From a
publisher’s perspective, a convention or a trade show is exciting, but also
somewhat stressful. It’s both about preparing everything in advance, as well as
performing at peak efficiency for an extended period of time, to make sure that
our games and – more importantly – the people who visit us, get all the
enthusiasm and the positivity they deserve. And with Spiel 2014 starting
in merely a blink of an eye, we can’t but get more and more excited with what
awaits us in Essen.
Spiel is a celebration of games and
gaming, and as passionate gamers we would lie if we said that only Progress
or Versailles excites us. There is a fair amount of gaming goodness we
will be more than happy to get our hands on, not just to see “what the
competition has to offer”, but to simply have fun with when the dust finally
settles.
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Image source:
BoardGameGeek |
It seems
that the game that equivocally excites all of us is Hyperborea by Andrea Chiarvesio and Pierluca Zizzi. It’s no secret we always had a soft
spot for civilization and empire building games, so this one made us all
interested from the first day it became a visible blip on our gaming radars.
With good looking area control action and an immensely interesting pool
building mechanism, Hyperborea looks like a game that will put a pretty
cool twist on the “dudes on the map” genre, while showing off some clever
Eurogame moves, asymmetrical player powers and some truly awesome art. Simply
put: we cannot wait to see it in action.
And
speaking about civilization building games: we will definitely be checking out Historia
and Omega Centauri.
The former seems to be sporting some really innovative approach towards
civilization gaming in general, while the latter looks a little more straight
up – but as a solid 4X game in space has a pretty good chance of making the
creators of Exodus: Proxima Centauri quite excited about placing it on
their Essen loot pile.
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Image source:
BoardGameGeek |
No Spiel
would be complete without a new game by Uwe Rosenberg, and, more
recently, without an offering from Stefan Feld and Antoine Bauza.
And although we are slightly disappointed that Fields of Arle is a two
player game only, we will definitely want to check it out, as well as take a
good look at both Aquasphere and La Isla. And personally, I
really can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Samurai Spirit.
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Image source:
BoardGameGeek |
To tell the
truth, the list could really go on. We want to try out Nations: The DiceGame, visit the Z-Man booth to see how Battle at Kemble’s Cascade
makes an early video game go completely analogue, get a fix (in form of a new board)
of the fabulous Concordia or witness with our very own eyes, how Phil Eklund and Philipp Klarmann managed to make a negotiation game for not only three or two players players, but
also for one (some of us even want to visit actual Greeenland but that
is a completely different story). We will delve in the Essen gaming hotness,
but…
At the end
of the day, we will be most excited to see everyone who deems our humble abodes
welcoming enough to visit us, stay awhile and play our games or just say hello.
We will be – and in fact we already are – most excited to see our old friends
and make some new ones. Because, believe it or not, gaming is much more about
the people than the games. So, as much as we are happy to be presenting,
selling, playing, demoing and experiencing games, we will also be happy to
share this experience with others.
And, in a way, that is what our personal
Essen Hotness is all about.
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