Convention Report: Essen 2006: October 18, 2006 - Part 1 (Setup Day)

By Rick Thornquist
October 18, 2006

This is part one of my report from the Essen game fair for Wednesday, October 18th.  Today is the last day for the exhibitors to set up - the fair officially starts tomorrow. 

First things first - I as able to fix my camera!  I manhandled the lens and was able to unjam it - now it’s as good as new.  Whew!

My first duty of the day, after posting yesterday’s report, was to head to the convention center for the press conference.  All of the press people are invited to an auditorium where a number of speeches are given.  The speeches are of little interest to me, but there are also a couple of rooms that are set aside where the publishers can display all their new games.  There are usually representatives from the publishers on hand to answer questions about the games and often the designers are present as well.  It’s quite a mob scene - the room is too small and there are too many people - but it’s a golden opportunity to see all the new games in one place.  I took the opportunity to get pictures of many new games (see the pictures below).

The last few pictures are of a game that I hadn’t heard of until I arrived at the fair - the Carcassonne Big Box.  This is basically a compilation of the original Carcassonne with all of the game’s boxed expansions (the river is included, but King & Scout and The Count of Carcassonne are not).  This set includes a manifest of all the tiles, plus the tiles are marked in such a way that you know which tile comes from which expansion.  It also comes in a box with a nice insert that holds each expansion’s tiles in a separate well (see the pictures below).

Stay tuned for part two of today’s report where I’ll talk about the rest of my day at the fair, including some pictures of some of the major booths being completed.  I’ll also have some pictures of some of the personalities around the fair.  The third part of today’s report will focus on the games that I played.

Pictures - Click the picture for a larger version
	The mob in the press area
	Caylus gets a fancy display - Christian Hildebrandt plays the jester in the lower left
	Eggertspiele - Imperial
	Space Dealer
	Huch & Friends - Yspahan (Ystari Games)
	Die Unbezwingbare Stadt
	Fragor Games - Hameln
	Hameln Close-Up
	Burley Games - Take it to the Limit!
	BeWitched Spiele / 2F-Spiele / Casasola - Monstermaler
	LudoArt - Fragile
	Gangster. Die Bosse von Chicago
	Pegasus Spiele - Don Peperoni
	Kosmos - Typisch Frau, Typisch Mann
	Summertime
	Kampf um Rom
	Kampf um Rom Close-Up
	Die Säulen der Erde
	Die Säulen der Erde Close-Up
	Wizkids - Pirates: Quest for Davy Jones’ Gold
	Mind the Move - Hermagor
	Repos Production - Santy Anno
	GiftTRAP Enterprises - GiftTRAP
	Sunriver Games - Abagio
	24/7
	2F-Spiele - Fürchterliche Feinde
	Fürchterliche Feinde Close-Up
	Hans im Glück - Kabale und Hiebe
	Lookout Games - Die Drachenbändiger von Zavandor
	Das Grosse Turnier
	Amigo - Walhalla
	Megastar
	Il Principe
	Project Skyline
	Queen Games - Der Dieb von Bagdad
	Alhambra - Das Würfelspiel
	Shogun
	Hasbro - Tal der Abenteuer
	The Game Master - Section X
	Clemens Gerhards - ConHex
	Goldsieber - Die Säulen von Venedig
	Die Säulen von Venedig Close-Up
	Zoch - Salamanca
	Haste Bock?
	Argentum-Verlag - Seenot im Rettungsboot
	Surprised Stare Games - Tara - Seat of Kings
	Ravensburger - Die Baumeister von Arkadia
	Die Baumeister von Arkadia - Close-Up
	Days of Wonder - BattleLore
	BattleLore - Close-Up
	Z-Man Games - Gheos
	Schmidt Spiele - Die Schatztaucher
	Rio Grande Games - Carcassonne Big Box
	Carcassonne Big Box - Inside the Box Lid
	Carcassonne Big Box - The box insert

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