A little over a month after Tabletop Scotland, I was fortunate enough to be invited as a demonstrator to attend Spiel Essen in Germany, Europe’s largest board game convention. It was my first time at the event, and after an amazing four days there, I sincerely hope it won’t be my last!
Disclaimer: Since I was working part-time, I sadly didn’t have the time or energy to explore all the incredible titles on display, so this blog will focus solely on the ones where I managed to snag a demo. Apologies to ‘Rebirth II’ and ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance’; you were simply too popular!
Almighty
I simply must begin by discussing the game that enabled me to attend Spiel Essen in the first place, working with Keen Bean Studio, specifically showcasing their new release, Almighty. This also serves as a disclaimer that my opinion of the game may be somewhat biased, as I was paid to teach it, though not to promote it; I do that willingly. Nevertheless, I believe it is worth highlighting that despite demonstrating the game across multiple days, initially at UKGE and now again at Spiel, I have not grown weary of it; on the contrary, I genuinely enjoy both playing and teaching it.
Almighty is a chaotic area-control game in which each player assumes the role of a polytheistic deity: Sun, Storms, Love or Death. Each god craves to be the most glorified and revered by the mortals, achieved by exerting influence through belief. All gods operate similarly by playing their cards, which represent divine acts, onto the various lands on the scroll-like central board to create, smite, banish, tempt, curse, bless and poke the various mortals inhabiting the world, thereby affecting the value of the lands; either increasing the worthiness of the land or diminishing it if another god currently controls it; gaining belief in the process. At the end of each round, glory points are awarded based on the worthiness of each land to the god with the strongest belief there. Crucially, each god has a unique mechanic that thematically fits their role, informs their playstyle, and introduces subtle asymmetry to the game. Moreover, the deck of ‘mortal’ cards largely contributes to the game’s flavour and replayability, as each mortal possesses a distinct effect, often triggering a chain reaction that can dramatically alter the game state with a single action.
The game offers a fantastic medium-heavy experience, providing sufficient depth for some strategic play, yet remaining unpredictable enough to prevent it from being taken too seriously. It is also beautifully married to its theme and, most importantly, genuinely funny, playfully satirising typical theological tropes and stories through its silly and whimsical artwork, card names and effects.
Jisogi
A personal favourite from Spiel Essen, Jisogi really makes you feel like you are working in the anime industry, blending all the idealistic zeal of a creative striving to craft gorgeous and inspiring art with the harsh reality of needing to generate profit, often forced to repeatedly churn out the bare minimum just to stay afloat.
Essentially, Jisogi is a worker placement game where each player manages a struggling anime studio attempting to produce popular, high-quality anime. Players begin with four distinct burnt-out workers and take turns assigning them to one of the seven spots that embody the various stages of anime production. Uniquely, each worker holds a specific role within the company and, except for the director, can only occupy two spots related to their profession on the board; e.g. a writer can only ‘research’ and ‘write’, not ‘animate’. To release an anime, players must create a script by selecting a ‘setting’, ‘plot’, and ‘twist’ tile, and invest in animation. However, to ensure the anime is actually popular, successful and above all profitable, the script tiles ideally align with one of the ever-shifting trendy anime genre cards, the animation quality is maximised, and merchandising deals are secured to capitalise on the release and fund further projects. Furthermore, the game adds extra spice by allowing players to hire new workers with unique skills, complete randomised objectives, and utilise ‘network’ cards that grant one-time bonuses when specific actions are taken.
I appreciate that, compared to other worker placement games, Jisogi offers very limited options and direct effects, which in turn facilitates the complexity of decision-making. The theme is captured well, especially for those familiar with anime production and practices, and the artwork is stunning, particularly on the genre cards, which feature a lustrous foil finish. Despite the majority of the game revolving around players slowly accruing debt and treading water as best as they can, the game is not entirely cynical; players are encouraged to pursue the thrill of making a high-quality anime that resonates with audiences and earn the accolades that come with it.
Caribe
In Caribe, players supervise teams of scientists and explorers examining the flora and fauna of the Lesser Antilles, an archipelago in the Caribbean, with the aim of being the best one at their job. The gameplay is fairly straightforward, yet the result of every action impacts the player’s scoring potential. Players take turns, each performing one of the general actions and playing one of their cards. The shared actions determine whether a player places their explorer meeples on the board, in the various terrain types, and/or collects the animal tokens from the board into their supply. Playing a card then dictates in which row and column on the grid a player may place their explorer meeples and/or collect the animals from. Alternatively, players can utilise cards during the scoring phases to indicate which meeples they placed and/or animals they collected can be slotted onto their personal scoring board, as well as setting up their end-of-game scoring potential. While there are numerous other smaller elements at play, in essence the game revolves around setting up the cards players wish to use for scoring by employing the cards they do not.
The game initially captivated me with its breathtaking artwork depicting the tropical archipelago on the main board and the charming wooden pieces of flamingos, turtles and dolphins. Then it presented me with one of the most analysis-paralysis-inducing gameplay loops I have encountered, offering a multitude of options where every decision had an impact on how well I could score. Just the fact that I had to both use my cards to perform actions and reserve some for scoring led to considerable calculation and reevaluation on my part. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and, not to brag, won quite handily, but the game is definitely mentally taxing and/or rewarding, depending on your enthusiasm for trying to optimise your scoring and playing as efficiently as possible.
Escape the Dark Forest
The newest entry to the Escape the Dark atmospheric adventure series imagines players as anthropomorphic woodland creatures attempting to flee the titular Dark Forest in this cruel, unforgiving, and monochromatic escapade.
Escape the Dark Forest is a cooperative narrative game in which players assume the roles of different forest critters, each possessing their own unique die and special ability. Players must work together to progress through a deck of chapter cards and encounters, managing their hit points, as any character losing all their health results in a game over for everyone. The gameplay involves progressively flipping chapter cards, narrating the thematic text to set the scene, and then, typically, collectively choosing one of the options presented, resolving its consequences and/or engaging in combat. Combat is simple; during each round, players roll their own unique dice, aiming to get die results that match the dice symbols in the enemy’s hit pool, thereby removing those symbols, while all players simultaneously suffer a fixed amount of damage determined by the enemy. This cycle repeats until the enemy’s hit pool is depleted or a player’s health drops to zero. The game also features various item cards that can aid and empower the characters, though these item decks also contain events and afflictions that negatively impact them. Additionally, the darkness and fear mechanics gradually increase the game’s difficulty, ramping up the challenge until the players confront the final boss or perish.
As a self-proclaimed fanatic of the Darkest Dungeon video game series, I greatly admire the bleak and desperate atmosphere the game establishes, along with the heavy use of shadows in the wonderfully eerie artwork. The game’s primary aim is clearly to evoke a sense of dread and camaraderie through its narrative, with gameplay being functional and in service to the story. My only concern, as with any narrative-driven game, is whether there is sufficient replay value and variation to keep multiple sessions of the game equally engaging and enjoyable.
Thunder Road: Ignition
The younger sibling to Thunder Road: Vendetta, this version proposes a more streamlined and simplified experience with tweaked rules designed to serve as a better entry point to the game. As my first venture into the series, I can confirm it is certainly easy to pick up and play and have an absolute blast.
Thunder Road: Ignition is a frantic racing game where each player commands three cars, aiming to be the first to get two of them across the finish line. Simple right? Not in the slightest, as every vehicle can shoot down or collide with opponents’ cars, encouraging players to target whoever is in the lead, anyone in their way or just anybody in general! The game board consists of a series of road tiles arranged together to form a rough, twisting desert road strewed with various obstacles and hazardous terrain. Fitting a game of randomness, the gameplay centres on rolling dice and allocating them to move cars and trigger special abilities like drifting, slipstreaming and firing missiles. Cars vary in size; smaller ones are harder to hit, and larger ones have a slight edge when slamming or being slammed into. Successfully shooting cars gives them damage tokens, usually with negative effects, and two damage tokens result in the car being destroyed. Slamming forces one of the two cars in the clash to be moved to a different space, potentially triggering a hazard, colliding into another car and/or being totalled by impassable terrain.
This game is pure mayhem, filled with mad cackling from players as they attempt to blast, ram and speed their way to the finish line. Both the gameplay and presentation effectively capture the unhinged energy of a Mad Max movie, with a series of unfortunate events that can take place following a single slam or barrage of fire, cascading into further collisions or destruction, giving the game a thrilling sense of perilous velocity one might not expect from a board game. A refreshingly entertaining, brief and smashing good time that makes me wonder what the original Thunder Road: Vendetta has to offer. Motorcycles and choppers sound pretty cool!
Conclusion
Some people might claim that a four-day duration for a board game convention is excessive; personally, I would appreciate having an entire week to comfortably peruse everything the event has to offer. Many thanks once more to Keen Bean Studio for the opportunity; a massive shout-out to all the organisers, designers, demonstrators, and volunteers who bring this event to life; and finally, a nod of appreciation to all the local German residents who kindly tolerate the influx of visitors lugging around precarious piles of board games. I hope to attend next year and every year thereafter!
