Spiel Essen 2018 day one

Early getting up after a bad night of sleep and off to Spiel. We knew how to use German public transport and we learned that a four-ticket was the cheapest option. You have to print a date on it the moment you use it and there are four print options, both sides front and back. Easy. Train 8 minutes, walk out of the station and cross the street to the U-thingy and walk down the stairs to take the U11 to Messe Ost/Sud. In case you do not feel certain -> follow the bearded men with empty backpacks (worked for us)

When we arrived there was already a crowd but no real posters or help anywhere where to go with our ticket. It said 'go straight to the entrance' but we could not find any pointers. So yeah, we were at the wrong line first and were gestured to get to another line. We did ask if we should go to the end of the line but no no no. They DID say it five minutes before opening so we did witness the craziness at the front lines with the press cameras pointed at you but we were slightly down about having to go outside again and try to get in all over.

And then it got rough, my kid was suffering (she has a tendency to pass out) and there were so many people in a small room that temperature was rising so she leaned upon me more and more until she fell down on the ground and had to throw up. (a special thanks to the one who tipped us to bring plastic bags). No one official around to ask for help and no medics to be spotted anywhere so we sat this one out and let everyone else pass for half an hour. When she could continue we finally started moving again and at the ticket sale (where we should not have been because we already had tickets) no one knew where the medics were (barely speaking English and not understanding me) and no sugar or anything to get my kid out of her passiveness. Ugh, so we staggered to the place where they take care of your coat (€2 per coat) and joined the line once more. It was very hard to keep our spirits up but a bit after 11 we finally entered Hall 3. 

Overwhelming. I think that word summarises it perfectly. The colors, the sound, the number of people, the smell and the heat. We had a map and were prepared but it was simply too much, we felt like we were too slow to catch on and after a bit of walking Iris gave up and wanted to sit down somewhere. She felt horribly guilty and I was torn what to do but after talking to her she was okay with me walking around without her for a bit. 

I walked pass a couple of cool boots but when I spotted 'Kill the Unicorns' (forgot which designer, sorry) and BackSpindle Games (personal favorite) AND a Nutella Latte stand I had to pick her up and drag her along. So we tried to play 'Kill the Unicorns' but despite the confirmation we could play no one came so we got up and left. We tried to order a Nutella Latte but they ran out of milk (no joke, when we went to the toilet they ran out of toilet paper so we felt like we were haunted by bad luck). We tried to keep our spirits up (do many spirits had been killed by now) and finally regained energy when sitting down at BackSpindle games and play a game of Ninja Squad. The friendliness of David and Leo plus the awesomeness of the game boosted our energy and after that we could take more Spiel chaos. We bought sugary sweets and took a break in the eating hall (? small hall) sitting down close to an open door so we could breath.

I have to confess that we were about to give up so we made priorities and went to see/meet Emma May from Quirk! Played two games of Quirk!, even the promo one and we talked and laughed so much (game is really cool plus Emma, Hellen and other girl (apologies, forgot your name) were so nice and welcoming.

We played a game of 'Immortal Paths' after that (next to Emmerse Studios) and after talking to the designers we really peeked on energy to be able to continue. Finally the milk had arrived at 'Snakes and Lattes' (really weird 'ten minutes' that was) and despite it being heaven-in-a-cup my kid's health went up at the same time I was crashing. Headache (not from the price of the Latte (€4 but they charged an extra €1 because they ran out of paper cups) but I think it was the entire package, the Airnbnb, hardly any sleep, but enough to eat and drink and the huge impact of impressions. Ofourse I forgot to take painkillers so we decided to pick up the Kickstarter 'Crisis at Steamfall' from BD games and we decided to leave.

It was a difficult decision to make but we needed time to repack ourselves (not sure if this is the right expression). We hardly spoke on our way back because we had to process these couple of hours (we stayed till 16-ish) and after going to the local supermarket to buy drinks we went to our bedroom and I went to sleep. Only reached a slumber (this place is like an asylum with a possessed child screaming and running without being corrected) but when I was relatively sane again we made a plan.

We learned and we evolved so we had made a backup plan (asking my loved one to pick us up and bring us home, skipping the last two days of Spiel) but also made a list ->

• we made a list of what we want to see, play and/or buy
• we expanded our list what to bring (more drinks, painkillers, toilet paper, stuff like that)
• we decided to arrive an hour later to avoid the 10.00 opening rush

So that's why we are still in bed right now (almost 8.00) and I have the time to get this blog out. We will leave in about an hour and we are going to buy ourselves some nice bread somewhere and we will take our time. We know what we will be facing and that knowledge will be our shield. But hey, check our loot:

I'll keep you posted and thanks for reading. (Note: posting from phone so I will edit the pictures at a later moment, my apologies for their size)

Okey then, a bunch of pictures than to close this blog with 

Our Airnbnb

Is horrible. Don't know where to start describing it but it has been a long time since I was so dissapointed that I had to cry.

At first, my mistake, I believed the pictures instead of reading carefully, I am to blame for that. The advert said one bedroom and use of kitchen, shared bathroom but I thought the living room (first picture in the advertisement) was something we could use too. I even thought it was ours and I could see Iris and me play boardgames there.

The neighborhood is... meh. Not green and beautiful but trash outside everywhere. We noticed a lot of broken furniture piled up in streets and not sure if this is an 'Essen'- thing or whatever but a lot of fridges thrown outside on the streets. But I can ignore that. When we arrived a woman was already standing in the door, using her phone and in the middle of a phone conversation. Instead of hanging up she pointed us the bathroom (locked cause someone was using it), the kitchen and the bedroom. The kitchen was a shock, there were pots and pans all over the place and with the food still in it. There was no room to use not could I see a watercooker and I think that moment Iris and I knew we were not going to use that kitchen. At all.

The woman handed us the key and I extended my hand to introduce myself (she had to put her phone away for this) and Iris had to wait a bit longer for her hand to be 'answered'. She pointed to outside to provide us directions to the supermarket while the house owner passed us in the hall without saying anything. 

So we went to the supermarket and I have to admit I cried. We bought some bread, cheese and water and walked to the train station to learn how we had to buy tickets and then it was time for my loved one to leave and for us to return to the bedroom. If it wasn't for Spiel I would have gone home.

For now, I am still awake. We tried to go to bed early but the house owners simply made too much noise, talking and laughing and their kid was running through the hall outside our bedroom (I guess it is a 2year old). Kid is taken to bed ten minutes ago and there is silence now but we are facing so much little things that are making an impact on my positivity. The blanket is too short for two people so my kid and I turned it so we have cold feet but atleast we have enough to wrap ourself in. Matras is overly sensitive and has a dent in the middle pulling us in, three of the five lights are broken and one socket doesn't work. (I brought a huge powerbank to charge my phone). We did not bring cups, mugs and or plates but we do not want to use theirs as well so we ate above a towel. We have no litter bin, only one chair that almost cracked when my daughter sat on it so we are sitting on the bed or on the ground, killing our backs. 

Last but not least, I hear something drip. Could be rain or the shower is leaking (we could hear someone taking a shower) but I'm too depressed to search what could be leaking and why. We already decided to leave as early as possible and stay away as long as possible to avoid being here and maybe I am gong to skip Sunday's Spiel to be able to leave Saturday evening. We will see how it goes.

Going to try to catch some sleep now and hopefully the next day so take my sorrows away. I always tell my kids to ignore problems in the time of night because everything seems to be more dark and rough so let's take my own good advice and good night to all of you.

On our way 'Spiel Essen'

LIST: Spiel Essen tips, do's and don't-s

Making a list from last minute advice from some awesome Boardgame lovers from the Facebook group 'BoardGame Revolution/ BGR'

• Make sure you have water on you to drink. It can get quite hot in those halls. Plan your visit as well so you dont lose time looking for stalls etc 
• Dont fall into the trap of impulse buying everything you see :) you have 4 days, think well before you buy
•  Wear comfortable shoes and bring a big backpack...
•   if you have a budget , stick to it
•   Make breaks and deposit bags with games in your car instead of dragigng them around all the time. Drink water and bear in mind that food from some of the food stalls can be pricey. Wear comfortable shoes and a backpack since the only resting places are floors and playtesting games at booths. Print out floor plans of the halls and check booths you need so you dont waste time. Also if you are interested in games in english that are distributed by Asmodee, make those a priority since the games in english get sold out pretty quickly - some even by thursday afternoon!
•  There's plenty of great food stuff a few minutes walking from the fair.
  Don't expect to get a table for playing on Saturday.
  People are incredibly welcoming. If you see a small group of strangers getting ready to Playtest a game you're interested in, ask if you can join. They'll usually say yes
• My first as well, I’musing the Tabletop together tool to mark the games I want to see, it also tells you which hall/booth those games are on
•   Have cash available, there is an atm in the hall, but is often really crowded. Don’t buy till sunday, unless you think a game will have sold out. You might be overwhelmed and run out of cash before you seen/tried enough games to make good buying decisions.
  For food, its a lot cheaper and better choice outside the halls.
  Owww .... have fun!
•   Every day the merchant restock so don't stress buy something thinking they are going to be out off stock tomorrow. Also alot off games are just cheaper at the internet stores then on the con

Spiel Essen 2018

This Wednesday Iris (12, almost 13) and me are finally going to Spiel Essen. We bought the tickets as soon as they went online and booked an Airbnb as well. A first time for both events and after having found a cool airbnb close to the Messe we printed our tickets and the wait could begin.

We have been patient for so many months and now we are so close of actually going that I am really feeling nervous about it.

SPIEL in Essen means: Four days of fun, meeting friends, playing and testing thousands of games and novelties together with gamers from all over the world. Make up your own mind about the quality of the international gaming market and feel free to buy your favourite ones!

 A confession, this is my first time leaving everything behind. Being a mom of six children they have always been a priority, time- and energy wise but also financially. After two decades two children are now living on their own and the youngest four are 7 (almost 8), 9, 12 (almost 13) and 15 and they do not depend on me anymore as they have done in the past. Time to explore myself and my own hobbies and the past five years I learned a lot about myself. That I like to DM D&D games online for instance, something I dedicate a lot of time to and resulted in becoming a Staff member of an International online roleplaying site having my own 'good people'-badge.
I have always loved boardgames but it had been hard to find the time to play a boardgame, especially since family life was so time consuming. Now it seems to be the right time, kids have grown and have grown into boardgames. Becoming really cool mini-adults who love to play boardgames with me so I enjoy the input of energy I get from playing games.
This year has been a very cool year for boardgames to be added to our collection and by now we have about 133 games and still a lot of incoming Kickstarter games.

So yeah, Spiel Essen was a dream and it was awesome so finally realize I could actually go and spend four days in Boardgame heaven ;-). Maybe childish? Maybe, but somehow I feel more like an adult that I have ever felt at the same time.
Going to keep everyone interested updated on each and every day we are over here and so incredibly looking forward to it...

Wardens (at Kickstarter)

 With a 'like and share' action I won this Game but only IF the game is funded. And the tension is real because they seemed to be kinda stuck at the end of the 90% and at this moment of blogging they are at 98%.
If the Game does not get funded I will not win the Game so I am hoping there will be more backers.

Delivery -> December 2019
~ but I can wait; this game is worth it ~

'I'll play everything YOU want'

Maybe I should have mentioned I wanted some more heavier games to play, I had the time and energy to get some one- or two-hour games going but both kids worked together to pile up their stash of Games.

So we have on our agenda:

• Ezelen (over here the translation)
• Village Pillage (the print and play version since the actual Game is expected in April 2019)
• Bears vs Babies
• Exploding Kittens
• Quirk! (if you are reading this and are into Kickstarter games -> Emma May currently has a new Quirk! game at Kickstarter, hoping to get funded, halloween theme and a short funding period/goal so be quick if you want to back it)
• Moljacht (absolutely NOT my favorite)
• Yard of the Month
• Regenwormen (translated in English it will be Pickomino)
• Dracula's Feast

I would have chosen different games but hey, I said it and I play by it :-)