Seems like there was a time, not too far back, where it was Nuremburg where we would expect the release of “gamers, games” and Essen was the place companies put out their fare for the broader public.  Its obviously a distinction that has all but disappeared. I am not sure this has much to do with the GERMAN publishers.  Rather, it seems that since Essen has become internationalized, whether or not the Germans decide to provide us with meaty fair at Essen is immaterial.  The Japanese, Czechs, English, French, Italians and even the odd American, are likely to try and make their big splash at Essen.  So by default, that’s the convention to watch.

I am also intrigued by Fresko.  Very interesting theme, but the illustration in the preview looked a little cube-pushy, which would be disappointing. 

I also think the Schmidt line is excellent.  Terrific filler, and perfect for the kids and in-laws.  We even play them when out for dinner from time to time.

I’m on the lookout for FITS Mitbringspiel as well.  Particularly since I wasn’t able to bring the large FITS along on my trip…

Since Essen is open to the public and attracks all the “Spielfrieks,” it is the natural place to release new “gamer’s games” in addition to the usual family game fare.

As pointed out, Nuremberg is a trade fair, where publishers are trying to make deals with department store chains to carry their lines.  Thus, the games on display there are weighted on the family-game side of things.  The deals are usually made with execs on the basis of presentation--they usually don’t play the games themselves, and oftentimes, they aren’t even gamers!

*Shrug*, if you say so Jeff.  Its not a distinction I see in the actual list of published titles.  Admittedly, my perception may be skewed by Alea’s old habit of previewing a game at Essen, for publication at Nuremberg.  There was a time, afterall, when Alea’s new release was the thing on every red-blooded gamer’s mind. 

IIRC, this was a pattern that HiG (does/used to?) follow as well.

Now there are so many Essen releases, it would be neigh impossible to follow a pattern.

Jason

As one who speculated about that card artwork in that thread, I chuckled when I saw it posted here. As a late comer to the dominion scene, I have been pleased with the base game and enjoy the idea of alchemy in the game.  To boot, I also thought my card description (that does not rely on whether or not a “potion” will be a new treasure type card) was very appropriate for a vineyard!

I am a big Ystari fan—so the redux of “Industria” and the new “Asteroyds” are right up my alley..I give everything in their line a shot because I trust their idea of a quality game...So thanks for whetting my whistle on that front!

As for Queen games..I hope this is a good year for them.  I have always strayed far away from their titles (as I don’t enjoy the ones from them I have), so I hope this will be a good reintroduction to them this year as these game themes peek my interest.

Jeff Allers wrote:
“Since Essen is open to the public and attracks all the “Spielfrieks,” it is the natural place to release new “gamer’s games” in addition to the usual family game fare.
As pointed out, Nuremberg is a trade fair, where publishers are trying to make deals with department store chains to carry their lines.  Thus, the games on display there are weighted on the family-game side of things.  The deals are usually made with execs on the basis of presentation--they usually don’t play the games themselves, and oftentimes, they aren’t even gamers!”

That is so true!

One of the four games Winsome have licensed to big firms for 2010 debut is being released at Nuremberg because it is a Family game (Samarkand: Routes to Riches, Queen Games). The rest of the 2010 licensed games come later (Origins, GenCon, Essen) because they are gamer’s games.

Nuremberg is the Euro trade show, like the NY Toy Fair. Many execs are not gamers, presentation is everything. Essen is a very different animal.

My FLGS already has travel FITS in English no less!

@Jason M—Fresko is not necessarily “cube pushy”.  The cubes simply represent the different pots of paint that you are collecting.  You need to collect (and/or transmute) the different pots of paint to “paint” the necessary paintings on the VP tiles.  It’s more resource management.

@Tom - keep on guessing at that card!  I’m not going to give any hints or answers on that front, though I’m pretty sure that Jay at RGG will start some card teasers soon

@Greg - thanks for the info.  That might save me a bit in shipping from the EU!

Aren’t the mystery express “special powers” just:

Black player gets to peek at a black card that someone put down

Blue player gets to peek at a blue card that someone put down

etc

That seems balanced by definition but also quite boring.

Jeff, I agree with Jason.  It may have simply been a coincidence, but there was a couple of years in the early to mid 00’s where the meatier games were coming out at Nuremberg.  A number of people noted it and it looked like we were dealing with a new paradigm.  Then, it switched back and now Essen has both quantity and (to my way of thinking, at least) quality.

In a way, I preferred the former setup, as it did a better job of splitting up the interesting games throughout the year.  It was also nice to have a bunch of meaty games to play for the first time at the Gathering in April.  The way it is now, it can take me 6 months just to work my way through my Essen play list!  Still, as long as they keep providing me with good games, I won’t complain too much at what point in the year they debut.

Dale, I’m sorry I can’t help you with Titania.  As I mentioned in a comment when it was first announced, it’s Dorn and it’s Hans im Gluck, so there’s great promise.  But both of those entities are just as likely to produce a mildly interesting family game as a beefy gamer’s game these days, so I want more details before I get too excited.  Despite what you think, I lack your inside connections, even when my beloved Dorn is concerned, so I’m as much in the dark on this one as you are.

And it figures you’d be more interested in a Dorn *dexterity* game than something we can really wrap our brains around!  So typical--why can’t you be more like your brother?  :-)

I have to admit that my interest in Fresko waned a bit when Eric showed us a picture of the components.  For some reason, the look reminded me an awful lot of Colonia.  This, of course, was enough to give me a week-long case of the hives (I know you like Colonia, but there’s no accounting for taste, is there?).  Hopefully, this similarity only stems from the two games sharing the same publisher and Fresko will turn out to be a much better game than the Henn disaster.

@Lee - TBH, I don’t really know.  I haven’t had a chance to investigate the rules for Mystery Express yet.  I’m still just drooling over the press pics.

@Levy - you let me down!  But, yes, the dexterity game looks right up my alley.  Think how good Goa could have been if you had to flick those little spice sacks across the board onto targets!

D

Age of Scheme is my favorite of the Wabash Cannonball family of games, so I’m looking forward to the release of Samarkand.  I’m somewhat suspicious of the changes though.

The German rules of Titania are available at the Hans-im-Glück website http://www.hans-im-glueck.de/fileadmin/data_archive/Regeln/TIT_Regel_pdf.pdf

Sounds like typical Hans im Glück fare. Had no chance to play it as prototype, however it sound intriguing.

Don´t forget that Nuremberg is a Toy Fair where boardgames are only a small part of the show. Looking forward to it.

Klaus

How about news on the third Dorn game, Drachenherz (Kosmos)?

Any buzz on Seeland, Sh*t Happens (Feld?!?), Saustall, Chocolatl, or Speicherstadt?

I’d like new games starting with S, Alex.

@ Deniz - I really liked the changes - I think that they improve the game from the original.  Enough so that I’ll likely keep both games as they play differently enough.

@ Jonathan - I’ve read about all of those games, but they didn’t catch my eye.  So you’ll have to read Eric’s report on your own for that or find some other S-obsessed fanboy!

I too had noticed that Nuremburg seemed to have the more interesting gamers’ games for a while.  I inferred that this was because Essen was the big public event, with games timed to Christmas giving.  It’s a little like movies, with the seasons reversed.  In summer, when the big crowds come out, the popcorn movies get released.  In winter, it is a quieter time and the more adult, Oscar oriented fare is released.

Jason attributes the change to the “internationalization” of Essen.  I’d frame it differently, and say that the increase in quality at Essen is due to the greater participation of independent publishers.  These publishers - whether from Germany or outside - appeal to a small audience, but they have no outlet other than Essen, since Nuremburg is really only useful to larger publishers seeking broad distribution.

I suppose I haven’t been part of the scene long enough to really study the trends, but I also think that the definition of a family game seems to have changed over time--especially in Germany.  When Nuremberg was releasing “meatier” games, wasn’t that the time when games like “Tikal” were also winning Spiel des Jahres?

Of course, the “gaming families” that I know still play just about everything with their kids.  Just the other night, I was playing Endeavor with a good friend and two of his teenage daughters, and the 8th-grader “took us to school.”

So if the gaming families are still playing deeper games, perhaps we owe the recent trend more to the suits in Nuremberg who know little about the games, but are making all the deals.

Actually, Jeff, Tikal was released in 1999.  Jason and I are talking more about the 2002-2005 period, with maybe a little bleedover into the surrounding years.

Here’s a sample of some games that came out of the 2002 Nuremberg show:  Clippers, Dschunke, Goldland, Mexica, Pizarro & Co., Pueblo, and a little number I like to call Puerto Rico.  From 2003 there’s Amun-Re, Magna Grecia, Mare Nostrum, and New England.  The 2004 show featured some fabulous titles:  Dos Rios, Fifth Avenue, Goa, Hansa, Power Grid, San Juan, and St. Petersburg.  By 2005, the effect is starting to peter out, but we still have Amazonas, Das Zeptor von Zavandor, Kreta, Louis XIV, Shadows over Camelot, and Tower of Babel.  Keep in mind, there were fewer games coming out per year than there are now, so these represented a significant portion of the heavy titles coming out in those years.  These days, if we get a couple of worthy meaty titles coming out at Nuremberg, we consider ourselves lucky.  But it wasn’t always thus.