Spiel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, often called Essen after the city where it is held, is an annual four-day game trade fair held in October (Thursday to the following Sunday) at the Messe Essen exhibition centre in Essen. Many german-style board games are released at the fair.

Unlike the other major German game fair, the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, Spiel is open to consumers as well as publishers and designers.^[1] The fair often has over 130,000 guests with 151,000 in 2006, although numbers were low in 2007 due to a German rail strike.^[1]

The Deutscher Spiele Preis, the International Gamers Awards, and Essen Feather are presented at the fair.

It is reputedly the biggest and best public show for boardgames, card games and CCGs, with designers and publishers demonstrating their newest games, retailers selling games at discount, and a large fleamarket with a wide range of new and used games. In addition, there is usually a hall of comic book sellers, and one or two halls with RPGs and live action material, and a hall of large inflatables and activities for kids. The show sometimes has computer games, but these are unusual.

The exhibition centre is called the Messe Essen, also know as the Gruga Halle or the fairgrounds. It is in an area of Essen called Margarethenhöhe, in the South of the city.

[edit] See also

• Spellenspektakel, a similar but smaller fair in the Netherlands

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Batty, Ward (2007-11-07). Four Days In The Center Of The Board Game Universe. Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2007-11-08.

[edit] External links

• Spiel homepage
• Essen 2006 preview by Rick Thornquist
• Essen FAQ at BoardGameGeek