Essen Spiel'21: When Less is More
It's no surprise that Essen Spiel'21 was a smaller show this year. The good news is that while there may have been fewer exhibitors and fewer attendees than in years past, the energy and enthusiasm we saw was anything but small. Throughout the convention, demo tables were bustling non-stop, and our hearts were full of happiness from seeing you all again!
Our first impressions?
Take a journey around the convention with Eleni, see giant versions of our games, and meet the designers who are part of the CGE team!
Filling the SPACE up:
This year attendees had a chance to try out a giant version of the newly re-launched Galaxy Trucker in the gallery between halls 2 and 4. It was hilarious watching everyone running around and scrambling to build their ships with large tiles, and people seemed to have a blast with it.
In contrast: a significantly smaller version of the game provides the same big level of fun, too! Look at those astronaut meeples!
Directly at our booth, there was another monster-size model of Under Falling Skies with several professional guides: the designer – Tomáš "Uhlík" Uhlíř – himself, and also Paul Grogan from Gaming Rules!
We asked everyone where they were from and marked in on our world map, asking each player to attempt to save their hometown from the alien invasion. It was surprising to see just how far many of you traveled to try the game! Congratulation to those who succeeded in thwarting the alien onslaught – earning green pins on the map. There were also a few red pins ... some were not so lucky.
Hot stuff: Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders
Your tremendous interest in Lost Ruins of Arnak and the brand new Expedition Leaders expansion – which just released for the show – couldn't make us happier. Now that you have a chance to sit down and play the new content, we're looking forward to your feedback on our social media channels and BGG profiles. Some of you have already been sharing! Thanks for that.
Good news for those who couldn't attend but are searching for the expansion: English copies are heading to European stores during November. Also, our German partner, HeidelBÄR Games, has been covering that market, and more translated language versions will be coming soon. Stay tuned for details!
There is always more...
You might be familiar with our traditional "What's in the box" Christmas contest on Instagram. Still, this time around, we wanted to see if you could identify what games' components were inside our mysterious box without looking at them. That's right, by touch alone!
Now that the contest is over and we aren't spoiling it for anyone, can you name all those games?
Once again, congratulation to all the winners of our #playCGE photo contest, and thank you to all the other participants who took part in demoing hot CGE titles (Galaxy Trucker, Lost Ruins of Arnak, and Under Falling Skies) and weren't afraid to share!
At this moment, we are all safely back home. Hopefully, you are as well, with all those fantastic-looking boxes in tow. Let us know what games you have already played!
Greetings from the CGE team from the last evening of Essen Spiel'21.
In the end, Essen may have been smaller, but it was definitely big enough to have a great time!