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Dale Yu: 2007 Essen Report Part One
Well, the whirlwind week in Essen has finally come to an end. I’m safely back in the United States with just over 122 pounds of games. This was the best trip that I’ve had to Essen yet, and I’m already looking forward to going next year!
I can’t possibly try to get everything covered in just one article, so I will give you a bit each week for the next few columns. For instance, I did get a peek at plenty of kids games this week as well – but I will save that information for another column in the next few weeks. Additionally, any in depth pieces on particular games will have to wait until I have had a chance to play them more (or for the first time!), though I’ll be happy to try to answer any specific questions through the comments below.
Let me begin my report by talking more about the fair in general… First, the exhibition hall was packed as usual. All of the regular booths seemed to be there, even if there was not a new game for the show. There were also many new small publishers there (as there are every year) with their new games that were previously unheard of. Which of these will become the next Ystari or Fragor - game companies that capitalized on an initial success at Essen to return every year with great games - is still unclear, but discovering those games is part of the charm and excitement of Essen! The fair seemed slightly bigger this year as there were booths out in the Galeria which is a room that was not previously used for game companies, or at least not in my previous trips to Essen!
Second, the poor exchange rate certainly made me think twice about which games were worth picking up. For instance, it was hard to justify buying any of the games that will be coming out domestically by Rio Grande. According to Jay, most of his planned releases are either already done in English or the translated versions were already at the printer - so most of them should be ready for the Christmas season back home. In fact, many of them are already in transit to the US as you are reading this column! However, there is really no savings for the games that didn’t look like they were going to have an American version! This year was the most expensive trip that I’ve had yet, but the excitement of the new games is letting me look past that for the time being…
Third - this was my first year attending Essen as an official part of the press corps, and it was quite gratifying to see how many people in Essen were aware of boardgamenews.com. (Let us take a quick moment here to thank Eric - and his predecessor Rick - for turning this site into the valuable resource of gaming information that it is today!). One of the perks of having a “presse” pass is that you have access to the media display room where you can see the games outside of the crowded halls. Additionally, you get a chance to meet the publishers and designers in a more intimate setting. I was able to get a lot of information in that short two hour period when the room initially opened. Furthermore it was quite nice to have access to the Presse center where you had a quiet room to sit and have a complimentary beverage as well as a place for interviews with game designers or possibly a quick game!
Fourth, as I have been every other year that I’ve gone, I was once again surprised at how few games I played to completion during the week. I think that I only managed to finish 7 or 8 games during the whole trip! Why? I always end up spending lots of time chatting up old friends and trying to make sure that I haven’t missed anything. I would usually go thru my list three or four times a day as I ran across people in the halls comparing notes on what games we had seen during the day. I should take the time to specifically thank Alan How, Mike Siggins, Patrick Korner and Frank Kulkmann for keeping me up to date on all of the breaking news and gossip about the new games! I often wonder at times if the convention goers like myself actually have a more limited view of the new games because we are unable to read the latest breaking news that are found online.
Fifth, even though Eric is responsible for the most comprehensive Essen preview in English – it’s amazing how many games still slip through the cracks. Among the more surprising finds were a big box release for Goldsieber (Saba) as well as Liebe und Intrige – the first game that I’ve found where the goal is to marry away your daughters! Another interesting game that I first learned about at the Press meeting on Wednesday was Crazy Diamond/Karatino by Californian Products. There were also a few games that came out too close to the fair to be added to the list including Rugby World by Ghenos as well as Stoplights by JKLM/FRED Distribution. Finding out about games like this made me want to explore every last booth at the fair to make sure that there wasn’t anything else that I would want to see! I brought home Liebe und Intrige as well as Crazy Diamond, so I’ll be able to tell you more about them in the weeks to come. It was quite nice to hear that many of the Europeans – including the folks from the different game companies – saying that they often checked boardgamenews.com for the latest news about what was coming out at the fair.
Sixth, the used game dealers are still in full force there – at least eight different used game dealers were in the usual locations. Once again, I renewed my quest to defeat the Funagain Empire in the quest for used games. Our usual target, Honeybears, was no longer in play given the recent re-themed release of Bucket Brigade. However, I was able to snatch a copy of Lexio away from one of the dealers before Nick from Funagain could get to it. To make the victory sweeter, a price of 15 Euros certainly brought a smile to my face. The other game I was looking for was Big Boss (for a friend). However, a shrink-wrapped copy at 95 Euro was a bit too steep for me – and anyways, it would have been too difficult to fit that oddly shaped box into my luggage…
Well, enough about the generalities - I’ll get to what you’ve all been waiting for: the hits (and misses) of the show. To start, I don’t think that there was a consensus “Best of Show” game this year. At least from my conversations in the hall, the most often heard statement was “lots of good games, but nothing that you can’t miss”. At this time, I’m frankly not ready to name anything as the pre-eminent game this year as I really haven’t had a good chance to play that many games—though I can strongly recommend Amyitis (ah-MEE-tiss), Hamburgum, Darjeeling, and Giganten dur Lufte. Agricola and Cuba also look to be strong candidates though I have not been able to play a full game of each yet.
Another source of good games is the Fairplay list; of course it list isn’t infallible, but this year it included (in order): Tribune, Agricola, Hamburgum, Cuba, Beyond the Wind, I’m Jahr des Drachens, King of Siam, Container, Filou, Kingsburg, Amyitis, Darjeeling and Linq. The Fairplay list may be a bit more reliable this year than in years past because the voting was limited to a smaller group of game reviewers instead of being a ballot box stuffing contest open to the public.
Amyitis is the new Ystari game by Cyril Demaegd. I had the chance to have the game taught to me by the designer himself on Wednesday. It is a game themed upon the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The players take turns choosing between obtaining goods, irrigating the sections of the garden, planting goods in the garden or donating to the temples to try to gain bonuses. The game is easy to learn with most of us learning the flow of the game within the first few rounds. There are many tough choices to be made, especially in deciding when to drop out of a round. When you choose to drop out of a round and choose no further actions, you gain one coin for each time that you are skipped. I think that this game will continue the string of hits from Ystari (IMHO), and if I had to choose now – I would say that this is my favorite game of the show, but I truly haven’t played enough of the other games to make this statement without some qualification.
A few other notes about Ystari from this year… They had a sweet 3D modeled Caylus - it was about 5 feet long and was a sight to see. To the best of my knowledge, it was not available for purchase. Caylus Premium Edition looks quite nice and despite the high price tag, it was moving briskly. Race for the Galaxy also made its arrival on Wednesday and was getting fairly rave reviews from the folks I talked to that had played it. I had last played a prototype maybe 2 years ago at the Gathering, and it appears to be as good as I remember.
Hamburgum is the new game from Mac Gerdts and Eggertspiele. It uses the rondel mechanism that should be familiar now from Antike and Imperial. Supisingly, this has a much different feel than the two previous games that use the same rondel. In this game you are helping develop the town of Hamburg (or London - depending on which side of the game board that you were playing on). You can choose to take goods, ship goods for money, build building which increases the number of goods that you can collect, buy building materials with money or make donations to build churches using building materials. There isn’t quite as much direct conflict in this game as the previous two Gerdts designs, but there is a fair amount of jostling for position within the city and harbor. The game plays quickly in just over an hour for four players and the players in my game seemed to be constantly involved in the action so there wasn’t much feeling of downtime. Like his other games, I really like the fact that Gerdts includes two different boards in the game to help give you more variety in setup and game strategy.
Giganten der Lufte is one of the new releases from Queen this year, and it is designed by Andreas Seyfarth. I had the privilege of trying the prototype of this two years ago, and the game is as fun as I remember! I didn’t give any information on this earlier when Larry Levy was drooling over it because I wasn’t sure if it was the same game that I had played before – but I can say now that it most certainly is! It’s a game where your goal is to build the Hindenberg. You start the game with a single blimp captain, and you use your skill (and dice-rolling luck) to improve the six different parts of your blimp. The game is similar in concept to To Court The King in that many of the cards that you pick up to improve your blimp modify your dice roll. A big difference here from TCTK is that there are three different types of D6 used in this game (colored white, red and black). The game plays quickly in about 30 minutes, and it is well suited for families or casual gaming. My brother and I were invited to play the game with Andreas himself, and we had a blast doing it! Brian proved to be the best blimp designer and I came in a close second. This game could easily become my favorite Seyfarth design, especially if my kids are able to play this one with me!
Finally, to help give you an idea of what you can expect to hear about in the next few weeks, here is the list of games that made it back from Germany… I needed every last cubic inch of space in my bags, and if I hadn’t stuffed my carry-on, laptop case and my jacket full of boards and wooden bits, I wouldn’t have made it back with everything – my jacket alone weighed 12 pounds due to all the card games and wooden bits stuffed in the pockets! I had about 800 grams left in my weight allowance between my two checked bags…
I wrote down my list by when I picked them up – I will add a little description about each as I go along
Wednesday
Amyitis - see above
Ystari T-shirt - umm… apparently I’m an extra-large in France!
Mykerinos expansion - a few tiles and a single sheet of rules
League of Six - new Czech game that got rave reviews from my friends there
Galaxy Trucker - a completely different style of game from the designer of Through the Ages
Antler Island - Cute figures and a better looking board than Hameln
Agricola - I’ve got a lot of pasting up to do to make this one playable
Key Harvest - Richard Breese’s new one. Sounds fantastic, but I haven’t played it yet
Bohnanza Fan Edition - new fanboy art for Bohnanza – for a friend
NiShiKi - cool Japanese game with sliding tiles/cards. I really wish I knew more about it, but I own it now
Magical Athlete - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
Origins of Failing Water - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
Master of Rules - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
Goita - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
Festival - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
High School Election - hoping this is the next Fairy Tale
Fleet 1715 - this version of the game is not supposed to be broken
Old Town Solo - gift for a friend
Thursday
Age of Steam: Pittsburgh - woo hoo – can’t get enough AoS maps!
Trainsport - my third favorite Winsome game with new improved graphics! (after Age of Steam and Robber Barons)
Wabash Cannonball - I’m certainly looking forward to trying this one
Age of Steam: Iraq/NY Subway - more and more AoS maps
Siedler von Hessen - new scenario offered at the Kosmos booth
Glik - one of the 100 wooden board versions – this looks to be an interesting mazelike game
Siedler Steiermark - free scenario that you got if you wore a sticker for an upcoming convention
Jantaris - based on the rules, this is the Czech game I’m most interested in right now
Laborignes - almost resold this at the Fair as it’s quite heavy. Didn’t think it would make it in my bag
Macht & Ohnemacht - a very interesting two-player game, I want to try this soon
Der Wiege der Renaissance - I bought this on spec. It’s in a small box
Funny Fishing - new kids game from Drei Magier Spiele
Mausekarrusel - a memory game for kids with cute little wooden mice
World Cup Game expansions 1+2 - now I can play England in 1966!
Duel in the Dark expansions (8 total) - for a friend… I don’t even own DitD!
Tichu decks with special Bayern Munich backs - sweet blue and white diamond pattern. Some of the face cards also have floating heads of people that I don’t recognize on them
Wooden Tichu storage box - birthday gift for a friend
Neuroshima Hex and 5th army - nice to have more choices for this one
Brass - hopefully this Warfrog release will get more play than the previous few
Gondoliere - a Schacht game that you have to cut the pieces out yourself
Spank the Monkey, 2nd ed. - a fun little cardgame that I enjoyed when I first received it 4 years ago
Force Ball - card game about a futuristic sport where you try to score goals
Crazy Diamond/Karatino - two games in one – I’m most interested in Crazy Diamond right now which is a route optimization game
Leonardo da Vinci expansion - for a friend
Borneo - card game from DaVinci that I bought solely on Martin Duckworth’s recommendation. I know very little about it otherwise
Friday
Spielbox subscription
Hamburgum - see above
Starfarers of Catan figurines - amazingly so, these were a free giveaway at the Kosmos booth
Utopia - mixed reviews all week but I couldn’t not have those cool plastic pieces
Rugby World - great timing on the release as it coincided with the Rugby World Cup – I’ll be interested in seeing how the vector mechanism works here
Medievalia - interesting looking card game where you get resources to build buildings
Perry Rhodan - a new addition to the Kosmos 2-player line
Ubongo Extreme - Ubongo with Hexes – what could be better?
Die Saulen der Erde expansion - a few new actions to add to the base game. It comes with a separate board that you place alongside the original. Also pieces for a 5th and 6th player
Anno 1701 - I’m hoping this is as good as 1503. Now if I just had a translation… (paging Mr. Korner)
Garibaldi - A Scotland Yard like game which has some action cards that will hopefully make it a different game.
Tobynstein - card game where you try to reanimate your dead pets. If I don’t like it, I’m sure I can sell it to Frank Branham
Dead End - A game about zombies. If I don’t like it, I’m sure I can sell it to Frank Branham
Filou - a hilarious little auction game from 2F. I played the prototype, then named Pig in a Poke, at the Gathering.
Stoplights - new card game from Sean Brown, one of the folks involved with FRED
Giganten der Lufte - see above
Saturday
Black Box+ - Black Box with hexes – what could be better?
Liebe und Intrige - I needed a game in my collection where I have to marry off my daughters
Mr. Jack expansion - five new characters to use in the game. This was delayed due to a problem with the die cuts on the cards
Animalia - card game with beautiful artwork
Lexio - Korean tile game that I found at a used dealer
Palast Gefluster - Adlung hand-management game
Kingsburg - I’ve been quite impressed with this one – a fairly innovative mechanism using dice to choose your actions
Gipsy King/Territories - I bought this because I like the other Cwali games that I have.
King of Siam - a strategic game where you try to control the factions in Siam – unique in that you get only 8 actions in the whole game and you have to choose when to use them
Well, as you can see, I’ve got a fair bit of unpacking to do – and a lot of reorganizing of the game closet!
Until your next appointment
The Gaming Doctor
Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 01:00 AM in Columnists, Dale Yu / 2066
Comments:
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Holy smokes, Dale! For someone who didn’t buy games that will appear in English, you still bought a ton of games. I hope you had someone take a picture of you in your stuffed jacket. Apparently Crazy Diamond and Karatino is from 2006, and not a new title for 2007, although it seemed new to me, you, and many others. Saba was a question mark until a couple of days before the show, and Ghenos said that it had the Bolide track #2 in hand only two days before Spiel, so they were running close to the deadline as well. You’ve got a lot of playing to do in the next few weeks and months. Get crackin’! Posted by W. Eric Martin on Oct 24, 2007 at 05:30 AM | #
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Eric, just think… I still have to get all of the RGG releases from Jay, a few games from Z-Man, the F2F games, and hopefully a box of happiness from Fantasy Flight with their new stuff. Anyone up for playing games? If I start now and do nothing else but game and sleep, I think I can play all the new ones by Christmas! Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:03 AM | #
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Did tou see something about THE CIRCLE? Aparently it was under the radar for everybody, according to
In his blog he puts this, that i want to share because it’s difficult to get something about this game elsewhere:
“A dark looking game with a theme coming from the field of Espionage is The Circle which comes from the newly established publisher C4. Focusing on the end of the 19th Century, a sinister group called “The Circle” is making a bid for world domination, and the players take the roles of directors of the intelligence services of different nations which struggle to stop the Circle by use of their spies.
Kulkmann’s Convention Hit ! This year, the decision proved to be rather hard, since I have quite a few games on my list which have left some quite good impressions with me. On the one hand I have The Circle and Tribun which I playtested today, both of them being rather nice strategy games with really intersting elements in their rules, on the other hand there is Kingsburg with a very smoothly running playing mechanism and Medievalia which, after getting the rules straight, proves to be a very easy to learn resource managment and battle game. ... However, both the detailed playing mechanisms both in Tribun and The Circle outclass the options available in Medievalia, and in the end I have dicided to give my special recommendation to The Circle
because the game offers the rather mechanism for simulating the playing time and also a variety of possible strategies which should encertain a high degree concerning its replay value. Tribun comes close behind, but considering the fact that The Circle was done by a newcomer I would like to award this really inventive first product”
Posted by Mario Aguila on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:04 AM | #
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Mario, I saw the Circle and had the game explained to me by the designer himself in the Press Room.... I meant to go back and give it a try, but somehow, it never happened! As you know, it can get crazy in the Halls, and you never have enough time to do everything that you want! If it is any consolation, I will be traveling to Great Lakes Games next week and I know that one of my friends will have his copy there. I shall try it next weekend and report back. I’ll surely still be in the middle of all of my Essen reports! There is just no way to fit all this information into one column! Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:07 AM | #
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Thanks Dale, because The Circle woke up my curiosity vividly, as much by the subject as by the mechanics. Posted by Mario Aguila on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:14 AM | #
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Mario, no problem. One of the advantages of traveling in a group is that we (unintentionally) split up the burden of picking up the unknown games! I took home Liebe und Intrige as well as Wiege der Renaissance… Christian ended up with The Circle and Ward took a copy of Saba home. James has a copy of Ghost for Sale that no one else got, and I think Christian may also have the only Street Smart in our group. In this way, we will all get to see the different games and decide if we like them—when we have more time to do it properly! Also, though I know this may not be of help to you in Europe, but I do know that the people at Funagain seemed interested in The Circle and they took home a number of copies for sale on their site. If it turns out to be a hit, at least people will certainly be able to get a hold of it! I think that if you are in Europe though it would be easier to get it directly from the C4 website however. Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:47 AM | #
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I’m in Chile, so I used to buy all my games via online sites like funagain. Thanks for your information. Posted by Mario Aguila on Oct 24, 2007 at 10:50 AM | #
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If you got only 8 DitD expansions, you missed one :D Posted by Oskari Westerholm on Oct 24, 2007 at 11:46 AM | #
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Well, Oskari, I just went to the Pilot Booth and asked for one of each expansion. As I was buying them for a gift for a friend, I’ll admit I didn’t really look that close at them… Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 01:02 PM | #
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I’m interested in Glik and Perry Rhodan as well if you sell them..... I’m not all about Dead Things. Posted by Frank Branham on Oct 24, 2007 at 02:44 PM | #
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Glik looks too good—haven’t even played it yet, but i’m holding on to that one Perry Rhodan was picked up because my brother raved about it and Heinrich has already promised english support…
The post-Essen sale is maybe 2-3 weeks away!
Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 02:48 PM | #
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Yeah, get your own Glik, Frank! I also liked Heinrich’s description of Perry Rhodan, and the English translation on the cards will be minimal. The rules, however, will need a hand somewhere from someone. Mario, Patrick Korner played The Circle during Spiel, so perhaps he can report on the game at some point. Mike Siggins wrote about the game in his Spiel report on Funagain. You might be less enthusiastic after reading his report: http://www.funagain.com/control/viewblogpost?contentBlogPostId=14903&contentBlogId=1 I’ll post links to various Spiel ‘07 reports soon, then a final wrap-up after hearing from a few publishers. Eric Posted by W. Eric Martin on Oct 24, 2007 at 04:54 PM | #
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First - If Frank passes on any zombie games, lemme know. Second - What do I have to do to be your “friend?” Posted by Jon Theys on Oct 24, 2007 at 06:45 PM | #
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Jon first- your dibs have been noted second—wouldn’t you like to know. it’s a complicated process involving multiple steps. An in person interview would also need to be conducted. There are a few prerequisites that you will need to complete before even attempting an application. However, if you are interested, you may forward your application and processing fee to the credentialing office. If your initial application is approved, I will contact you to guide you through the rest of the process. Dale Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 24, 2007 at 07:58 PM | #
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Regarding The Circle, several folks whose opinions I trust—Mike Siggins, Ken Tidwell and Kurt Adam—all said the game was TERRIBLY slow-moving and rather dull. Nothing I saw from brief observations disputed their opinions. Mike Siggins wrote a good description of his experiences with the game in his Essen report: http://www.funagain.com/control/viewblogpost?contentBlogPostId=14903&contentBlogId=1 Posted by Greg Schloesser on Oct 25, 2007 at 09:23 AM | #
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Hey Greg, do you have any Essen reports planned? Posted by Eric Knauer on Oct 26, 2007 at 04:40 PM | #
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Absolutely! I have family visiting from New Orleans for the next 5 days, so the report will likely be delayed until next weekend. Posted by Greg Schloesser on Oct 26, 2007 at 07:01 PM | #
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