versatile bonuses, granting extra tiles or koi at critical moments. These additional systems give “Koi” a stronger sense of tactical maneuvering and resource conversion, without sacrificing the contemplative tone. In addition, the scoring rules and the handling of additional goals is much more intricate in Koi. For example, koi must be placed onto free water areas of the right size, and their value increases when surrounded by water-lilies or when completely enclosed by water. In this fashion almost every placement must be seen under the adjacency rules, challenging the players to consider both the value of their current placement and their future actions. The additional goals also were quite straightforward in Bonsai, being based mainly on a “be the first to claim it” challenge. However, in Koi many of the goals are tied not simply to accumulation, but to geometric arrangements – groups of empty water hexes, chains of path tiles, or koi positioned relative to special structures, making it much more difficult to claim the different types of goals. This strengthens my general impression of the game as a dynamic placement puzzle, where each placement matters both for immediate efficiency and for future flexibility. And in addition, the goals reward the players not only with points but also with special tiles and 3D landscape elements with bridges or statues or trees, so that the game creates a quite strong visual impression the further it proceeds. What makes the comparison of both games particularly interesting is how the two games start on a similar foundation regarding the basic turn structure and theme, but then branch off into tile placement mechanisms of different depth and breadth. Both are built on a meditative step sequence (prepare, then create, then admire the unfolding beauty of what has been built), and both reinforce their themes through scoring systems that reward harmony and completeness. However, where Bonsai embodies elegance and simplicity, Koi embraces depth and variety. The pond is more unpredictable, koi come in different sizes, goals demand intricate patterns, and resources are tighter. The playtime also is slightly longer, and the experience is correspondingly richer in tactical decisions. Being quite fond of Bonsai, for Nicole and me the shift still is refreshing. Koi is not just a reskin of its older sibling, but a distinct evolution. It retains the contemplative spirit and the satisfying rhythm of growth while introducing new challenges that feel fresh and rewarding. Designing a koi pond requires more than balance – it demands foresight, resource juggling, and a good eye for the perfect placement. The final tableau tells a story not only of natural beauty but of the players’ strategic decisions woven into the pond’s very layout. In the end, Koi succeeds precisely because it builds on the foundation laid by Bonsai without repeating it. The two games form a thematic and mechanical pair: one rooted in the patient cultivation of trees, the other in the dynamic interplay of water, fish, and ornamental structures. Together, they showcase DV GAMES’ talent for marrying meditative themes with clever, approachable gameplay. On its own, Koi offers a rich, puzzle-like experience that feels both calming and stimulating – a garden of water and living jewels where every move ripples outward. Continuing our way through Hall 3, we shortly stopped at the booth of TABLETOPPER GAMES (booth 3R130) where my friends David and Maximilian from Munich proudly presented a new set of enemy miniatures for their apocalyptic adventure game Under Our Sun. I have featured the game in my report from SPIEL 24, and it has seen quite a bit of use by Nicole and me since last year. It’s still tough to win a mission, but we have nearly finished with the missions included in the main game. David and Maximilian had run a successful Gamefound campaign for the second edition of Under Our Sun earlier this year, and the miniatures now are the first part of the items which will be delivered. In next spring the second wave will come with new content (mission, cards, etc) for the game, and owners of the 1st edition also could order an upgrade pack which will update the game to the slightly changed elements of 2nd edition. However, there are still plans for new content. An underground expansion actually is in planning, and it will add a second subterranean level to the game. Many interesting items can be found in these forgotten basements, but of course the creatures lurking down there won’t be easy to overcome. If plans go right, this new addition will be available at the beginning of 2027, and there is even a huge campaign expansion under development for later release. Just around the corner from Maximilian and David Nicole made one of her special unusual discoveries. Drawn by the sight of the strange box, we stopped at the booth of LEMERY GAMES (booth 3Q125). Being as fond as myself of thematic games, Nicole also has a sweet spot for abstract games. LEMERY GAMES was presenting here at the world their LUDOS Ancient Games of the World collection, boxes containing four smaller boxes with mini games. The boxes are thematically arranged after continents, and so the four games found in each box actually will be based on very old traditional games from different countries on one continent. Nicole was intrigued by this concept, and so we bagged the Asian-themed box. As said, the games in there are based on old, sometimes ancient designs, but LEMERY has tried to clear up and present the rules in a way to be more appealing to modern gamers. Only slight editing was done to keep the games true to their original spirit, but on purchase we also gained small booster packs with additional rules and components which we could add. Certainly an intriguing concept, and to be honest I am quite eager to learn how these games will play. Before changing halls, I also discovered a game at the booth of FROSTED GAMES booth (booth 3D200) for which I took a mental notice to come back during the weekend. Das Phoenix Projekt (orig: Phoenix New Horizon) looked like a rather challenging combination of a Euro-style game with a deep thematic background, and this certainly is a combo just to my liking. I will keep you informed on this one! The animated movie Flow actually was one of our most liked movies this year, and in Hall 5 Nicole was delighted to discover a boardgame based on the film at the booth of BRAIN GAMES (booth 5A110). Flow is a visually striking animated adventure that follows animals navigating a dramatically flooded world, rendered without dialogue but rich in atmosphere and emotion. It has been widely recognised for its aesthetic ambition and captivating storytelling, and so it’s no wonder that Nicole got curious when she discovered the game. The board game Flow adapts that setting into a real‐time cooperative tabletop experience. Players work together to connect the four stranded animals in the corner of the board to a central boat tile by drawing and placing path‐tiles, while racing against the clock and avoiding waves that periodically wash away placed pieces. During round of just one minute, the players take turns either discovering and placing a path tile or playing one of their precious hand cards. This may sound like an easy challenge, but you have to consider that quite a few of these tiles actually show obstacles which effectively form a dead end, and all these tiles still have to be placed at the board. In addition, after the end of a round, tidal waves flood parts of the boards, and so two dice decide which row and which column will be emptied of tiles, destroying part of the work of the players. The game is lost when the players run out of tiles before connecting all four animals to the boat, and so they have to work quick and effectively to avoid the impending doom. They also can use their hand cards to gain small benefits like replacing an already placed tile or protecting a tile from destruction, but still the clock works merciless against them. Nicole and I barely won our game with a meagre 5 tiles left, and although we usually don’t go for games with a real-time element, this was different for us in Flow. Here the rounds of just one minute are intense but not overly long, and we had a possibility to think how to proceed when the tidal waved had crashed in. For us this mixture of stressful acting and quiet discussion phases was a rather nice experience, and so the game went home with us. In combining the film’s mood of nature in peril with quick decision-making and cooperative tension, BRAIN GAMES have really nicely translated the cinematic setting into an accessible and engaging family game. And if the first win comes easy, the difficulty still can be raised by adding missions cards to fulfil. Moving on, Nicole discovered in Hall 4 a game which we had lost sight of. We are both big fans of the movie Brotherhood of the Wolf. It is a French historical thriller that blends mystery and horror elements within the true-life legend of the Beast of Gévaudan. Set in 18th-century rural France, it follows naturalist and adventurer Grégoire de Fronsac as he investigate a series of brutal killings blamed on a monstrous creature. Beneath the hunt lies a web of superstition, political intrigue, and secret societies, making the film quite captivating and atmospheric. As it seemed, this was our afternoon for movie-based games, because we had seen a boardgame based on a legend some years ago here at the SPIEL. It had been in French, but now finally German publisher KOALLA SPIELE (booth 4J500) has made a localized German version of it. So finally the game La Bête, featuring an asymmetric hunt between one beast-player and up to four investigator-players, was added to our collection. Returning once again to Hall 3, I had to leave Nicole just for a bit because I had a very special appointment with my longtime friend Ignacy Trzewiczek. Ignacy and his friends had invited me for a short interview into their video podcast Board Games Insider as they recorded an episode right here at the SPIEL. I had gladly accepted the invitation, although only for a short break in our Ladies’ Day SPIEL visit. However, in the meanwhile Nicole had discovered another rather special game in Hall 3, and when I arrived she had organized two seats for us at a table where a round was about to start. So I sat down and joined my wife for a game of Emberheart, a game which I had already been aware of since the New Games Expo on Wednesday. Playtesting session: Emberheart – MINDCLASH GAMES (booth 3G115) Set on a lush island where dragons still live under the watchful care of the Dragon Ambassador, the game Emberheart presents itself with a strikingly fitting and coherent thematic implementation. The game plunges players into a world devoted to rescuing and restoring the Dragon community that inhabits the island. Every mechanic, from the recruitment of Hirelings to the ascension of Dragon Companions, reflects the narrative of champions striving to free dragons from poachers and restore balance to Emberheart. The sense of heroism indeed is woven deeply into the design, so that, for example, taming dragons on the wild the Mountain feels arduous and perilous, reflected mechanically by losing Wardens or suffering burns through the Flame track (after all, where there are dragons, there is fire!). On the other hand, establishing Preserves to house the Dragons conveys a sense of peace and harmony, setting a highly satisfactory and nature-oriented general tone for the game. And already on first view, the stunning artwork elevates the experience even further, with each location and card type visually distinct yet harmoniously part of the same world, helping players to feel drawn into the game’s story rather than merely working its systems. Mechanically, Emberheart runs on a refined and flexible form of worker placement. Players alternate turns taking one of three actions: sending a Party of Hirelings to a Common Location, using a Special Location for an instant reward, or claiming an Aide for a unique ability. The rhythm of play thus alternates between long-term planning - sending workers to contest limited rewards - and short-term tactical responses through Special Locations or Aides. The core twist to the worker placement system lies in how many Hirelings a player commits: each Location has numbered spaces, and the size of the party (from one to five tokens) determines which spaces can be taken. Larger parties of Hirelings not only occupy higher-numbered spaces but also resolve earlier during the Reward phase, granting access to better cards and rewards which can be gained at that location. This makes every placement a question of both timing and investment - sending more workers increases speed and control, but drains the pool of Hirelings available for future rounds or to withstand poacher raids. Hirelings come in two broad groups: Grunts and Experts. Grunts are the backbone of every operation, because they are versatile, cheap to field, and usable anywhere on the board. However, they are discarded after claiming rewards, representing their expendable nature. Experts, on the other hand, are specialized and persistent, returning to the player after use but restricted to certain tasks. Scouts handle diplomacy and subtlety, able to operate in the Heroes’ Guild, Tavern, and Poachers’ Camp; Rangers are dragon riders, active in the Garrison and Preserve; Wardens are mountain sentinels, exclusive to the perilous slopes of Dragon Mountain. The distinction creates a strong interplay between accessibility and efficiency: while Grunts offer flexibility and volume, Experts demand careful assignment to their fitting locations but repay it through permanence and focus. Upgrading between these types through Gear tokens introduces another layer of resource tension, rewarding efficiency over expansion. The island of Emberheart itself is represented through six Common Locations, each with its own function and thematic coherence. At the Heroes’ Guild, players can recruit unique characters whose abilities and endgame scoring conditions define much of a player’s strategy. The Tavern supplies new Hirelings while influencing Flame, capturing the idea of rallying locals with both camaraderie and heartful drinks. The Poachers’ Camp provides opportunities to rescue captured dragons, whereas the Mountain is the most dramatic setting. Its multi-level structure allows players to risk Wardens and Flame to tame multiple dragons, echoing both the danger and the reward of venturing deep into the wild. The Preserve offers sanctuaries for rescued dragons and boosts the attributed of the players Dragon Companions, tying conservation to character development, while the Garrison translates the champions’ collective defense efforts into tangible progress and Glory. These six zones create a satisfying blend of tactical choice and thematic storytelling: every action feels not just mechanically purposeful, but narratively meaningful. Two Special Locations - the Warehouse, granting Gear, and the Firestation, granting new Grunts at the cost of increased Flame - complement the core map with resource-focused trade-offs. Each player character is accompanied by a Dragon Companion, a growing ally whose attributes of Strength, Senses, and Speed shape how efficiently Hirelings act. The Dragon Companion can be placed with a party of Hirelings at a location, giving the player the opportunity to use his companion’s abilities. Strength can substitute for missing workers, Senses can yield bonus Gear when placed wisely, and Speed can mitigate Flame accumulation if the companion is the first to arrive at a location. Improving these tracks through play not only grants placement advantages but also endgame Glory, turning the dragons into both strategic tools and long-term scoring engines. The Companion’s development also nicely mirrors the game’s narrative arc, from fledgling assistance in early rounds to indispensable force by the finale, its presence transforms the tempo of worker placement and rewards consistent investment. Adding a crucial tactical layer are the Aides, the Dragon Ambassador’s loyal assistants who can be claimed instead of performing a standard action. Each Aide offers an immediate and powerful benefit: the Leader allows a player to reposition a Party and secure first player status, the Defender removes dangerous raid effects, the Survivalist provides Gear and tiebreaking power, and the Healer cools the player’s rising Flame. However, claiming an Aide is not only an act of opportunity - it is also a trigger for pacing the round. When the last available Aide is taken, the Action phase ends after the current turn. This introduces an interesting timing puzzle: a player may seize an Aide early to gain its bonus or to cut others off from critical placements, but doing so too soon can deprive everyone (including themselves) of further actions. Managing when to take an Aide thus becomes a subtle but decisive aspect of mastering Emberheart’s rhythm, because this is a point where the game certainly deviates from the usual running-out-of-workers trigger. The endgame scoring aggregates several interwoven elements: the Glory value of all rescued Dragons, the highest unlocked tier on each Attribute track of the Dragon Companions, completed Garrison cards, fulfilled Hero conditions, and Flame adjustments. Flame, conceptually representing both physical burns from the continuous handling of dragons, functions as a relative measure: the player who finishes with the most Flame gains no extra Glory, while those who manage to stay “cooler” (and thus handle dragons better) earn additional points based on their distance from the most scorched champion. This inversion where learning and mastery yield prestige, fits beautifully within the theme of natural balance and preservation which is present everywhere in the game. Strategically, Emberheart encourages divergent paths to victory. One approach emphasizes constant recruitment and turnover: a Grunt-heavy strategy thrives on sheer action volume, leveraging the Firestation and Tavern to flood the board with short-lived workers. This route feels dynamic but risky, as it raises Flame quickly and leaves few Hirelings for defending against raids. The opposing style leans toward Expert-based sustainability, relying on upgraded specialists and Gear efficiency to perform fewer but more potent actions. Layered atop these are Heroes, whose variable abilities and endgame bonuses can dramatically reshape both tactics and priorities. Some reward broad dragon collections, others specific attribute growth or efficient resource cycling. For advanced players, asymmetric player boards introduce further variety, granting unique skills that subtly alter how players manipulate Flame or upgrade their Dragon Companions. Not only the game’s sound and versatile mechanics, but also the artwork deserves recognition not merely for its beauty but for how it reinforces theme and readability. The illustrations capture both the warmth of communal life in Emberheart and the perilous majesty of its dragons, while the graphic design ensures that every icon and color connection between Heroes, Dragons, and Garrison cards feels intuitive. Together, these visual and mechanical harmonies make Emberheart an excellent example of a thematic euro-style game that breathes life into every turn. It is a thoughtful blend of tension and wonder, a contest of ambition tempered by care, where even the smallest spark can ignite a legend. For Nicole and me, this was one of the most beautiful games which we have seen in years, and I can’t wait to get it back onto our table in order to explore the different ways to victory in more detail. With the afternoon drawing on, Nicole and I decided to tour the rest of the halls before leaving, and in Hall 5 we wanted to say hello once again to the team of KUMAGERA SEISAKU (booth 5L500). Nicole was quite taken by the cute little game, Yotei, and luckily a table was just finishing so that we could join a game. Playtesting session: Yotei – KUMAGERA SEISAKU (booth 5L500) Set at the foot of Mount Yōtei in Hokkaido, Yotei by KUMAGERA SEISAKU is a board game that radiates a deep affection for its place of origin. The mountain, also known as Ezo-Fuji for its elegant, symmetrical shape, has long been a symbol of the Niseko region, and this game captures that sense of serene majesty through its theme of town-building in the shadow of the mountain. The designers have clearly sought to translate the beauty and rhythm of life in Hokkaido into a tactile, strategic experience. Everything about the presentation - the setting, the tone, even the care in the cute visual design - speaks to a project born from genuine local pride. It feels like a love letter to the region, and when talking to the team at the booth Nicole and I couldn’t help it but admire the dedication of the creators in crafting a game that is both strategic and deeply rooted in their fondness of their home island. The premise of Yotei is deceptively simple: players develop their own mountain town, seeking to make it as charming as possible. On each turn, players gain cards from a shared offer and add them to their developing town economy. The core of the game does not lie in the arrangement of those cards, but in what they produce. Each card belongs to a tier, and those tiers form an economic ladder. First tier cards generate basic landscapes around Mount Yōtei: forests, fields, and other foundational features of the region. These landscapes are not worth much on their own when it comes to Charm points, but they are essential because they enable access to the next tier. Second tier cards become available only when the right landscapes have been collected by a player, and these second tier cards then generate more specific resources. Those specific resources in turn unlock the third tier cards. The third tier cards are the most valuable elements in the game and are the real engine of victory, because they grant the highest amounts of Charm points,and the game comes to it’s end when a player has claimed two third tier cards. The structure is therefore strongly developmental. It begins with humble terrain, moves into more specific premises, and culminates in prestige. Because of that tiered structure, the rhythm of play has a satisfying arc. In the early game, players focus on securing the right first tier cards to establish the landscape base they need. The middle game shifts attention to converting those broad foundations into more refined resources through the second tier. The late game is about turning those refined resources into high-Charm achievements through the third tier. Planning each round is the central challenge, because the players each may claim a card in turn, and so question is which cards to acquire at which moment. There is a bit of economy included as well, because some cards have a price in potatoes (the game’s currency), and so players sometimes are forced to use one or more of their round actions to harvest potatoes instead of claiming a card. At this point the game features an unexpected amount of player interaction, because there are multiple ways in which the players can hamper and block each other. Directly blocking others by claiming a card is one thing, but there are also cards which will be auctioned off if several players want to claim them. This auction is done in secrecy, with each player placing an amount of potatoes into tiny boxes which are then placed onto the contested card. At the end of the round, when all cards are claimed, the auctions are resolved, and here my wife always had the upper hand - I just wasn’t investing enough potatoes. However, there are other possibilities to block the intentions of the other players. All cards in the three tiers actually can be turned over before a claim token is placed on them. First tier cards are turned into simple landscapes, second tier cards into potato income cards, and third level cards into vending machines which just generate a single Charm point. These gains should be seen like side effects, because the main intention when turning a card often will be to block a player who has the matching resources from claiming it. This way a player can be slowed on his way to gain third tier cards, but a totally destructive strategy doesn’t pay off either, because a player who just does turning actions will fall even more behind. And since the layout and the starting player change with each new round, no one can permanently be blocked from third tier cards. Some cards also give the players and additional Mystery card when they are claimed. These Mystery cards introduce uncertainty and suspense, since they inject small surprises into the economy of the game, offering effects that can shift priorities or create small tactical pivots. Stealing potatoes or doing two actions in a row are just examples of the simple, direct effects which can be found on these cards, but they certainly keep the experience from becoming purely procedural. The development chain of tier one to tier three is always the backbone, but Mystery cards ensure that the path is never entirely predictable. What stands out is how smoothly all of this plays. The turn flow is clear, and once the tier system is understood — landscapes first, then resources, then high-Charm developments — the rest of the rules tend to follow naturally. There is little mechanical friction. At the table, play settles into an easy pace: gain a card, generate what it provides, aim for the next tier, watch Charm accumulate. Despite that smoothness, the tension is very real, even with just two players. With only two people involved, the race up the tiers can feel surprisingly tight. If one player manages to lock in the right landscapes early, that player can press into the second and third tiers more quickly, threatening to pull ahead in Charm. The other player feels immediate pressure to respond, either by contesting key auction cards or by using Mystery cards to find a way back into contention. That dynamic gives even a quieter session a sense of urgency. In the end, Yotei succeeds in combining elegance, interaction, and a distinctive local atmosphere into a remarkably coherent whole. Its economic chain from landscapes to refined developments feels natural and rewarding, while the subtle competitive elements prevent the game from ever becoming static. Beneath the calm surface of growing a town at the foot of Mount Yotei lies a quiet intensity — a steady race for efficiency and timing that keeps every decision meaningful. What makes the experience memorable is the sense of balance the designers have achieved: thoughtful mechanics supported by a heartfelt theme. It is easy to see that KUMAGERA SEISAKU has created not only a fine strategy game, but also a warm tribute to the beauty and creativity of Hokkaido itself. Of course Nicole had beaten me in our round of Yotei. But some things just must stay the same… This ends our Ladies’ Day. We hope you had fun with us roaming the halls! Important notice: in the night from Saturday 25th to Sunday 26th of October Daylight saving time ends in Germany. This means that all clocks will be turned back from 3 AM to 2 AM. If you don’t remember this, you will be at the SPIEL a full hour too early!!! Saturday, 25th of October: Third Convention Day Once again, I would like to say a warm welcome back to this remarkable show here in Essen. Last year, we witnessed several unfortunate visitors at the gates of the exhibition centre: for the first time, visitors were forced to leave before entrance again because all tickets for the convention had been sold out. This year, Merz Verlag announced early on that tickets would again only be available online and that visitors would not be admitted to the halls if the days were sold out. Merz Verlag also kept potential visitors regularly informed about this in a wide variety of media. And that seems to have worked quite well in general, at least in the last few days. Today, however, I saw a woman desperately pleading with the staff at the entrance because she hadn't heard about the restrictions and had made a special trip from Münster (about 100 km away) to visit the fair. Now, 100 km is still manageable, but the woman probably also encountered some traffic jams today and probably already paid for her parking ticket. It's annoying in any case, but hopefully an isolated incident. Anyhow, I got safely and in time into the halls and headed straight for the SKELLIG GAMES booth. The publisher has grown rapidly in recent years, at least if you look at the output of games in recent years. In terms of personnel, the situation is certainly different, as many people often believe that there is a large team of employees behind most publishers. However, this is probably only true for the really big publishers. Nevertheless, SKELLIG GAMES has recently released some really interesting and major titles, most of which are localisations of other publishers' games. But its own developments are also taking shape more and more. The latest of these is Prestige, for which a Kickstarter campaign was successfully founded in late summer this year. The late pledge is currently available, and the almost complete prototype is also being presented here in Essen. So let's jump right in and see what the game has is all about: Introduction: Prestige – Skellig Games (booth 3C300) In Prestige, each player's goal is to build a magnificent castle. After all, we are in the Rococo period and, as influential aristocrats, we naturally want to impress our close and distant relatives. It's all about prestige, as the name of the game already tells us. But first, we start with pure grasslands, so the castle has to be built from the ground up. We have 5 instructors and three game years at our disposal, divided into the four seasons. Each round, these instructors are sent to different locations on the main board, where they can hire craftsmen, negotiate contracts, get resources and improve skills. The decisive factor here is the timing of when we send the instructors to the respective locations. The earlier you do this in a round, the stronger the effect of the chosen action. However, acting early also means that you will be later in the next round, as all instructors are moved from the actions at the end of the round to the turn order section of the next round. To ensure that this works smoothly, the game board is designed as a high-quality double-layer board, and the playing pieces can be moved directly from the action fields to the turn order section. Each castle has three floors, which can also be equipped with beautiful marble, Chandelier and other valuable equipment from the inside during the course of the game. However, the upper floors can only be accessed once the craftsmen have developed accordingly, so research should not be neglected. In any case, the game looks already quite impressive in this phase and the castles are faithfully designed in detail for the Rococo period. Stefan Kretschmann paid close attention to this. Stefan is the author of the game and explained to me that this was ensured simply because he once trained as a stonemason. But that was several years ago and he has been working as a magician for many years now. And as a game designer, of course, as you can clearly see from Stefan's proud expression in the photo. Another game SKELLIG GAMES produced by their own (it’s a coproduction with QUEEN GAMES) has already been released for this SPIEL. It’s name is Five Families and it is designed by Friedemann Friese: Playtesting Session: Five Families – Skellig Games (booth 3C300) Five Families is set in New York in the 1930s, during the Prohibition era: each player takes on the role of a mafia family struggling to build maximum influence in the underworld. To this end, the city is divided into different districts, each consisting of three areas. During the game, we then try to exert the greatest influence on a district by taking control of the areas. At the beginning, each family receives a certain amount of money, mobsters, and a territory card, which they then claim. The game then follows a strict sequence of three phases per player turn. First of all, control can be exercised over territories that were claimed in one of the previous rounds. Of course, this costs money, namely £200 per mobster that you have placed on the territory card with your claim. But why should you place more than one mobster on a map? Well, for one thing, there are maps with higher claims or higher government police surveillance. And in these areas, you lose up to four mobsters when you take control. However, you must always keep one mobster left over to place on the territory after taking control. Secondly, it is also helpful to place more mobsters on a map to prevent another player from claiming the territory, because claiming doesn’t mean it’s safe for you. Once a player claims the same area with more mobsters it moves over to him. Only taking control means that you are really the big boss in an area. All you need to do this is one more mobster than the current claimant of the area. This area claim can be exercised in the next phase on all areas that are currently on display or that are held by other players but have not yet been taken over. During your turn, you can either take an unclaimed district or take over a district already claimed by another family, provided you place more gangsters there. Alternatively, you can draw money or gangsters from the supply or place additional gangsters on one of your own already occupied districts. At the end of a turn, the districts you control generate income – often in the form of barrels, which serve as wild cards and can be used as money or additional gangsters. Once all districts in a neighbourhood are occupied by gangsters, a scoring phase follows: only the family with the majority remains, the others lose their influence markers there. After a short familiarisation phase, the game can be played smoothly. The turns are relatively short. In our first game, we definitely noticed that it is important to maintain a balance between aggressive deployment of our mobsters and saving sufficient resources, otherwise you run the risk of quickly losing areas that you initially claimed. In any case, it became clear that Five Families is not just an area control game, but rather a game in which you always need to have enough resources in the form of mobsters and money to remain capable of acting. After the appointment, I had a little time to look around the convention halls. For several years now, I have found it interesting that more and more board games are finding their way into the digital gaming world. For a long time, it was exactly the opposite, as the Anno games exemplify. At this fair, for example, the digital computer game based on the analogue board game Frosthaven was presented here in Essen: But back to the analogue game, which then led me to ARES Games. There, Jakob, an experienced player and explainer, first introduced me to the latest expansion to Sword & Sorcery: Overview: Sword & Sorcery: Abyssal Legends – Ares Games (booth 3A115) As explained to me by experienced player Jakob, Sword & Sorcery: Abyssal Legends marks the end of a long and epic journey. The game is indeed intended to be the final chapter in the successful game series and sets the stage for a truly grand finale. Players accompany their heroes on a new mission that begins as a routine assignment but quickly turns into a dark tale involving a sunken city, strange creatures and insane enemies. Thematically, the game clearly draws inspiration from Lovecraft – without completely abandoning its roots as a heroic dungeon crawler. For example, the heroes are suddenly given pistols and other firearms as weapons. The expansion in the large box provides a number of new locations. For example, the first task is to cross over to new shores by ship. This is linked to a kind of water and underwater world that offers space for many new stories and monsters never seen before. In addition to the new firearms, behaviour is redefined by new fear and phobia rules. In any case, there are quite a few new rules, so that the complex system can only really be mastered by those who are familiar with the game. But that's intentional and correct, because the game assumes that the heroes from previous campaigns have already reached a considerable level of experience, around level 7 or higher. Abyssal Legends is therefore not a simple expansion, but the culmination of a long development of narratives, hero development and numerous side quests. Of course, the enemies have also grown, and their strength is particularly impressive. This is also reflected in the size of the enemies; the final boss alone takes up almost half of the really large gamebox. A real novelty for this year is Wonder Weapons. For several years now, ARES GAMES has made a name for its Quartermaster General, an easily accessible game based on the Second World War. For me, it's always important that games like this convey something historical in addition to the combat, so that, ideally, players can learn something from the events in a playful way in order to avoid future wars. In my opinion, Quartermaster General succeeds in this quite well by incorporating many historical events into the cards. Personally, this encourages me to research history in order to understand why decisions were made in a certain way and how confrontations might have been avoided. Introduction: WunderWaffen – Ares Games (booth 3A115) WunderWaffen focuses on the final months of the Second World War. Europe is still largely occupied by German troops, but is already beginning to collapse on the front lines and is therefore doing everything it can to design new wonder weapons that could somehow still influence the outcome of the war. We all now that this didn’t happen, but plans were truly be made. As a matter of fact, the game is highly asymmetrical from the outset, as one player takes on the Germans and the others take on the various Allied factions. The game clearly stipulates that the Allied forces will become stronger and stronger as the game progresses and that the German player will therefore lose one territory after another. The Germanplayer's game therefore consists of resisting as long as possible while conducting research on the wonder weapons. If this research is successful, the player can still win even if most territories, and possibly even the capital, are lost. Here, too, you can find many historical events that encourage further research. The Allied side, on the other hand, must compete with each other, but in the game, as in history, competition is already emerging in the late months, which, as we know, had a strong impact on the post-war period. Each Allied nation therefore takes care to claim as many advantages as possible for itself and to cooperate unconditionally only where appropriate. In the game, this is implemented in such a way that three counters are always placed in a player's turn, two of which are played for their own nation, while the third is turned over and gives another nation a turn. It is therefore always necessary to weigh up which actions you really want to use yourself and which actions you can skip and instead grant to your opponent. Interestingly, battles in the game do not involve dice or other random elements; in fact, they are not a focus at all. All you have to do is place stronger units in an area (units of equal strength are sufficient for the Allied forces) to remove the enemy unit from the game and take over the area. Political influence is also possible and should not be taken lightly. Allied forces gain ground in the course of the game, in particular by uncovering various historical events, while the German player must concentrate mainly on research. An interesting detail is that in a two-player game, the German player also takes on the American nation and thus tries to score as many points as possible on both sides. Ok, that was heavy stuff, but the roll, flip and write game TEDOKU, which I can warmly recommend to all Tetris-loving board gamers, shows that ARES GAMES can also be completely different games, here is the proof: After so much conflict, I was now in the mood for a change. And so I wandered aimlessly through the halls in search of one or two undiscovered gems. This brought me to Hall 1, where many paint manufacturers had found their temporary home. At the Warhammer booth, you could try them out and paint a miniature for free within 30 minutes. As you can see, a lot of visitors took advantage of this opportunity: I was now in the mood for something a little lighter, more peaceful, perhaps something with animals or agriculture. What could be more fitting than the vastness of nowhere, which I actually found at the 2TOMATOE GAMES booth: First Impression: Paddy – 2Tomatoe Games (booth 5F525) In Paddy, players work together to create a landscape of rice terraces, which is built up layer by layer over the course of the game, on which waterfalls form and which is gradually populated by our animals. To do this, each player plays a Paddy card from their hand in a round, which defines the shape of the terrace to be placed, and a day and night card, which defines on which side of the general playing field the terrace field must be placed. When placing the terrace, it is important to ensure that no opposing animals or waterfalls are covered. In addition, the higher terraces must be completely built up, so that no hollow spaces are created. In this way, a living landscape with different levels, the terraces, gradually grows. In the second phase, animals from your own supply may then be placed on the terrace you have just placed, whereby certain placement rules depending on the animals placed by the other players must be observed. Animals are important in the last phase of your turn, as they provide victory points in the harvest phase. This is especially true if they are also supplied with sufficient water, which is where waterfalls come into play. Waterfalls can be placed on the edges of terraces after the animals, provided there is no other waterfall on the respective terrace. As already mentioned, a harvest phase follows at the end of a player's turn. Here, the player with the most animals on each terrace is counted. This player is then awarded victory points depending on the height and water supply of the terrace. Personally, I find the theme very appealing, and the resulting landscape is simply beautiful to look at. While playing, you can also feel a little bit how water, height and area interact to enable life in this model mountain region. At the same time, however, Paddy remains a tactical game: you place animals on the terraces that are created to secure majorities, and strategically place waterfalls that change the terrain not only visually but also in terms of game mechanics. The game's author, Alberto Camano Pascual, was visibly nervous but also proud to be able to promote the game here in Essen. Six years of work went into his debut work, a labour that, in my opinion, was definitely worth it. After the game, my original plan was to pause in this quiet environment, so I temporarily left the exhibition halls. In recent years, the Content Creators' Meet & Play has been a welcome distraction from the madness of the fair and an opportunity to exchange a few words with one or two acquaintances in peace and quiet. But there was no longer any chance of peace and quiet in the large side hall of the exhibition centre. The noise level of the assembled crowd was almost equal to that of the exhibition halls. Nevertheless, I had a few interesting conversations here and also received a few tips for the last day. Anyway, it was time for me to move on, as I had another appointment that I admittedly didn't know exactly what to expect before: First Impression: Malediction – Loot Studios (booth 1F611) I met with the Head of Games at the booth, where I first asked where the publisher was based. So I learnt that Loot Studios was founded in Brazil in 2020 and is now the declared global market leader for 3D-printable miniatures and terrain STL files, which are particularly interesting for miniatures and roleplaying gamers. With the release of Malediction, the studio has now also become known for its miniature card game thanks to a very successful Kickstarter campaign. Players take on the role of powerful ‘seekers’ who move their units across modular battlefields. Four different factions are currently available. Each faction has its own deck of cards, which plays very differently, as some factions specialise in ranged combat or spells that can be used from a distance, while other factions prefer melee combat. The terrain also has a decisive influence on the course of the battle. There are currently three battle modes: 1vs1, 2vs2 and 2vs1, the latter certainly being the most interesting, but also the most difficult mode in terms of balance. The combat system is designed for continuous progress. This means that there are practically no missed attacks. Either a dice roll plus the attack value is broken through, which means a high damage value, or the opponent is only grazed by the attack, which triggers a lower damage value. If the 20-sided die even rolls a 20, both values are added together and the maximum damage is triggered. In addition, each unit also has its own special abilities and spells, and other events do the rest. However, it is clear that Maldection is designed for fast-paced gameplay and tactics based on positioning and terrain factors. What is really special about the game, however, is that each character and starter set comes with its own SLT file. This allows players to print their miniatures on their own 3D printer, which on the one hand avoids large and expensive boxes, but also enables players to create multiple miniatures and quickly replace damaged figures. With the appropriate printers, it is possible to create impressive, extremely detailed miniatures and terrain, which I think the pictures convey quite impressively. With a starter box, the game can also be played without a 3D printer and without miniatures, as the basic box includes playing fields, terrain tokens and standee tokens.Cury Hirsch, Head of Games, then told me how the Maldediction universe will develop over the next few years. Suffice to say, there is definitely a lot to look forward to. In any case, I now need a 3D printer to be able to keep up in the future. And with that dream, I'm signing off for today to recharge my batteries for the last day. See you tomorrow, Yours, Ralf Wow, time always is flying in SPIEL week, and it feels kind of sad that already three of the four days have flown by. Back in the halls on early morning, it is always kind of irritating how silent these halls can be without the crowds. However, everybody just was getting ready for the storm. Talking about storm and looking at the weather outside, you can do nothing better at the moment than enter the halls of SPIEL, because the wind and the rain is just horrible. However, I feel sorry for all those food trucks which usually serve the crowds in the inner courtyards of Messe Essen, because their turnover this SPIEL will be minimized by the weather. Still, this is gaming weather, if there ever was such a thing, and so I just jumped into a rather entertaining series of games which I wanted to play today, and I began my gaming session in Hall 6 at the booth of Czech games publisher ALBI. Playtesting session: Dirt & Dust – ALBI (booth 6E110) Rally racing has always been about more than just hitting the gas and aiming for the finish line. It’s a sport of endurance, precision, and calculated risk—an arena where drivers lean as heavily on their navigators and support crews as they do on high octane engines. Dirt & Dust, designed by Petr Čáslava and published by Albi, captures this atmosphere with surprising fidelity, blending the forward momentum of a race with the careful planning of a deckbuilder and the ever-present uncertainty of dice. At the center of the table lies the Stage board, a constantly shifting display of cards that represent the track ahead. Each round, those cards slide one space closer to evaluation, creating the feeling of the road passing beneath the wheels. Players use Traction resources to place Navigator tokens here to “map out” the stages – current stages and future stages alike. When the card finally leaves the board, it pays out Speed (Victory) or Popularity points, depending on the current position of the car on the player’s car at his own Player board. This steady march of Stage cards actually is the point where the game is closest to a racing game, because the track keeps changing with new Stage cards appearing at the Finish line drawing closer and closer. However, the Stage board only sets the course. The actual feel of racing comes alive on the Player boards. Here, each miniature car shifts left and right across lanes and rows depending on the terrain and the driver’s maneuvers, indicating whether a car is accelerating or decelerating, or whether it is speeding straight along or spectacularly hugging tight curves. Every placement of a Navigator token on the Stage board has immediate consequences: arrows on the Stage card push the car into new positions, sometimes drifting dangerously toward the edge, sometimes pulling back into a safer line. These shifts open up both risks and opportunities. Being in the red zones thrills the crowd and boosts Popularity, but at the cost of reduced Speed. Sitting in the grey or yellow zones middle zones promises steadier rewards but less spectacle. Meanwhile, acceleration and deceleration - tracked by the top and bottom rows of the Player board - determine which card effects can trigger, adding another layer of decision making when it comes to the players acquiring new cards for their Racing deck. So, in practice, the individual player boards are an important part of the rally feeling, serving a function similar to a plane’s attitude indicator, because every move of the car is a reminder that rallying is a dance between control and taking risks. Mechanically, Dirt & Dust is built on the familiar foundation of deckbuilding. Players start with modest deck of common Racing Team cards and some Driver specific cards, and they slowly invest in stronger mechanics, engineers, and tactics. But unlike many deckbuilders, cards alone don’t decide the outcome. Every round begins with a roll of dice, which then are placed above matching slots on each player’s own Racing Team board. The players have to place cards from their hand into these six numbered slots, and the dice actually act as keys to unlock card effects. Once placed in a slot, the cards stay there and only phase out on a turn-by-turn basis, but especially if the Racing Team board is filled with a full complement of cards, the players may be facing some interesting dilemmas. So, a brilliant upgrade might be waiting, but without the right die result—or Wrench resources which allow adjustments—it stays idle. This marriage of dice and deckbuilding makes every turn a test of both preparation and adaptability, and indeed the player’s can use lots of interesting card effects to increase their performance. Apart from a player’s general pool of three standard dice, additional Boost dice can be gained their cardplay, providing a temporary possibility to trigger additional cards on the Racing Team board. Hazard dice on the other hand embody the risks of pushing the car too hard. Player’s may suffer a Hazard and can incur damage most commonly as a result of Stage cards effects, voluntary strain on the car or leaving the track on their Player boards. In these instances the player has to add a Hazard die to his dice pool, and in effect this means that the player will start to accumulate Damage points. This can lead to permanent damage, adding new penalties that shape strategy for the rest of the rally, so the players need to look for a possibility to repair and get rid of the Hazard dice, or – even better – avoid them. Yet sometimes, risking a Hazard die is exactly the push needed to grab crucial Traction or secure a Navigator placement, so that driving on a safety approved strategy is no way to secure Victory. But quite interestingly, the dice never feel like pure randomness; instead, they create the unpredictable conditions of a rally, demanding quick thinking and clever use of a player’s deck and resources to tackle a round’s dice rolls. What makes Dirt & Dust stand out against traditional racing games is its embrace of the rally format. A typical racing game is about being the first across the Finish line. Here, victory comes through point accumulation—Speed points for consistent driving, Popularity points for thrilling the spectators, and even endgame bonuses from the assembled deck. However, the missing direct competition of racing games also makes Dirt & Dust a somewhat lonely playing experience, because each player focuses to his own performance and player interaction is at absolute minimum. But that is intended, since the game rewards steady, careful performance - it’s not a single mad dash, but a contest of endurance, where every stage contributes to the final tally. Adding even more flavor to the race are the Driver cards, with four unique decks representing different rally personalities. Each driver comes with their own set of abilities and passive effects, shaping the way a player approaches the rally. Harry Jordan thrives on dice manipulation and generating resources, Sofía Fernández on creative use of risks and hazards, Aiko Yamamoto bends the rules of card play, while Ferenc Kovács focuses on card acquisition and versatility. Each player chooses a driver personality at the beginning of the game, and because Driver cards are shuffled into each player’s starting deck, they don’t just add thematic flair—they nudge players toward distinct strategies, making every game feel different depending on who takes the wheel. And talking about variety, the game includes 5 different sets of Stage cards, each set forming a complete track with it’s own specific challenges. What emerges is a system where all components reinforce the sensation of rallying. The Stage board keeps the course alive, whereas the Racing Team boards hum with tactical possibilities, with each die and card placement feeling like a gear change or a tire choice that could make or break a run. The dice inject drama without ever feeling arbitrary, thanks to the ways players can bend and manipulate results with their growing deck of tools. Finally, the Player boards put the players right into the driver’s seat, their cars weaving, accelerating, and sometimes crashing through the rally stages, and together these different boards create a layered illusion of motion, where every die roll and card shift feels like part of the race unfolding in real time. Dirt & Dust is more than a racing game dressed up in rally gear. It’s a design that understands the heartbeat of rallying—its unpredictability, its reliance on planning ahead, its balance of showmanship and survival—and translates it into a deckbuilding framework sharpened by dice. For players who want a racing game where the excitement lies not only in raw speed but also in the strategy of lasting the whole rally, Dirt & Dust is a ride worth taking. The halls were well crowded when I ended my game of Dirt & Dust in the mid-morning, but I perceived the crowds to be a bit easier to navigate than in previous years. This has also been my perception Thursday and Friday, and I think this is due to the adding of Hall 7. The people have more space to spread out, and this makes it easier to get along. My next two games actually were not only placed rather close to each other in the halls, but actually they shared quite a few common factors. After playing both of them I decided to do a double review. I have never done this before, but there is always a first time, so here we go! G@mebox Special: Playtesting Double Feature Insurrection – LA BOITE DE JEUX (booth 6K400) Little Kingdoms – LUDOLUX (booth 5E720) Two small cardgames, two fantasy realms, two queens and two very different struggles for power. The cardgames Insurrection from French publisher LA BOITE DE JEUX and Little Kingdoms from Luxembourg indie publisher LUDOLOX both unfold beneath their queens’ watchful presence, but the queens serve very different roles. In the land of Insurrection, Queen Kristin rules with a fist of steel, her thralls spreading darkness through the kingdoms while rebels march toward her keep, trying to tear down her tyranny. In contrast, the queen in Little Kingdoms walks the land not as a tyrant but as an arbiter, patrolling the elemental realms of earth, water, fire, and air, keeping the balance as two rulers hurl their magical armies at each other in a contest of supremacy. Both games are card-driven, both are steeped in fantasy imagery, yet they capture entirely different moods - Insurrection thrives on intrigue, suspicion, and the slow encroachment of corruption, while Little Kingdoms is a sharp duel of tactical positioning and elemental clashes. Insurrection accommodates up to six players, and the more around the table, the more tangled the web becomes. Each participant begins as a rebel leader with a small ragtag band consisting of a hand with one Leader and three Unit cards, and initially all players are allied against the Queen. The path of the rebellion is laid out at the start of the game: a row of six Land cards stretches from the Rebel Fortress to Kristin’s Keep, and a token representing the players’ joint armies marches along this path over a maximum of six rounds. Along the way, players recruit people and creatures to strengthen their armies, with two different card types available: the more numerous Unit cards represent soldiers, beasts, minions, prophets, and all manner of creatures, whereas the unique Leader cards which have high Initiative ratings and character-related possibilities for the end-game scoring. However, every card has several attributes - an Initiative number that decides on the player order during a round, an icon marking its type (soldier, animal, minion, and so on), and often one or more Corruption marks which represent a unit’s loyalty to Queen Kristin. In essence, each player tries to gather a well matching-set of Leader and Unit cards in his hand during the course of the game, getting nice combinations which will allow a high end game scoring. So, the general flow of a round is easy to grasp, with each player first drawing a new Unit card from the deck, and then choosing one Unit card from their hand to place face down in front of them. These cards are revealed by all players simultaneously, and in order of the cards’ initiative values the players then place their cards into an open pool and take one of the cards from the pool to their hand. In this fashion, the players increase their initial hand size of four cards (1 Leader and 3 Units) to a maximum of 10 cards (one new card per round), trying to collect a high scoring combination in their hand. However, Corruption is the queen’s shadow over the whole rebellion. It is represented directly on the some of the cards (the more shady Leaders and Units), and whenever such cards are played face-up into the common pool, they add to the creeping tally of darkness. The tension here lies in the threshold of corruption: if ever ten or more corruption marks are visible at once in the common pool, the queen is victorious, the rebellion collapses, and the evil side triumphs with an instant end of the game. Only if the rebels hold out until their token reaches Kristin’s Keep at the end of the sixth round, the rebellion will prevail. The end game scoring is calculated regardless of a victory for good or evil, but the cards scoring options greatly differ depending on the success or failure of the rebellion. So, the cards with a good alignment will score nicely when the rebels can overcome the queen, whereas the bad guys in the deck will yield more victory points if the queen crushes the rebels. For example, a goblin may be worth three points if the rebels topple the queen, but nine points if evil triumphs. On the other hand, a bard sings the praises of courageous knights standing against the queen, but he earns negative points if corruption carried the day (forcing him to remain silent, since there is no hymn to sing). Certain leaders even thrive only when the rebellion collapses, rewarding players who quietly conspired with Kristin all along. In essence, this means that Insurrection is never a simple cooperative march. At first, all players may appear to fight corruption, but some may hesitate at key moments, leave one more tainted creatures in the common pool, or draft cards that pull the uprising toward collapse. The rebels are never entirely certain who is truly on their side, since even though everybody sees the cards chosen by a player, no one knows which cards exactly a player has at his hand. Even when good triumphs, the highest score may belong to the one who recruited cleverly rather than fought most loyally. Insurrection thus becomes a very entertaining hybrid of cooperative survival and competitive ambition, a contest of reading motives, anticipating betrayals, and timing one’s cardplays so that the final hand yields the most points. Spiced up with a few additional card effects (like to possibility to eliminate a card from the pool) and a common pool growing and changing from round to round, the game is thrilling and full of tension right from the beginning. Little Kingdoms from designer David Ausloos tells a leaner story, for it is designed strictly for two players. Here the queen is not a tyrant but an impartial judge who paces the battlefield as armies clash. The board is made up of four kingdoms -earth, water, fire, and air - each with a portal that rotates between three elemental symbols. Players summon elemental creatures into columns beneath these kingdoms, facing their rival directly. Whenever opposing creatures meet, a duel is fought: the stronger card prevails, while the weaker is turned sideways to mark it as exhausted. The presence of the queen has no influence on the outcome of such a duel, but after the duel she will take some steps to switch to another kingdom, her pace dictated by the creature just played, and wherever she halts, exhausted cards are swept from the field and the portal of that kingdom rotates to a new element. However, this movement of the portal triggers the core conflict of the game: the elemental contests. If both players have creatures of the newly activated element in the queen’s current kingdom, they are compared. The player with the greater value of matching elemental creatures inflicts mana damage on the opponent, reducing their pool of life by the difference of the elemental values. The losses accumulate until one player looses the game by his mana falling to zero, and so the players try to manipulate the queen to move towards kingdoms where they have the elemental majority. As in Insurrection, the variety of the cards gives Little Kingdoms its spice, although the number of different card types is restricted to eight. Every creature has not only an elemental color, a strength value and queen movement allowance, but also a special ability. A Shadow Wolf always wins its duels, regardless of strength, whereas a Bone Archer can exhaust an enemy of the player’s choice. A Moon Witch on the other hand can shield a player’s cards from defeat and a Commander rearranges one’s forces without triggering duels. These powers twist the simple rhythm of duels and elemental contests into an intricate tactical puzzle, where timing and placement matter much more than brute force. This highly tactical approach is even more pronounced by the fact that both players draft their new units from a common row of available creatures, with every choice being made on the consideration of increasing a player’s own chances while also denying powerful cards to the opponent. If Insurrection thrives on suspicion among many, Little Kingdoms is a direct clash between two minds. One queen is a tyrant whose corruption spreads through the land, feeding betrayal and uncertainty; the other is an arbiter who regulates the fight, ensuring the battlefield never stagnates. In one game, the march to the keep can end in triumph or despair depending on whether corruption overwhelms the rebels; in the other, the ebb and flow of elemental contests gradually saps away a rival’s strength until only the victor remains. Despite their comparable size and scope, both games offer quite contrasting experiences. Insurrection is social, dramatic, and filled with bluff and double-meaning - a rebellion where victory for good is not always victory for all. Little Kingdoms is sharp, tactical, and relentlessly head-to-head, a duel of strength, ability, and timing where players constantly try to find the weaknesses in their opponent’s buildup. Both games build nicely on the theme of kingdoms and queens, but they could hardly be more different in how they make players feel: one a tale of mistrust in the shadow of tyranny, the other a duel for elemental dominance. This ended my morning gaming, and since a rally driver, kingdom defender and master of elements needs good nourishment, I went home for an hour where Nicole had prepared lunch. On my way out, I saw a frightful dragon in a dungeon-like room at the booth of my friend Cedrick from CAPTAIN GAMES, but it must wait until later before you can join me for the Saga of the Dragonslayers… Refreshed and strengthened I returned into the halls after lunch break, and I returned to Halls 5 and 6 were I had also started the day. Taking time to go through a way aisles which I hadn’t seen yet, I made another wonderful discovery which I need to show you right away! Playtesting session: Don Quixote: The Ingenious Hidalgo – LLAMASCAPE GAMES (booth 5B300) Don Quixote: The Ingenious Hidalgo is a light strategy cardgame by Andrea La Rosa. Including a bit of storytelling, it transforms Cervantes’ immortal tale into a collective journey which – depending on group size - may end up in playful madness. Across two chapters, two to six players become the invisible narrators shaping the knight’s adventures, deciding whether his quests will bring him Glory, Love, Delusion, or Obsession. Each session produces a different retelling of the novel’s spirit — sometimes noble, often absurd, but always brimming with drama. At the heart of the game lies the Value Track which represents Don Quixote’s emotional and mental traits through four tokens: Love, Glory, Obsession, and Delusion. These markers move up the track depending on the results of each round’s adventure, and each Adventure card offers two possible outcomes — success or failure — listing how far the relevant token should move depending on the result. In general it’s the rule that the further a token moves, the higher the amount of victory points that can be scored with that trait during the final scoring. But how are the tokens moved? Every round, the players collectively decide the fate of an adventure. Once an adventure card is chosen by the current first player, everyone secretly selects one Character card from their hand. Each character bears one or more votes for or against the success of an adventure, as well as a unique ability that can bend or break the flow of play — cancelling votes, exchanging cards, taking or stealing items. The players choose simultaneously, and the moment before all cards are revealed is one of exquisite tension, since the players have committed their choices without knowing who will support or sabotage the adventure. And since the additional effects of Character cards can dramatically reshape the vote after the cards are revealed, the outcome still may swing at the last instant. However, the Character cards do not only influence the outcome of the adventure, but most of the cards also feature a scoring symbol, depicting one of Don Quixote’s four traits. In the end-of-game scoring, these cards will have a victory point value equal to the current position of its trait marker on the Value Track, and so the players have a strong incentive to use Character cards with one or two specific traits only. They will want to further the moves of these specific traits on the track, because a card tied to Glory, for instance, will be worth far more if that token ends up at the top of the track. This leads to a mixture of bluffing, timing and guessing which is the game’s beating heart and is furthered by the fact that each player also has received a hidden Secret Objective card. So, a player might appear to pursue victory on a specific trait, only to secretly wait for a chance to turn the tables, because their hidden Secret Objective card rewards a specific order of tokens - perhaps one where Delusion leads the pack and Love trails behind. These objectives, distributed during setup, strongly influence personal strategy: some players nurture the noble side of Quixote’s legend, others embrace his downfall, and some weave between both depending on how the tokens shift. Because objectives vary, alliances form and dissolve in unpredictable patterns, with special card effects like a “Zap” trying to nullify a player’s vote or a cleverly timed item - such as the Donkey or the Shield - tipping the balance. Especially with a full cast of six players these twists keep every round electric, making success and failure hard to predict. In fact, the various Item tokens can be acquired through specific Character card abilities that allow a player to get an item from the central supply - or, if none remain there - to steal one from another player. Each item offers a one-time effect like the Poison which forces all others to play a random card chosen by the player to their left, injecting unpredictability into the voting. The Donkey grants an immediate surge of extra positive or negative votes, which can swing an adventure’s success or failure at the last moment. The Shield provides protection from hostile effects such as zaps or theft, while the Tent allows the player to copy another character’s special ability — a particularly clever move when used to duplicate a powerful or unexpected effect. Once an item has been used, it is returned to the centre of the table, temporarily available for others to seize in later rounds. Items therefore serve as both tools of defense and engines of disruption. A bit different are the Diamonds which, in contrast to regular items, are durable victory currency: limited in number (only a handful of diamond tokens are in the game, some of which are included only at higher player counts) and collected as end-of-game victory points, each diamond is worth a fixed amount of story points at scoring. Because diamonds can also be stolen by certain card effects, they become both an incentive to play aggressively and a risk to protect (hence the value of Shields). The game’s rhythm flows through a cycle of eight adventures (four per chapter), with a refresh of the players’ hands of Character cards in mid-game. The second chapter escalates the game not only by the end coming closer, but also by opening up “rivers” as new movement lines on the Value Track, allowing the trait tokens sudden leaps that can invert the scoring hierarchy. This layered system ensures that decisions made early on echo through to the finale, and that a bold risk in Chapter I might be redeemed or punished later. When the story concludes, players tally points from their played Character cards, Diamond tokens which they may have collected (or stolen from other players), and Secret Objectives to determine who told the most compelling version of Don Quixote’s saga. Thematically, Don Quixote succeeds in embedding Cervantes’ world within its mechanisms. Every adventure card paraphrases a scene from the novel (windmills, noble ladies, tavern mishaps, etc.), keeping the story alive all through the game. The fluctuating tokens evoke Quixote’s shifting delusions and desires, while the blend of wit and chaos among the players adds a somewhat anarchical tone. The game will scale well, but as indicated it changes its character depending on player count. With two or three, it will feel sharper and more strategic, as each vote carries heavier weight and reading the opposing players becomes paramount. With five or six, it shifts more towards chaos - a chorus of conspiracies, zaps, and last-minute reversals that is more difficult to read and act on. This observation is strengthened even more if the group decides to use the backside of the Value Track, since the Advanced track actually features a loop which may cause a trait token to fall back from the highest scoring row if it is moved too often. This offers more tactical options and more chaos at the same time, and the best experience probably depends on taste, since smaller groups will favor careful hand management and subtle manipulation, while larger ones deliver more laughter and anarchy. Ultimately, Don Quixote: The Ingenious Hidalgo seems to capture the spirit of its hero with a blend of idealism, folly, and absurdity. Its mechanics intertwine narrative and competition in a way that allows each playthrough to tell a slightly different version of the same story. Whether the knight ends his journey crowned in Glory or is lost in Delusion depends not only on the cards, but on the storytellers around the table — and on how ingeniously each player bends madness into meaning. Today I played the game with Andrea and three other gamers, and the whole round felt rather well entertained. The more, the merrier you might say because of the voting process, but I can imagine that Nicole also will like the game if just the two of us will play. A rather unusual cardgame both for it’s mechanism and the deeply thematic implementation, but certainly a worthy add-on for any SPIEL-trophy-bag. After this refreshing start into the afternoon I finally toured Hall 7, the new home of the big industry players like Kosmos, Asmodee or Amigo. There are hundreds of gaming tables just in this hall, and so the adding of the new hall showed another benefit. In previous years the big publishers already had big booths, but it always had been rather difficult to get an empty spot there. However, today I saw some single tables free on most booths, and this certainly was unusual for a SPIEL afternoon on a sold-out day. Stopover: The Legends of Andor - The Distant Land – KOSMOS (booth 7E311) There is some news which I would like to share from KOSMOS. After all these years Michael Menzel is still continuing his Saga of The Legends of Andor, and with The Legends of Andor - The Distant Lands another big box is added to the line. It takes players beyond the familiar borders of the Andor kingdom into a new and mysterious region across the Great Lake. This standalone continues the story arc which began in The Eternal Cold, and as expected the game retains the cooperative storytelling spirit of the classic Andor series - players still embody brave heroes who face strategic challenges together while an unfolding narrative drives the adventure. However, The Distant Lands introduces a fresh setting and several mechanical twists that give the experience its own flavor. Thematically, the heroes now explore an exotic frontier filled with new dangers and cultures. They must cross vast steppes, explore mushroom-filled forests, and confront strange creatures native to this faraway realm. The classic four Andor heroes Chada, Thorn Eara and Kram leave this adventure to new heroes like including the Fire Conqueror Tenaya and the Steppe Rider, and these bring distinctive abilities that fit the new environment, such as magical fire spells and faster movement over open terrain. Included in the new team is also Grent the Mountain Warrior, a skilled swordsman who has been available so for only in form of an out-of-print promo. Gameplay remains centered on time management, cooperative planning, and balancing exploration with combat. Yet there are notable additions: mushroom tokens introduce risk and reward through variable willpower effects, and unique scenario-based elements like catapults and new enemy behaviors add variety. The new event cards further enhance replayability — they not only bring back unexpected daily twists but also feature a double-sided design that can change the order in which creatures move, creating new tactical situations each game. Even the gamebox seems to be used for a legend, and of course other new creatures and special rules are included as well! In short, The Legends of Andor – The Distant Lands preserves the narrative-driven cooperation and tactical tension that define Andor, while expanding the world both geographically and mechanically with new heroes, resources, and a distinct frontier setting. And if you are interested in the whole story of Andor, you should research the web on the correct order of all legends from all different modules. In this way you can experience Andor in a full story arc, a factor which Nicole and I will take as an incentive to start over once again with the first box. Returning to Hall 6, I finally got a space at a demo table which I have kept an eye on all day long. It’s once again a game which I have already spotted in the New Games Show, and so a launched into my final playtesting session for today. Playtesting session: Champions of Wind & Fire – IDVENTURE (booth 6A201) Set on a distant continent where dragons once again soar as living forces of the elements, Champions of Wind & Fire by designer Oleg Meleshin offers a surprising thematic echo to Emberheart, the game which Nicole and I discovered yesterday here at the show. While the two titles share no designer, publisher, or even narrative universe, the coincidence of their simultaneous release creates a pleasing continuity for players moving from one to the other. Where Emberheart told the story of rescuing and nurturing dragons, Champions of Wind & Fire now shifts the focus to the art of training and testing them - an independent tale that feels like a natural thematic successor. It is a strange sense of déjà vu to discover both of these games here at the SPIEL, but the resonance between them is rather surprising. It seems that the story of dragon care and mastery begun in Emberheart truly finds its next chapter here, with the players now forging an even deeper bond with their dragon companions. The structure of Champions of Wind & Fire follows a clear and elegant rhythm of preparation and competition. The game unfolds over three consecutive phases - Dragon Training, Final Preparation, and the Tournament. Each player begins with a personal Dragon Board, depicting their dragon’s three body parts (head, wings, and tail) alongside with the training grounds where the Dragons can learn the mastery of the different elements. In addition, each player receives a separate Elemental Board where energy is gathered and shaped, and together these boards define the flow of play: during the Training phase, players gather elemental power and upgrade their dragons’ anatomy; in Final Preparation, they consolidate what they have learned; and in the Tournament phase, they unleash their creations in a series of competitive trials. The Dragon Training phase forms the heart of the experience. Each round begins with the active player rolling seven Elemental dice and distributing them into groups from which all players, in turn, will choose. When a player takes one of these groups, the players can use each of their chosen dice to acquire either Magic tiles or Magic crystals. So, dice may be assigned directly to the Pyramid of Elements on the Elemental Board where Magic tiles are collected, or to the player’s training grounds where Magic crystals can be gained and additional boosts will be triggered. These two options nicely symbolize the different aspects of learning - study and practice - and together they generate the materials needed to enhance a player’s dragon. But now comes the tricky part. The Pyramid of Elements consists of a grid of six elemental colors (ice, vitality, fire, rock, nature, and water) into which can players place Magic tiles matching with the Elemental dice they have chosen for this round. As players fill their pyramids with tiles, they aim to create patterns which will allow them to upgrade their dragon’s body parts, and additionally they will try to complete horizontal rows with tiles to gain Gold, a versatile currency used later to boost dragon power. Since the Elemental dice may show several different elements on the same face, the players may have to face an inability to one of these additional tiles because they have reached the maximum of a specific element. This will result in receiving Black crystals, the game’s representation of unstable or corrupted energy. These Black crystals will weaken the dragon’s anatomy and can hinder tournament performance later. In effect, this means that the players are facing a constant dilemma during the training phase, because they have to balance speed against precision. Collecting tiles too aggressively can corrupt their dragons, but lagging behind means fewer chances to upgrade before the tournaments begins. Meanwhile, the training grounds form a second puzzle and an alternative where Elemental dice can be used. Here the players can collect Magic crystals from the different elemental realms with their dice results, unlocking valuable adjacency bonuses such as extra Gold, additional tiles, or Training Action cards that grant tactical effects. When two or more neighboring realms are cleared, players gain the bonuses printed along their shared borders, turning planning into a rewarding dash from realm to realm. The intricate interplay between pattern completion and adjacency optimization makes the Training phase both challenging and thematically coherent, although it certainly takes some time to come to grips with the different usages of the Elemental dice. A good balance between the placement of Magic tiles and the taking of Magic crystals is necessary, and with increasing experience players will come to see benefits even when they have to take some Black crystals as a result of being unable to use all symbols on a dice face. Shaping tile patterns on the pyramid is absolutely necessary to upgrade a dragon’s body parts, and without these upgrades the dragons will hardly be competitive in the tournaments. Indeed, each dragon begins the game in a simple form. As indicated, they are composed of three starting tiles (head, wings, and tail), each with a basic strength of one. These body parts can be upgraded by fulfilling specific patterns of Magic tiles on the pyramid, and once a player completes a matching pattern, the corresponding body part is replaced with a more advanced Dragon tile, increasing its strength and altering its visual design. Watching your fledgling dragon grow through these upgrades is an organic and rewarding process, as every new tile feels like your dragon shapes into a truly impressive creature. However, time is not unlimited here, since the Training phase ends as soon as one player finishes all upgrades. This creates a palpable time pressure for everyone else still perfecting their dragons. The following Final Preparation phase serves as a brief but vital annex to training. Here, players finalize upgrades, distribute Gold and Black crystals among their dragons’ body parts, and set their Tournament dice - a set of large, color-coded dice that display the current strength of each dragon body part. This moment of calm before the storm sets the stage for the ultimate challenge to come: the Tournament phase, where months of training culminate in a sequence of competitions. In the Tournament phase, the tone shifts dramatically from development to tension. Players face a series of five tournaments, with each player chosing one tournament from the Tournament cards on his hand, whereas the others are chosen from a public display of Tournament cards by the player with the lowest total dragon strength. These Tournament cards were distributed during setup, giving each player some idea which kinds of challenges may wait in the Tournament. This gives the players at least some information how to develop their dragons during training, because each tournament card focuses on a distinct dragon discipline: Fire Breath, Flight, or Tail Wielding. In Base mode, the resolution of Tournament cards is straightforward: each player’s power for the contest equals the current value of the corresponding body part plus bonuses elemental tiles and crystals matching the color of the Tournament card. This mode offers accessibility and transparency, letting players directly see how their training choices have shaped their performance. The Advanced mode, however, elevates the experience to a thrilling duel of strategy and foresight. In this version, players secretly use their Tournament Dials to decide how much of their Magic tiles, crystals, and Gold to invest into the contest at hand. These investments are revealed simultaneously, then spent, leaving the dragons slightly weaker for the next challenges. Here success depends not only on preparation but on reading opponents’ intentions, creating moments of tension worthy of a true elemental championship. The escalating tension from one tournament challenge to the next gives the Advanced mode its dramatic flair and makes it definitely the preferred choice once players know the system. Additional variety and tactical unpredictability are introduced through several types of cards and tokens. Training Action cards modify the flow of the Training phase, allowing effects such as rerolling dice, copying opponents’ actions, or removing Black crystals. In the Advanced Mode, Tournament Action can enter play during the final phase, introducing dramatic shifts in competition - cards that let a player manipulate strength values, ignore corruption, or spend unexpected resources for a last-minute surge. These card-driven twists inject narrative excitement into what might otherwise be pure calculation. Trainer cards, meanwhile, give players personalized goals that reward mastery of certain elemental patterns, while Sigil tokens, obtained when upgrading a dragon’s body part, adding still more strategic depth since they grant lasting bonuses. In conclusion, Champions of Wind & Fire stands as a deeply thematic and meticulously crafted evolution of dragon-themed euro design. Its mixture of dice drafting, pattern building, and hidden-bidding competition creates a flow that feels both familiar and fresh. Admittedly, the game’s blend of mechanisms probably can make it challenging to teach to newcomers, since there are many subsystems to grasp before everything *clicks*. For this reason the designers have wisely provided the Base mode that eases players into the system before unleashing the full complexity of the (preferred) Advanced mode. In addition, the clear visual design – for example the prominent Tournament dice, which provide a helpful overview of everyone’s power levels - keeps the tension readable even as strategies grow intricate. However, those players who persist will find a remarkably well-tuned experience where luck, logic, and risk interweave seamlessly. And despite all these tactical features, the theme can be felt and experienced all through the game, because the lavish illustrations capture that heroic tone beautifully. Complemented with a sophisticated solo mode, which turns the tournament into a one-player exam against the Grand Dragon Master, Champions of Wind & Fire completes the circle begun by yesterday by Emberheart - a true saga of dragons. I actually considered going home, but just when I finished a mumbling, mead-moistened messenger minstrel came and delivered a distress call from my friend Cedrick in Hall 3. So yes, it’s now time for a…. G@mebox Special: The Ballad of the Dragonslayers Not all Dragons are peaceful. Hadn’t I discovered a fearful dragon this morning? Having learned my basic lessons for fearful dragon handling in Emberheart and Champions of Wind & Fire, I now felt qualified to face Owen, the scourge of Hall 3. So, I gathered my outfit and my spellbooks to return to the booth of CAPTAIN GAMES (booth 3Q600), and together Cedrick the Cutthroat Crusader and Frank the Flamboyant Flamecaster faced the foul fearsome foe! Mighty Cedrick the Cutthroat Crusader, and flamboyant Frank the fiery Flamecaster, found themselves fumbling through a foul, foggy fortress, where fearsome Owen the odorous dragon kept poor Princess Kitty - now a mewling kitten - caged in a cold, cobwebbed corner of the cavern. With clanking courage and crackling conjury, our gallant goofs gave a glorious growl, facing the fiend with far more flair than foresight. Flames flew, flagons fell, and Frank’s fancy hat caught fire, while Cedrick swung his sword with spectacular aim - missing Owen entirely but heroically decapitating a stalactite. At last, the dragon - dazzled by the duo’s dreadful dancing - coughed, cackled, and crawled back to its coins. The kitten was saved, the curse yet uncracked, and the heroes, humbled but happy, marched to the nearest mead hall. There, amid mugs and merry music, Cedrick and Frank forgot all about the perplexing proud princess, toasting instead to monstrous mayhem, marvelous mishaps, and magnificent measures of mead. And so the tale tells, from that tipsy night forth, they were forever hailed across the lands as Frank and Cedrick — Masters of Maps and Mead! P.S. Their muddled misadventure was marked in an ancient manuscript, a mildly moldy, mostly mistaken memoir, now kept beneath a barstool in the Basil the Bard’s Broken Tankard Tavern. Sunday, 26th of October: Final Convention Day Sunday, last day of the convention. It's amazing how time flies. What an eventful few days it's been. We played a lot, talked a lot, met many new and old friends and of course wrote a lot in the evenings and nights. Even if the nights aren't quite as long as they used to be for us, a lot has come together again. But before I start rambling, let's take a look at what else I experienced today. Traditionally, Sunday is always my family day. Unfortunately, my wife had to work today, but my sister and her three children joined me and my two sons. The focus today was therefore on completely different games than in previous days. I would like to introduce you to one of them today, because we played it a lot today: Playtesting Session: Duel for Cardia – Hans im Glück (booth 7B111) I had already tried out myself Duell um Cardia on Thursday, so I was able to explain it to the children quite quickly. The principle is quite simple: In Duel for Cardia, two players with identical 16-card decks compete for the city of Cardia. The aim is to win five seals. First of all, each player shuffles their deck and takes five of the cards into their hand. Each round, both players then choose a card from their hand face down and turn it over at the same time. Each card has a value, the so-called influence value, and a text that can trigger certain actions. Now the two cards that have just been revealed are compared. The higher influence value then secures a seal - but the lower card activates its ability, i.e. the text on the CARD. Played cards remain face up and form a display. And now it gets interesting. Because there are some card actions that can have effects on cards that have already been played or even seals that have been won. Despite a playing time of only around 15 minutes, Duel for Cardia doesn't feel superficial or too easy. The dynamic comes from the fact that you can't just play "the highest card" to win the points - it very much depends on the ability of the lower card whether the seal is actually (permanently) won. Tactically, it gets interesting once you really know the card set. As both players have the same set of cards, you can keep track of which cards your opponent still has and choose your own cards accordingly. The game box comes with a second set of cards for both players, which you can take as soon as you know the first set of cards really well. Duell um Cardia is, in my opinion, a really successful duelling card game for players looking for quick games with tactical depth. Both my children and my sister's children really loved it, so we went home with two copies. What we also really liked today was the app for MicroMacro from EDITION SPIELWIESE, the GAME OF THE YEAR 2021. I'm definitely going to download it now and try it out in more detail over the next few days. Finally, I'd like to introduce you to the world of ants. Unfortunately, I tried in vain to get hold of a free table at CRANIO CREATIONS, but it was impossible. Every time I came by the booth, all tables were occupied. But at least I got an introduction to the game, which I don't want to withhold from you, so here it is: Overview: Ants – Cranio Creations (booth 3T400) In ANTS, we players guide our own ant colony through a small ecosystem in which growth, exploration and skilful organisation determine success or failure. Each colony develops in a continuous cycle of egg, larva and worker, and it is this biological principle that forms the core of the game mechanics. If you look after your brood carefully, you will have more specialised workers available later on - and only these enable the really powerful actions of the game. The centrepiece consists of six main actions, each of which depicts different aspects of colony life. Digging expands your own building, opening up new spaces and bonuses. Exploring expands the area of influence on the shared playing field, where new fields, resources and enemies appear. Gathering is used to collect leaves and food from the explored areas, providing the colony with supplies and leaving pheromone trails, which in turn provide points and synergies. In addition to these basic actions, you can play cards, defeat enemies or breed and care for new ants that will later rejoin the cycle. The colony operates on two levels: You optimise rooms and production in your own building, while you do your exploration and collection tracks on the main board. The game ends when a certain number of stars have been reached, which are awarded for completed deeds, developed building sections or collected pheromones. Whoever has collected the most victory points that leads their ant queen to triumph. Of course, this was by no means the only game I would have liked to play but didn't manage to. But I was very taken with it at the novelty show, which is why I'm particularly sad in this case. But when I look at my loot from the trade fair now, I have to admit that there's no reason to be sad. There's plenty to try out in the coming weeks and months and then it will soon be time to prepare for the next SPIEL. So, play hard and often and stay loyal to us! Next year is our 30th anniversary, and we'll certainly be thinking of something special for this anniversary. Always remember: After SPIEL is before SPIEL! Good luck to all of you around the world! Yours, Ralf This week has passed fast, hasn’t it? Tonight at 6 PM the SPIEL ’25 was history, but not quite for us because the last part of this history still needs to be recorded. So I assumed my usual SPIEL-night post at the computer, knowing that this would be my place for another long story. And long it will be, because there are so many nice stories to be told! Roaming the halls once again in the morning, I made my way into Hall 3 because I had managed to get myself registered for an empty space at a demo table at the booth of German publisher FROSTED GAMES. Two days ago I had spied an interesting looking game there when Nicole and I were visiting SPIEL together, and now I returned to do a playtesting session. Playtesting session: Das Phoenix-Projekt – FROSTED GAMES (booth 3D200) In the world of Das Phoenix-Project (released earlier as Phoenix: New Horizon by PERRO LOKO GAMES), the Earth breathes again. After generations spent underground, humanity emerges from the ashes of the Cold War’s nuclear ruin. The sky above is pale and uncertain, the soil scarred by radiation, yet beneath the dust flickers the pulse of life reborn. Guided by the Phoenix Project, small commando units venture onto the surface, building regenerators that purify the ground and draw new energy from the planet’s dormant heart. Each settlement, each spark of power reclaimed from the wasteland, is a symbol of renewal. The air smells of ozone and rebirth — the promise that from catastrophe, a new dawn can rise. That thematic setting underpins Das Phoenix-Projekt, a sophisticated euro-style strategy game about humanity’s return to the surface. Players command the “free commandos” — autonomous reconstruction teams competing, and sometimes cooperating, to restore a livable world. Beneath the story of renewal lies a dense network of interlocking systems, each one mechanically reflecting the theme of rebuilding civilization through energy, technology, and human ingenuity. The game unfolds through an intricate structure that takes its roots from worker placement but stretches it far beyond the usual pattern. At the center of play stands the task panel - a vertical grid of interconnected workspaces where the players’ commandos are deployed. Unlike classic worker placement, commandos are not just simple workers who are placed to take an action and then move back to the players at the end of the round. They belong to levels of expertise, and through promotion they rise through the structure, unlocking access to increasingly advanced operations. At the end of a round the commandos move back to rest areas at their current level, with each rest area on the task panel representing the organizational base of the Phoenix Project, and from there commandos are sent to perform tasks such as building regenerators, constructing buildings, researching technologies, or increasing population. However, the promotion of a commando to a better level costs fuel - the only tangible resource in this desolate world - but this also mirrors the narrative idea of reclaiming the surface, as humanity learns to master tools and technology again. Already the task panel hums with options for tactical diversity. When a commando is promoted, it may perform a “quick ascent” with the player paying extra fuel to immediately place the commando at a task after promoting it. Another option are the “special links” that connect certain tasks, allowing bold leaps in development if the necessary groundwork has already been laid. Also, the commando leader, a symbol of each faction’s boldest explorer, can move more efficiently, bypassing certain costs. The distribution of the available tasks varies with each game because the task tiles are semi-randomly distributed during setup. This variation ensures that no two campaigns of reconstruction ever unfold the same way. Some configurations reward technological rushes, others encourage expansion and population growth — a nice mechanical reflection of how each attempt to rebuild civilization might take a slightly different path. Among the available tasks, some of the most important are those involving the construction of regenerators. These installations are the beating heart of the game’s theme and mechanics alike. Building one costs fuel and requires that it be available according to the player’s current energy level. Each new regenerator not only extends the habitable zones on the gameboard which can be used for buildings, but also provides energy rewards and triggers additional energy level or fuel bonuses for the player who has built it. In this way, the network of regenerators becomes both a thematic and strategic lifeline of humanity’s comeback. Buildings, too, emerge from this structure. Once set on the gameboard, each regenerator can host associated buildings — civic, military, or scientific — which provide different advantages and later score points. Constructing a building costs fuel and requires the corresponding regenerator to be active. Thematically, buildings represent the reclaiming of the surface: homes, laboratories, and defense structures that draw their power from the regenerators’ purified zones. Parallel to the shared task panel lies each player’s command console, a personal dashboard of progress that looks a bit like a relic of pre-disaster technology, full of glowing tracks and switches. Here lies the players’ central measurement of growth: the energy track. Energy symbolizes the player’s technological evolution and determines which components — regenerators, buildings, settlers — are available to use. As the energy counter rises, new elements on the console are “unlocked,” and additional settlers are released from stasis, ready to populate the surface. The console also contains two technological development tracks where markers move upward, granting bonuses and influencing end-game scoring. Every element of the console connects to the theme of rediscovery — as if the players are not only rebuilding the planet but also restoring the forgotten circuits of civilization itself. Settlers are particularly thematic. When released, they can be assigned to different tasks: advancing along the population track (which grants immediate bonuses and can unlock yet more settlers), waiting to be stationed at intercoms, or taking positions in the communication centers once the most advanced tasks are completed. In this way the settlers can bring mid game bonuses, but the players also shouldn’t underestimate the possibilities to develop them (or sometimes place them directly) at different scoring positions. This is important for the endgame scoring, but it is a matter of good timing with an eye for opportunities to deploy settlers at the right time. A full game of Das Phoenix-Projekt lasts four rounds. Each round consists of player turns, in which a player may perform a single main action - carrying out a task by deploying a commando from a resting position on the task panel, promoting a commando, or passing. Once all commandos have acted or players have chosen to pass, the round ends. Then come the end-of-round steps: new mission cards are revealed, commandos return to their rest areas, and players receive their fuel income, which depends on the lowest value between their energy counter and their development markers. Turn order is then rearranged for the next round, sometimes granting small fuel bonuses. After the fourth round, final scoring begins. Fuel drives everything. It is the sole material resource, replacing the multi-resource economy common in other eurogames with something pure and elemental. It powers promotions, builds regenerators and buildings, activates links, and even allows commandos to leap ahead via quick ascents. A player’s success depends on creating efficient loops that generate just enough fuel to keep the great engine of progress running, but the process still can be handled nicely because it is not overburdened by the requirement to manage different kinds of resources at the same time. Victory points come from a broad but interconnected network of sources, all grounded in theme: - Intercoms, where settlers are stationed, are major end-game scorers. They represent restored communication across the new world, granting points based on what each faction has achieved — numbers of buildings of certain types, regenerators in specific regions, levels of regenerators built, or completed missions. The earlier a settler claims an intercom, the more valuable the position. - Missions form another scoring pillar. These are cards that set objectives, such as building certain combinations of structures or operating within particular regions. Fulfilling them yields immediate rewards and sometimes contributes to intercom scoring. The game’s semi-random mission flow ensures that players must stay adaptable, balancing long-term planning with opportunistic timing. - Technology cards provide both immediate bonuses and ongoing benefits, often chaining with other effects. For instance, some technologies grant extra energy when constructing specific building types or produce fuel each time a regenerator is built. The highest-level technologies score directly at the end of the game for fulfilling special conditions, reflecting the mastery of advanced science in the new era. - Buildings are scored through the insignia tracks at the top of the gameboard. During play, insignias can be advanced to improve multipliers, which are then applied to the number of buildings of each type the player has constructed. Here buildings powered by the most advanced regenerators count double — a satisfying reward for technological ambition. - Finally, a player’s command console itself yields points based on the positions of the energy counter and development markers. High energy reflects efficient power generation, while the development tracks represent societal and technological progress. Together they give a sense of completeness: the faction that has rebuilt the most coherent, sustainable infrastructure will likely emerge as victor. The interlocking of all these systems creates a dense but elegant experience. For newcomers, the first game may feel like learning the controls of a complex machine - many levers to pull, each influencing the others. But once the rhythm clicks, the structure reveals its beauty: energy feeds development, development boosts technology, technology enhances tasks, and tasks increase energy again. For players with experience in strategic euro-style games, this chain of logic feels natural and immensely satisfying, and indeed the players slowly are enabled to take powerful chain actions which greatly enhance their in-turn effectiveness. The great pleasure of Phoenix: New Horizon lies in its precision and freedom at once. Every path interweaves with others, and nearly every action can trigger secondary bonuses - a fuel gained here, a settler released there, a connection tape activated for an extra reward. Different strategies blossom naturally from this structure. Some players may chase energy and settlers to dominate intercoms, focusing on regeneration and population growth. Others might pursue a technological ascendancy, combining cards and bonuses for exponential efficiency. A third might build an empire of buildings tied to high-value regenerators, leveraging insignia tracks for monumental late-game points. Each approach probably can win — but none can stand without balance and foresight. Beyond its mechanics, Phoenix: New Horizon also has a pleasant visual appeal. The components - the consoles, floppy-disk-like tiles, console cartridges - evoke the feeling of handling scavenged technology from a lost age. The aesthetic perfectly matches the theme: players do not just imagine rebuilding civilization; they feel it through the game’s retro design. For my taste, it is a nice feat to have the theme rooted so deeply in many playing components of a game with this complexity. For FROSTED GAMES, Das Phoenix Projekt continues a tradition of thoughtful production. It invites comparison to another of FROSTED’s futuristic titles, Earthborne Rangers. Both look to the future of humanity, but their visions differ profoundly. Earthborne Rangers imagines a world healed, where humanity moves in harmony with nature, exploring a future of calm cooperation. Phoenix, in contrast, begins in desolation and celebrates human resilience through structure, energy, and reconstruction. Where Earthborne Rangers feels meditative and narrative, Phoenix feels strategic and architectural — a story told through efficiency and design rather than text and exploration. In the end, Phoenix: New Horizon stands as an excellent fusion of theme and mechanism — a game about renewal that renews its genre. It is is by far the most complex game which I have played at the SPIEL 25, but as Stefan Hesetrmeyer from FROSTED GAMES has told me, the German rules had been completely restructured in order to ensure smooth gameplay despite all intricacies. The game’s complexity challenges players to think like engineers of a new civilization, orchestrating systems where every spark of energy matters. And as the regenerators hum and settlements spread across the reclaimed surface, the feeling that emerges is unmistakable: humanity, fragile but determined, rising once more from the ashes. Talking to Stefan a bit more after the session was over, I learned that FROSTED GAMES is one of the unfortunate companies where most of the main releases hadn’t arrived in time for the show. The ship actually was going through two storms on its way from Asia, and now it had taken two weeks for the unloading to begin. For this reason Rebirth, Aquatica and How to Save a World only were available for preordering here, but actually they will already ship in the next few days because the container is bound to reach FROSTED headquarters any day now. Actually my head was humming after this intense morning session in the Halls of SPIEL, and with noon approaching quickly I went into the Galeria hall in order to get something for lunch. It was my first SPIEL lunch in years since I usually visit home for a lunchbreak, but with Nicole attending her online seminar I had to find something here. Looking at the row of food trucks and the things on offer, the prices certainly were raised to a convention surcharge level. However, I was either lucky with my choice or the food offer generally had improved, because there was much more to get here than French Fries or Hot Dogs. Anyway, I had a rather nice Honey Chicken Burrito, and fueled with new energy I returned to Hall 3 to visit the booth of CZECH GAMES EDITION (CGE). Stopover: Codenames: Back to Hogwarts – CGE (booth 3V400) I asked Pavlina Hornová, my contact at CGE, whether she could give me an introduction to the new game elements in Codenames: Back to Hogwarts, and she gladly gave me an overview on the new mechanics. The game invites players into the magical atmosphere of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the familiar deduction and word-association mechanics of Codenames meet the charm of the wizarding world. Players become students divided into the four famous Houses and compete to uncover secret “cards” representing locations, spells, and characters from the books, while avoiding locked doors and the ever-watchful Argus Filch. As in the original, the aim is to interpret clever one-word clues from the team’s prefect (spymaster) and find all of the House’s cards before the other team does. At its core, Codenames: Back to Hogwarts by Vlaada Chvátil (CZECH GAMES EDITION) keeps the essential spirit of Codenames - two teams, hidden identities, and the tension of interpreting just one clue correctly. However, the new edition reshapes almost every layer of play. Instead of red and blue agents, the game features Houses competing on a “map” of Hogwarts, with each card linked to one of the Houses or to obstacles like locked doors and Filch. Each team chooses a prefect to give clues, while the rest act as first-years deciphering hints to navigate the castle. This Hogwarts map replaces the simple key grid from the original game and immediately immerses players in a more narrative, thematic structure. The heart of Codenames: Back to Hogwarts lies in the new system of House abilities, which lend each team a distinct playstyle and tactical advantage. Gryffindor embodies courage through the spell “Alohomora”: once per game, the team’s prefect can play a special key token that lets the first-years “unlock” a locked door instead of ending their turn- essentially turning what would normally be a penalty into a successful guess and keeping the turn alive. Slytherin’s cunning is represented by serpent and cunning tokens. A serpent token allows the team to secretly mark a card they suspect belongs to them, counting it as found if correct without the risk of guessing; cunning tokens, earned by taunting the rival team, can later be spent to give a two-word clue instead of one, offering great flexibility in linking ideas. Ravenclaw excels in logic and deduction: when their fourth card is revealed, the prefect places deduction tokens to show how many of the adjacent cards are also Ravenclaw’s—giving their team partial information about the map layout and turning intuition into calculated reasoning. Hufflepuff, true to their patient and nurturing spirit, works with Herbology cards drawn whenever special tiles are covered; these cards grant small, one-time benefits such as bonus information or modified rules for guessing, effectively adding a system of resources that can be managed strategically over several turns. Each ability reshapes how clues are given and how risks are taken, transforming Codenames’ familiar wordplay into a more dynamic contest of deduction, planning, and House-specific flair. Another important addition is the “House Cup Competition,” a light campaign mode where results carry over between sessions. Victories fill the House’s hourglass, creating a long-term rivalry between groups of players. This gentle meta-game reinforces the school-year setting and encourages multiple plays, much like the evolving rivalries of Hogwarts itself. The dual-sided cards, offering both word and (motion-)picture play, also let players adjust the level of abstraction and challenge, expanding the game’s accessibility and replay value. Overall, Codenames: Back to Hogwarts manages to balance nostalgia and innovation. Players familiar with Codenames variants will find this edition stands apart through its structured progression, character-driven abilities, and moderate strategic possibilities. The Harry Potter theme is nicely implemented and integrated into the gameplay through clever references and mechanical analogies to the Houses’ personalities. Fans of the books will enjoy discovering terms and details drawn directly from J. K. Rowling’s world, while seasoned Codenames players will be intrigued by how much depth these new twists add. The result is a fresh, charming, and finely crafted version that rekindles curiosity even in those who thought they already knew every secret of Codenames. However, Codenames: Back to Hogwarts wasn’t the only reason why I had came to the booth, but there was also another game which I wanted to play after seeing it in the New Game Expo. There I had been quite intrigued by Wispwood, and after the designer Reed Ambrose had explained me his new ideas about tile placement, I wanted to check on this game. Playtesting session: Wispwood – CZECH GAMES EDITION (booth 3V400) In Wispwood, the players are invited into a dimly glowing forest where the flickering wisps dance among the trees. The mood of the game is quietly mystical: beneath the canopy, glowing spirits called Hearts, Orbs, Jacks, and Witches drift through the night, guided by the cats who call this place home. The players’ task is to cultivate their own sections of the forest by carefully arranging these wisps to fulfill unique objectives tied to each type. Although it is, at its heart, a tile placement game, Wispwood distinguishes itself with layers of inventive mechanisms that make each decision both spatially and strategically challenging. The rhythm of the game unfolds over three rounds, each one expanding the players’ personal forest grids - first 4×4, then 5×5, and finally 6×6. During their turns, players acquire and place wisp tiles from the communal pond in the center of the table. Each wisp tile lies between two possible geometric shapes, and when a player takes a tile, they must select one of those shapes, fill it out with neutral “tree” tiles, and then add the resulting form to their own forest with the one wisp tile taking any position within the shape. This mechanism evokes a pleasant likeness to the falling pieces of the classic arcade game Tetris, as players must continuously rotate, mirror, and fit the pieces together within the confines of their grid. As the forest grows denser, fitting a chosen shape becomes an increasingly intricate puzzle. As indicated, the wisps themselves come in several types, each carrying its own identity and behavior. For every type of wisp, there exists a matching goal card that defines how points are earned from it. Hearts, for instance, tend to reward adjacency to trees, their glowing affection radiating along lines through the forest canopy. Orbs are fascinated by diversity; they score based on how many different kinds of wisps surround them. Jacks thrive on mischief, often rewarding players for patterns or pairings of their own kind. Witches, the most enigmatic of all, must be placed according to specific spatial restrictions - sometimes only diagonally connected to the cat - but their scoring grows exponentially, making them powerful but tricky to position. Finally, there are also goal cards for trees themselves, encouraging players not to neglect the quiet green structure supporting all the lights. Each goal card subtly steers a player toward different priorities, and it is in balancing these competing demands that Wispwood’s charm and tension lie. The pond at the center of the table functions as a living, breathing market of wisps. At any given moment, eight wisp tiles are displayed there. When a player selects one, the pond does not automatically refill; instead, the remaining choices dwindle. However, the pond can be refreshed under certain conditions. If, at the beginning of a player’s turn, all visible wisps are of the same type—or none remain at all—the player may discard them and deal eight new ones. In addition, each player’s cat has a special ability: if the cat is “ready,” it can be used to force a full refresh of the pond, or to allow the player to choose from any of the eight available shapes instead of being limited to the two beside the chosen wisp. This refresh mechanism not only sustains the game’s pacing but adds a layer of timing, since using the cat’s powers temporarily exhausts it. Each round continues until one player completely fills their grid. All others then take one final turn so that everyone has played the same number of turns. Scoring follows immediately, based on the goal cards for the round: every player tallies the points earned from their wisps and trees, and those who completed their grids receive a completion bonus. After the scoring, the forests undergo a quiet transformation. All tree tiles are removed, leaving only the cat and the wisps that were placed earlier. The players may then move their cat to a new location before the next round begins, but their wisps remain stationary. And as the wood fades away, this makes room for the next stage of of the game. As the rounds progress, each player’s placement area expands as indicated - first to a 5×5 grid, then to a 6×6 one - changing the spatial logic of every decision. This ingenious design choice by game creator Reed Ambrose forces players to continuously rethink their strategies. Because only the wisps remain from round to round, and the boundaries of the forest shift outward, previously optimal arrangements may suddenly block or enable new scoring opportunities. The removal of the tree tiles essentially resets the terrain without resetting the puzzle, pushing players to adapt and even to alter which type of wisp they prioritize as the forest deepens. This mechanism deserves special praise for its elegance: it introduces a fresh puzzle each round while maintaining the continuity of the player’s growing woodland. In the end, Wispwood by CZECH GAMES EDITION offers an inventive and charming departure from traditional tile placement games. Its shape-based mechanics, variable pond market, and the players’ expanding forest grids all combine to create an experience that feels familiar yet refreshingly new. The expansion of the forest grid is a simple concept, but its implications are profound: it challenges players to think several steps ahead, to visualize growth not as a steady accumulation but as a dynamic balance between destruction and renewal. What emerges is a delightful brain teaser - a blend of pattern-building, spatial limitation, and gentle competition - wrapped in an atmosphere of luminescent calm. Wispwood is a game of quiet beauty and clever design, proving that even the smallest light in the forest can lead to the most brilliant discoveries. With SPIEL closing at 6 PM, I wanted to have enough free time to say goodbye to my friends here at the show, but when I went through Hall 3 I actually stopped at the booth of PIF GAMES where I saw a rather dark looking small dungeon game at an empty table. Due to the tiny size of the box I decided to have a closer look, and soon PIF GAMES manager Anastasio saw that I found my way into the catacombs. Playtesting session: Valpiedra: Descensus ad Tenebrum – PIF GAMES (booth 3P115) Valpiedra: Descensus ad Tenebras opens in the suffocating gloom of a cursed town swallowed by mist, where an ancient church conceals a relic of dreadful power. The setting feels palpably heavy - each candle flicker seems to fight a losing battle against the darkness, and every echo from the catacombs below carries a promise of doom. The game, designed by Leandro Félix García and published by PIF GAMES, thrives on this atmosphere of decay and damnation. Yet beyond its haunting tone lies an interesting experiment: can a full-fledged dungeon-crawling adventure truly fit inside such a tiny box? At the beginning of this week, Tiny Epic Dungeons had proved that this is possible, and from the very first descent into the depths beneath Valpiedra, it becomes clear that this compact game also is capable to capture the entire rhythm of a perilous expedition - both in its victories and its relentless defeats. The mechanics of Valpiedra unfold in a structured cycle of three recurring phases - Advance, Combat, and Rest - forming the heartbeat of the descent and later, the ascent. The heroes move as one group, level by level, through the dark catacombs, confronting waves of demonic creatures that emerge from the depths. Each level presents new challenges in the form of Creature cards, which are revealed in order and fought through intense dice-based combat. The rhythm of play alternates between exploration and desperate survival, as the players balance their dwindling health, the spreading evil, and the uncertainty of what horrors wait below. The monsters themselves are varied and dangerous, each card representing a distinct foe with its own health, defense, and vile abilities. Their ranks - marked from I to III - correspond to the deepening danger of the dungeon. A creature’s defense can nullify certain dice rolls, while vulnerabilities, tied to the heroes’ virtues, allow for precise strikes that deal extra damage. Combat resolves through dice: the heroes roll as many dice as their attack value, and when a creature’s health is reduced to zero, it is slain and its card becomes part of the heroes’ spoils. Yet if their blows fall short, the monsters retaliate, their counterattacks steadily draining the group’s shared vitality. Some enemies possess “on reveal” or “end of round” abilities, adding tactical unpredictability - burning summoners that call fresh demons, wardens that absorb damage for others, or martyrs that weaken the entire party. Defeating a creature is thus not merely a relief, but an opportunity, since the leftovers may serve a further purpose. After combat, each vanquished creature’s card presents a meaningful choice. It may be used as experience, or it may be kept as loot, serving as weaponry or protection in later battles. Experience can be spent to reduce the creeping Evil marker (something like a timer in this game), heal the heroes’ accumulated wounds, or increase their health maximum. Loot, on the other hand, manifests as tangible equipment: weapons that increase a hero’s attack, armor that grants passive protection, rings that provide once-per-level powers, or spells capable of single interventions. Each hero has limited equipment slots, forcing careful consideration of who carries what and when to discard or trade items. This dividing of the spoils in each Rest Phase is quite crucial, since every decision can tilt the balance between survival and oblivion. And equipment is actually quite nicely implemented, with each defeated foe card slipped under a hero so that only the item part of the card remains visible. The structure of descent and ascent gives Valpiedra its distinctive identity. Going down the catacombs to retrieve the holy relic of their community, the heroes face increasing numbers and strengths of enemies, yet they do so with the momentum of hope - the promise of reaching the relic at Level IV. Once the relic is retrieved, however, the real ordeal begins. The Ascent phase reverses the journey, but not the difficulty; creatures now pursue the heroes upward, the evil continues to spread, and the fragile balance achieved during the descent begins to unravel. The heroes must fight through reappearing horrors, sometimes from lower levels that now surge upward. Carrying the relic imposes further peril -some relic effects summon additional foes or worsen existing threats, especially when the “Unholy Relic” variant is used in the extreme mode. Each step toward the surface feels heavier, the tension growing as the players see their resources dwindle and the Evil tracker inch closer to doom. And too make it even worse, all experience costs increase as well as the heroes begin to retrace their steps back to the surface. In the end, Valpiedra: Descensus ad Tenebras remains unmistakably a dice game - its outcomes hinge on rolls of fate - but it refuses to be reduced to mere randomness. Every choice, from when to spend experience to how to equip and combine items, adds tactical nuance. The cooperative nature encourages discussion and planning, and the shared suffering of the heroes enhances the atmosphere of desperate fellowship. Its minimalist size belies the its well-done and entertaining mechanics, and the way it captures the feeling of a perilous descent and a grueling ascent is rather thematic. Though luck is a constant companion, players are given numerous ways to bend it through clever play and timing. For a game that fits in a box small enough to disappear into a rucksack, Valpiedra: Descensus ad Tenebras delivers a surprisingly deep and haunting dungeon-crawling experience - one that lingers in memory like a prayer whispered in the dark. This very nice experience actually brings me to the end of my playtesting sessions today, but we haven’t quite reached the end of my Sunday report. As indicated, I wanted to say goodbye to old and new friends, and so I visited Maximilian and David from TABLETOPPER GAMES, Carl and Lars Max from CARLMAX and Andrea from LLAMASCAPE on my round through the halls, hoping for another SPIEL reunion next year. In Hall 5 there was quite an uproar at the booth of my new Japanese friends of KUMAGERA NISEKO. Their game Yotei had been extremely well received by the SPIEL visitors, and they had sold out on Friday, holding back only a few copies to raffle off to all interested people on last day. Now a big crowd actually had gathered there, all hopeful to get one of the last 10 copies. The raffle was hosted by game designer Maria Kato, and when these few copies had found a new proud owner, 12 participants for a final tournament of Yotei were also drawn, giving them a chance to win one of the three available demo copies which had been used at the booth during the show. This actually was the happy ending of one of the most amazing SPIEL stories which I have experienced in years. It’s the story how a game born out of love and pride for their landscape at home had brought Maria and her team of enthusiasts for the first time ever to SPIEL. Here the word spread, not just for the cute game design, but also because of the story associated with the game and the team of KUMAGERA NISEKO. It is a true SPIEL story and a wonderful example how some people are still driven by pioneer spirit, believing in their game and their dream of presenting it to a larger audience. This dream has come true for Maria, and this certainly is a moment to keep and remember. Saying goodbye to Maria, I made my way back to Hall 3 to visit my friend Cedrick at his booth of CAPTAIN GAMES (booth 3Q600). Here also a crowd had gathered, and Cedrick and the team were raffling off boxes filled with games and Belgian delicacies to all people who had used the legendary Dragon-infested photobooth. The crowd was cheering, and actually the CAPTAIN’s crew was cheering as well, because a trend which had been developing in the last few days now had finally turned into reality. Cedrick and his crew actually won the Fairplay Scout Voting, the public poll for the best game here at SPIEL. It has been a really close race, and in the end Map Masters shared the first rank with Boss Fighters from PEGASUS SPIELE. What a wonderful feat, and certainly another example how far a small publisher can get when they just have the right instinct for geat games. Congratulations!!! Talking about Map Masters, I met the game’s artist Adrien Journel who was busy drawing small pictures into gameboxes, and it was just awesome to watch how a professional artist was able to do cute drawings just within the blink of an eye. Cedrick and I retreated to the back of the booth for a nice chat and a cup of coffee, but there was also a peculiar white box standing on the table. I was certain that Rum & Tea was Cedrick’s “Last Spiel Afternoon Survival Box”, but actually there were no liquids hidden beneath the plain cover. Instead, Cedrick gave me a deep sneak preview of their game for next year, and as both the title and the draft graphics show it will be a game about the Caribbean, pirates and governors. It has an element of worker placement included, but there are many unusual features to be discovered, and in its core it will be a quite accessible family game. I loved what I learned about the prototype, and this one will certainly be presented right here in 2026. But this prototype is not the only secret to by revealed next year. Wasn’t there a birthday to celebrate? Yes indeed, our reports will celebrate 30th anniversary next year, and with Cedrick and some other friends I have worked out some birthday surprises here at SPIEL. So this is definitely not an event which you should miss! Looking back, it had been an incredible SPIEL ‘25 for me. With days full of gaming and nights of typing, the week seems to fly by at an impossible speed, but when I look at the stacks of games which have gathered back at my home it is probably right to say that this has been one of the strongest SPIEL years which I could experience. An amazing number of games is waiting to be played, and this hoard will keep Nicole and me busy all winter! But not only Nicole sends her farewell greetings to you, but also Ralf and myself hope you will all meet us back here in 2026 for another round of SPIEL reports. It has been a pleasure to read all your comments over these previous days, and we are glad that so many people from around the world join us year after year for a virtual SPIEL trip! But before signing off, the time has come for a final… G@mebox Special: The Ballad of the Dragonslayers – The Next Mug of Mayhem In the Broken Tankard Tavern, by a fire faint and flick’ring, Basil the Boozy Bard (already bickering) bellowed, “Lads and lasses, lend me your ears! You’ve heard of Cedrick’s cuts and Frank’s flaming fears - but the dragon’s back, the dungeon’s dread, and Frank’s brought a new friend instead!” Fearsome Owen the dragon, foul and fiery once more, had slithered back to his damp dungeon door. Though Princess Kitty now purred in peace, the beast had returned - its temper no less fierce. So Frank, now fancy Fairfolk Fletcher, swore, “I’ll fix that flame-snouted fiend once more!” With him came Ralf - the Reckless Runesmith, a maker of magic and master of myth. His runes were rough, his patience short, and his longsword longer than any good sense he’d brought. They stumbled and sang through the stony gloom, till Owen awoke with a thunderous boom. Frank’s bowstring snapped with a sorrowful twang, Ralf’s sword hit stone - what a glorious clang! The dragon, confused by such chaotic cheer, laughed so hard he scorched his own rear. The heroes declared, “A victory grand!” then fled to the tavern - mugs in hand. And bards still boast, between burps and blunders, of Frank and Ralf - the realm’s most ridiculous wonders! But be sure, dear friends, as you sip your beer - our heroes will return for anniversary year! So note it down, my tipsy friends, our story never truly ends. When thirty years have come to call, we’ll raise our mugs and toast them all! Ralf and Frank If you want to have a look at our coverages of previous conventions, follow these links. But you should bring along some time, especially if you want to read the newer reports... The "SPIEL 24": Back in Black again! The "SPIEL 23": Ralf in the halls - Frank SPIEL@home The "SPIEL 22": More games, more fun (?) The "SPIEL 21": Online was yesterday - Back in Essen to celebrate 25th Anniversary! The "SPIEL.digital": The pandemic (Covid) year - SPIEL goes digital The "SPIEL 19": Another year and still more games The "SPIEL 18": Bigger team - more games The "SPIEL 17": Shift change at the Gamebox! The "SPIEL 16": The Gamebox celebrates its 20th Anniversary!!! The "SPIEL 15": M.U.L.E.s in sight!!! The "SPIEL 14": The dicerollers strike back! The "SPIEL 13": New halls - same show? The "SPIEL 12": Beware of The Maya Calendar - the last SPIEL before Armageddon? The "SPIEL 11": 7 Wonders - but only one SPIEL! The "SPIEL 10": The Polish landslide! The "SPIEL 09": One convention to rule them all! The "SPIEL 08": Bigger than ever! The "SPIEL 07": Meeting lots of friends at the SPIEL 2007. The "SPIEL 06": Still growing! An even longer report from all convention days. The "SPIEL 05": Back at home! Once again living 500 meters from the convention. The "SPIEL 04": A shortened stay at Essen, but still all essential coverage. The "SPIEL 03": No excuses in 2003! Full coverage on all convention days. The "SPIEL 02": Bejing city traffic and late planes. I barely made it to the SPIEL in 2002. The "SPIEL 01": our report from 2001 - 5 days at the con... The "SPIEL 00": Once again, you will get daily reports from the SPIEL in Essen ! The "SPIEL 99": The missing year! Frank was studying in Newcastle and missed the SPIEL. The "SPIEL 98": Images, stories and more from Essen '98. For the first time with daily updates! The "SPIEL 97": our report on the 1997 convention. Copyright © 2025 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann and Ralf Togler, Essen, Germany