Essen Schedule

I'm in the midst of last-minute preparations to attend my first-ever SPIELmesse in Essen. I am looking forward to meeting more of the international gaming community there, and finally experiencing the excitement of the convention live and in person.  I had been excited about the planned release of two of my biggest and most complex games to date, but as often happens in this business, both were postponed until 2012.  The sudden announcement of the release of my card game, Pala, helped to diminish this disappointment, but it now appears that any copies that make it to the show will be incomplete.

Although these events could be discouraging, I'm looking at the bright side and am thankful for the freedom I have to spend time with gamers, designers, and publishers from around the world.  Although I have a few appointments with publishers to talk about prototypes and future releases, I will be free from demoing my games continuously (although I will be demoing for friend Bernd Eisenstein's games for a bit).

If you are planning to attend SPIEL this week and you see me there, please don't be shy and introduce yourself.  Following is a rough schedule of my week:

Wednesday:

Evening train to Essen from Berlin.  While on the train:  work on my lecture for the Technical University Berlin, look over game rules for new Essen releases, and review my own prototype game rules.  Stay with Günter Cornett and others in a hostel in Essen just a few tram stops from the Hauptbahnhof.

Thursday:

9:00 Arrive in time for early entrance for SAZ members.

Start at Cambridge Games Factory (Booth 4-231) to see final version of Pala.

Stop by White Goblin Games (Booth 5-01) to touch base about future releases, look over prototype version of 2012 release Nieuw Amsterdam, etc.

Touch base with Bernd at his Irongames booth (5-92)

Meet people I've only known online until now:  Scott Teppper at his Ascora booth (5-100), Ted Alspach at his Bezier booth (5-100), and Counter Magazine's Stuart Dagger and Alan Howe at Treefrog Games booth (5-26).

Check out games I'm interested in:  Czech Games Edition's Last Will, Lookout Game's Walnut Grove and Ruhm für Rom, Asmodee's Eclipse and Mundus Novaus, Cwali's Ab in die Tonne, and 2-F Spiele's Friday.

Visit my friends from Black Dove Games (Booth 4-318).

Pick up some bits at Spielmaterial.de  (Booths 9-33 & 11-10) 

17:00 visit Boardgamegeek and W. Eric Martin

19:00 Dinner with 2011 Spiel des Jahres winner Susan MicKinnley-Ross, Eric, Schmidt Spiele's Thorsten Gimmler, and Michael Schmitt from the Spielwiese.

Afterwards drop by the SAZ Game Night in a local pub.

Friday

10:00 meet Greg Daigle at the Hans im Glück booth and look at his first published game, Hawaii

13:00 meet Irish game designer Rory O’Conner for lunch

Visit booths, meet personalities, and look at games that I did not get to on Thursday.

Saturday

10:00-12:00 demo PAX and Pergamemnon at Bernd’s Irongames booth (5-91)

13:00-14:00 meet with a publisher to discuss a prototype under development

15:00-17:00 White Goblin Games (booth 5-01) playest/present prototype of 2012 release Nieuw Amsterdam.

17:00-18:00 meet with a publisher to discuss a prototype under development

Catch the evening train for Berlin, continue work on university lecture.

Tuesday
After-Essen Party in the Spielwiese in Berlin!