A veteran’s lighthearted guide to surviving – and thriving – at the world’s biggest board game fair Introduction: Why Preparation Matters If you’ve never been to Essen Spiel, let me……

Explore how board game ideas grow from theme, mechanics, or message, and learn how a clear creative focus shapes better game design. If you ask any creative person what question……

Explore how board game ideas grow from theme, mechanics, or message, and learn how a clear creative focus shapes better game design. If you ask any creative person what question they get most often, this one will surely be in the top three: Where do your ideas come from? The…

A veteran’s lighthearted guide to surviving – and thriving – at the world’s biggest board game fair Introduction: Why Preparation Matters If you’ve never been to Essen Spiel, let me paint you a picture. Imagine tens of thousands of board gamers, publishers, and content creators converging on a sprawling labyrinth…

A behind-the-scenes look at Essen SPIEL from a publisher’s view: pitches, demos, deals, and the energy that powers the biggest board game fair in the world. Essen SPIEL is the world’s largest public board game fair, held every October in Essen, Germany, at Messe Essen. Over four packed days (Thursday…

So, you just developed a meaty eurogame, and it’s really good. It’s balanced, fun, looks great… and now comes the hard part: explaining it. You sit down to write the manual. At first, it feels fine, the rules aren’t even that long. But when people start reading it, everything goes…