Fear of the Dark on Marta's BG Corner

SPIEL Essen 2026: Day 3

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

Here we go with Day 3, the last day of my very first SPIEL Essen! If you missed the start of the adventure, you can catch up on Day 1 and Day 2.

Going solo

The sky was grey today, but at least it didn’t rain. It was cold, though!

My boyfriend wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the Messe alone. It was a different experience, with its positives and its negatives. I missed having my partner by my side to share my findings and my enthusiasm. On the other hand, without him to talk to, I ended up moving around more and talking to a lot more people.

Ready for my last day, this time on my own

Synapses Games: Chimerium

Designed by Eric Dubus and Olivier Melison · Illustrated by Alexandre Bonvalot · Published by Synapses Games · BGG page

My first stop was Chimerium. The magical universe and how beautiful the game looks on the table made me stop and take a careful look.

One of the presenters gave me a quick explanation. You draft dice to study new species and acquire powerful artefacts for your laboratory, then manage your resources to create unique Chimeras and trigger chain reactions.

Of course, I asked about the solo mode. You play against an opponent, and that was enough to put me under its spell. The game isn’t on sale yet, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

Chimerium and its magical laboratory

inPatience: Karnivorous, Mazing and Mayor of Chicago

Karnivorous: designed by Inka and Markus Brand · Illustrated by Vincent Dutrait · BGG page Mazing: designed by Jim Deacove · BGG page Mayor of Chicago: designed by Xavier Georges · BGG page Published by inPatience

I’m a big fan of inPatience games, so this booth was a must, and I spent my morning there. Sofiane presented three games to me, and he was awesome. He told me he hasn’t been working at the company for very long, but he’s doing a wonderful job.

With Sofiane at the inPatience booth

Karnivorous made me fall in love straight away. First, the theme, with all its humour: scientists trying to end world hunger with giant apples used their discovery on the wrong plants, and now the plants want to eat everyone! The only ones left to stop them are brave gardener-robots.

Then there’s that puzzle-like management typical of inPatience games. Sofiane explained that the plants spread whether you complete the quests or not, but they spread less if you do. Completing all the quests every round is extremely hard, almost impossible. So you have to make choices and sacrifice things carefully. I love that side of it, and the puzzle side too. The colours are lovely as well. It’s a cooperative game for 1 to 4 players, and it came home with me!

Karnivorous: a lab overrun by hungry plants

Next, I played Mazing, an abstract game where two white and two black pieces must swap sides across the board. Some pieces can only travel on white spaces, others only on black ones, each with its own movement, and some spaces block a piece for good.

For my first two moves, I was completely lost and thinking, “this is impossible!” Then Sofiane suggested moving the black and white pieces that travel through the white spaces first, and the ones that travel through the black spaces afterwards, as it makes it easier to trace a path. Suddenly it all made sense, and I managed to win! I’m not entirely sure I didn’t cheat somewhere, but it was so much fun, and the ending was pure joy.

Mazing: impossible at first, pure joy at the end

Then came Mayor of Chicago, a solo game. Sofiane explained it and stayed to watch my game, getting excited right along with me. I had built a perfect engine and could easily have won, but I miscounted my cards and lost because of one miserable card. Sofiane shared my frustration, and honestly, that made the moment just perfect. I didn’t buy it this time, but it’s already on my shopping list for the near future.

Mayor of Chicago, already on my shopping list

A signature from Owen Davey

Fame & Fable: designed and illustrated by Owen Davey · Published by Owen Davey Games · BGG page

After lunch, I spent the afternoon moving from booth to booth, discovering new games.

Second attempt at Fame & Fable! I still didn’t get to learn the mechanics, as Owen Davey was in the middle of a signing session. But I did leave with a signature from the designer and illustrator himself! Discovering how it plays is now on my to-do list.

ICE Makes: Age of Legend

Designed by Jeffrey CCH · Published by ICE Makes · BGG page

At ICE Makes, I was presented with Age of Legend, which is coming to Gamefound. It comes in a small box, similar to Age of Civilization. I liked the art, and I loved how each card can be used in different ways: for its power, placed above the board, or for its resources, placed at the bottom. A small box, but a big promise. I’ll be watching that campaign!

Age of Legend: a small box with big promise

From my wishlist: Queen Alice

Designed by Héctor Carrión and David Heras Pino · Illustrated by Amelia Sales · Published by Combo Games · BGG page

Queen Alice was on my Essen wishlist, and it was exactly what I expected: really nice on the table, with beautiful illustrations. I watched a presentation of the rules, and I loved the shared actions on the central board and the little games inside the game. Someday soon, it’ll be on my table.

Queen Alice, beautiful on the table

A familiar face

In the middle of the crowd, I bumped into some friends from Legião dos Jogos, my board game group in Braga, and we stopped for a little chat. Even in a fair this huge, you can still find people from home!

Kinson Key Games: Excursions

Designed by Ben Rosset · Illustrated by Ian O’Toole · Published by Kinson Key Games · BGG page

I stopped at Kinson Key Games to understand the difference between Galactic Cruise, which I own, and their new game, Excursions. Excursions comes with a lovely circular board, and it’s smaller and easier than Galactic Cruise.

But after the presentation, I couldn’t really find enough differences between the two to make me back it. In my opinion, it overlaps a bit too much with Galactic Cruise. That said, I didn’t play it, so this is based on the presentation only.

Excursions and its circular board

Thistroy Games: Micro Architects

Designed by Michał Jagodziński and Kamil Langie · Illustrated by Jarosław Wajs · Published by Thistroy Games · BGG page

At Thistroy Games, a lady presented Micro Architects and its expansion, Big City Vacation, to me. The game is lovely! I liked the mechanic of selecting buildings to construct your city and meet objectives. It’s beautiful, even though the theme doesn’t leave much room for big illustrations. What I liked most is that it comes in a small box, so it’s easy to carry around.

Micro Architects: a whole city in a small box

KYF Edition: Behind

Designed by Cédric Millet · Published by KYF Edition · BGG page

Behind had been on my wishlist for so long that I was really happy to finally get the chance to test it! I played the convention scenario alone, and I managed to solve it.

It was so much fun to put the pieces together like a puzzle while following the clues in the design. The game made a lot of sense, and building the solution was a real pleasure.

I’m deliberately not sharing a photo, so I don’t spoil anything for those of you who might be at the Messe tomorrow and want to try it!

Quick looks

A few more games crossed my path today, more briefly:

Skirmish: Battle for Draconia (Jeffrey CCH, ICE Makes): the card design is what made me stop. It’s a card game for 2 to 4 players where you battle your enemies, and where you place each card matters, because it fights the card in the same place on your opponent’s side. I only saw it presented.
Timespan (Kristian Amundsen Østby and Kenneth Minde, Alion – by Dr Ø): another one from my wishlist. I only took a quick look, and it seemed crowded on the table, but maybe that’s because I saw a 5-player game. I’d like to dig a little deeper into this one.
Fear of the Dark (InterHuman): I went back, as promised on Day 2, and realised it’s a dungeon crawler. The art didn’t attract me that much in person, so I didn’t ask for an explanation. The feeling just wasn’t there.

Skirmish: Battle for Draconia

Timespan, with a full table of five players

Lucky Duck Games: Accidental Heroes and Oakspire

Accidental Heroes: designed by Wojciech Grajkowski · BGG page Oakspire: BGG page Published by Lucky Duck Games

Last but not least, I stopped at Lucky Duck Games, where Ben presented their crowdfunding projects.

Accidental Heroes launches on Kickstarter on 27 October. It’s a digital hybrid adventure board game with a companion app. To be honest, when Ben mentioned the app, I froze a little, because I prefer games without app dependency, even though I own some that have it. Ben explained that most of the game happens outside the app, but it’s still hard for me.

And then there was Oakspire, which made me fall in love as soon as I looked at it. The game is gorgeous: the illustrations of cozy animals are simply beautiful, and the boards are lovely too. It’s a tableau building game where each card can be used in multiple ways. In solo, you play to complete challenges from the back of the rulebook. I haven’t played it yet, but what I saw and what Ben told me was enough: I’ll be following the project, and I definitely want to play it.

Oakspire: love at first sight

My favourites of the day

The inPatience booth was my favourite moment. I felt at home there, like playing with a friend while discovering exciting new games.

And for the eyes, Oakspire and Chimerium win the day: they both conquered me with how beautiful they look.

Goodbye, SPIEL Essen

And that’s a wrap on my very first SPIEL Essen!

Being on my own today, I managed to see more games than on the other days. And since I was alone, I really had no excuses: I had to be the one asking for explanations, so there was no room to be shy. I loved the experience.

See you at SPIEL ‘27?

Over three days, four games came home with me: Chopstick Tightrope, Light in the Dark, Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs and Karnivorous.

Will I go back? For sure! If you’re into board games, it’s the place to be.

Have you ever been to SPIEL Essen? And which of today’s games would you have stopped for?

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SPIEL Essen 2026: Day 1

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

This year I’m at SPIEL Essen for the very first time, and it’s amazing! Let me take you along on a tour of my three days at the fair, starting with Day 1.

Getting there

Today was the big day. I was super excited and a bit anxious at the same time, because I really didn’t know what to expect.

We started the day in Bochum, where we’ve been staying for a few days. From Bochum, it’s about a 20 minute train ride to Essen, then a short metro trip to the Messe. But when we arrived at Essen Central Station, surprise: a huge queue for the metro! We were waiting patiently, already resigned to a 30 minute wait, when a really nice person came up to us and asked if we wanted to share an Uber. We said yes, and we reached the Messe in 10 minutes. So thank you to that wonderful person whose name I unfortunately didn’t ask. 😞

That’s how our journey began: as a real adventure.

Arriving at the Messe, along with half of the board game world!

First impressions

In front of the Messe, crowds of people were already heading inside, but getting in was quick and easy. Thank you to everyone organising and working at the event!

My first thought when I walked in was: oh my God, this is BIG. We started wandering between the booths, taking photos and trying not to collapse with so many things to look at, when someone asked us in French if we wanted to join a table to play Moustache. We said yes straight away, even though my boyfriend doesn’t speak French. 😛

We weren’t the only ones excited to be there!

Moustache

Designed by Alexandre Aguilar and Jules Messaud · Illustrated by Manu Gorobeï · Published by KODAMA · BGG page

Moustache is a trick-taking game with four animal colours. Each colour has a different strength, from green (the weakest) to blue (the strongest), and some cards have stars, which are the points you count up.

The fun part is that you play in teams, but the teams change every round and are randomly assigned. On top of that, a new rule card is revealed each round and stays active until the end, so the game keeps changing under your feet. The winning team of each round takes trophies, and after four rounds, the player with the most points wins.

We had the pleasure of playing with Vanessa and Leticia, a lovely Belgian mother and daughter. Before we even started, Vanessa announced, in a really funny way, that she was going to win. And guess what? She did! 😄 We laughed a lot and had a really great time. Thank you both, you were brilliant! The game really shone with you two, and thanks to that I can say I’d recommend Moustache to anyone who likes quick games.

Moustache, a quick trick-taking game full of laughs and surprises

The best table of the day: Vanessa, Leticia, my boyfriend and me (and yes, Vanessa won!)

After that perfect moment, we carried on exploring and talked with lots of people. Here are the moments that stood out most.

Gorilla Games: Chopstick Tightrope

Published by Gorilla Games

Thank you to Oda By for the enthusiastic presentation of Chopstick Tightrope. It’s a dexterity game where you build patterns on an elastic band, placing the pieces with chopsticks. It’s so much fun! I haven’t played a full game yet, but I already know it’s going to bring a lot of laughs. In fact, I couldn’t resist and it was my first purchase of the fair, and I was even offered Cat Days with it!

We also had a really interesting chat with Oda about board games and how important player feedback is. Thank you for your time, Oda!

Chopstick Tightrope: patterns, elastic bands and very steady hands

With Oda By, who showed us Chopstick Tightrope with so much enthusiasm

Black Beacon Games: Era of Tribes

Designed by Arne Lorenz · Illustrated by Marc Exner, Radosław Jaszczuk and Arne Lorenz · Published by Black Beacon Games · BGG page

At Black Beacon Games, we got a presentation of the rules of Era of Tribes, and I have to confess, it won me over much more than I expected. It’s a civilisation game, and the box marks around 30 minutes per player.

The first thing that grabbed me was the big map of Europe. Then came the chance to really deploy your troops and go into battle. The actions feel realistic too: taxes, diplomacy, expansion, trade, revolution and more.

That big map of Europe that won us over

My boyfriend, who isn’t that much into board games, was completely won over. He prefers games with a real theme, and this one sounded like an actual civilisation coming to life. That says a lot! I’ll most likely be digging deeper into this one.

Ice Makes: Epochs: Course of Cultures

Designed by Jeffrey CCH · Published by Ice Makes · BGG page

At the Ice Makes booth, we discovered Epochs: Course of Cultures, another civilisation game that really appealed to me, especially its theme. It plays in around two hours at two players, which is really nice for me. I loved the look of it, with beautiful cards and a player board that reminded me a lot of Age of Civilization. And no wonder: both games are by the same designer, Jeffrey CCH!

Epochs: Course of Cultures

Devir: 7th Seal

Designed by Julio Falagán · Illustrated by Will Kirkby · Published by Devir · BGG page

I was expecting Gaudí to be the game that grabbed me at Devir, but no, it was 7th Seal! It’s a solo game where you fight several bosses and their minions using dice. I got to try it until I beat the first boss, Teskatlipoka, and I was completely hooked.

My first fight in 7th Seal. Teskatlipoka didn’t stand a chance!

The game was wonderfully explained by one of the demonstrators at the booth. I’d love to thank him by name, but I can’t remember it. (Note to self: start writing down names tomorrow!) Either way, thank you so much, I had a great time.

Pektis Studio: Battle of the Knollen and Fintastic Sea

Published by Pektis Studio · Battle of the Knollen on BGG · Fintastic Sea on BGG

At Pektis Studio, we met Echo and Julian, two of the three people behind this indie studio.

Echo presented Battle of the Knollen, a trick-taking game about potatoes designed by Julian. 😛 She showed it with so much passion, along with the beautiful illustrations she created, that it was hard not to fall in love with it. I’ll be following the Gamefound campaign closely and waiting impatiently for its release.

Battle of the Knollen, potatoes have never looked so epic

Echo also showed us Fintastic Sea, a game she co-designed with Mahmoud Abdelwahab and illustrated. You set off on a scientific voyage to explore the depths, collect marine life and build lush, diverse ecosystems. I found it beautiful and I’ll probably give it a try.

Fintastic Sea, collecting marine life to build thriving ecosystems

And thank you to Julian for presenting the print and play roll and write based on Battle of the Knollen. I’ll print it at home and test it, and I promise I’ll be back with a review soon!

InterHuman: Badgers and Fear of the Dark

Published by InterHuman

Last but not least, InterHuman. It was a pleasure to discover Badgers, designed by Boris Malvic and Davor Vizintin, a lovely game for one or two players with gorgeous illustrations by Mihaela Prizmic. Thank you for the explanation and for making me want to play it!

Badgers and its gorgeous illustrations

I’m also curious to learn more about Fear of the Dark, designed by Damir Debanic, so I’ll probably come back tomorrow.

Thank you to Endi Oblak for showing us your fantastic work. The map cards on display are wonderful, and what a surprise to spot Santa Tecla on your Iberian maps! It’s so close to my home and so unexpected. It was a real pleasure talking with you.

My favourite of the day

Without hesitation: Moustache. It was so light and fun, and it gave me so much happiness. Sometimes the best moment of a giant fair is simply sitting at a table with strangers and laughing together.

End of Day 1

All in all, it was a great day. I’m tired, but I wanted so much to share it with you that I just couldn’t wait.

Tomorrow I’ll be back for more adventures: Fear of the Dark is on my list, along with more demos, and hopefully a notebook full of names this time!

And a small confession: if you noticed that some games in this post are shown with pictures from BGG instead of my own photos, it’s because I got so carried away talking and playing that I completely forgot to take pictures. Lesson learnt: tomorrow, phone in hand! 📸

Have you ever been to SPIEL Essen? And if you’re here this year, which game has caught your eye so far?

Come share your comments on Mastodon, Facebook, and BoardGameGeek.