The Spiel Videos - Convention Coverage
by Stephen Conway & David Coleson
The Spiel is a show about games and the people who love them. In addition to our audio program which features game reviews, history, and much more, we cover game conventions throughout the year. Here, you'll find interviews with game designers, publishers, artists, authors, and other key figures in the gaming industry as well as conversations with people passionate about games.
Episodes
-
Essen 2012 - Press Event
There is a Press Event the day before the game fair opens. Publishers large and small display their games to an eager crowd of journalists. 800 new games made their debut at Essen. Here's a small sample of the hundreds of games released this year.
-
Essen 2012 - Eggertspiele
Andreas discusses two new releases that draw their inspiration from Asia. From China, we have Qin, an abstract strategy game from Reiner Knizia. And from Japan we have Yedo, a worker placement game set in the early years of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
-
Essen 2012 - Ravensburger
Michaela Magin chats about three new titles from Ravensburger: one for children (Wettstreit im Hexenwald), one for gamers (Saint Malo), and one for parties (Make 'n Break: Party).
-
Essen 2012 - Northwest Passage Adventure
Jaime Vega and Diego Martin discuss Gen X Games' latest release: Northwest Passage Adventure. Use your ship and your wits to discover the Northwest Passage before other Arctic explorers.
-
Essen 2012 - European Society of Board Game Collectors
The European Society of Board Game Collectors is an organization devoted to spreading their love of games far and wide. Each year the group selects a theme and creates an exhibit to showcase the many different games that reflect this theme in some way.
-
Essen 2012 - Scott Alden - Boardgamegeek
Scott Alden ("Aldie") gives us a behind the scenes tour of the technology used to provide Boardgamegeek's live streaming coverage at Essen.
-
Essen 2012 - Wrong Chemistry
Designer Tony Cimino from Mage Company walks us through the basics of Wrong Chemistry, a fast, fun game of molecular manipulation. Players move tiles and pieces to create basic chemical elements.
-
Essen 2012 - TableTop
Tabletop Producer Boyan Radakovich chats about plans for Season 2 and his plans for an international game day coming in 2013.
-
Essen 2012 - Plato Magazine
Didier Delhez talks about the new worldwide edition of Plato Magazine. Plato covers the world of board games from a truly international perspective, including interviews, reviews and features stories with designers, artists and publishers in the industry.
-
Essen 2012 - Goblins Inc.
Designer Filip Neduk talks about Goblins, Inc. a new game from Czech Games Edition. Teams of goblins scramble to build giant robots battling to become the next big Boss.
-
Essen 2012 - Columba
Designer Laurent Escoffier talks about his latest game Columba, a team driven tile laying game about falcons, pigeons, and dovecoats.
-
Essen 2012 - AEG
AEG's Todd Rowland gives us the scoop on Guildhall, a set collecting game about medieval professions. We also discuss the Tempest series of board games.
-
Essen 2012 - Stronghold Games
Stephen Buonocore walks us through a bevvy of new releases from Stronghold including: Crude: The Oil Game, CO2, Space Cadets, Article 27, Core Worlds: Galactic Orders, and Revolver 2.
-
Essen 2012 - Abacusspiele
Mattias Wagner chats about Abacusspiele's new edition of Hanabi, a crazy, clue-driven, co-operative card game. We also discuss a fast, fun dice game version of Zooloretto.
-
Essen 2012 - Antonis Papantoniou
Artist Antonis Papantoniou discusses his career in the game industry and the differences between creating artwork for board games and video games.
-
Essen 2012 - Artipia Games - Briefcase
Designers Nikolas and Sotirios talk about the development of their game Briefcase, a deck-building resource management game where players create their own business empire.
-
Essen 2012 - Artipia Games - Among the Stars
Designer Vangelis Bagiartakis discusses Among the Stars, a game where players compete to build the best space station.
-
Essen 2012 - Andreas Steiger
Andreas Steiger talks about the development process behind his first game: Targi, a 2012 Kennerspiel des Jahres nominee.
-
Essen 2012 - Freidemann Friese
Noted designer Friedemann Friese chats about the development of his latest title Copycat, a game that "steals" its mechanics from several other well known games.
-
Essen 2012 - Czech Games Edition
Petr Murmak discusses the development and manufacturing challenges behind Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar. In addition, we learn about Another Big Expansion for Galaxy Trucker and Dungeon Lords: Festival Season.
-
Essen 2012 - Martin Wallace
Game designer Martin Wallace discusses P.I., Doctor Who: The Card Game, and his new venture into Kickstarter with Moongha Invaders.
-
Essen 2012 - Amigo
Bernd Keller gives us an in-depth look at On the Nuts (a press-your-luck dice game with wooden squirrels) and Bohn to Be Wild (a 15th anniversary special edition of the bean trading classic Bohnanza).
-
Essen 2012 - Andreas Pelikan
Game designer Andreas Pelikan walks us through the basics of his new card game Meins (co-designed with Alexander Pfister). Meins is a game about crazy collectors gathering obscure and quirky artifacts in hopes of presenting the most valuable exhibit.
-
Essen 2012 - Sheepdogs of Pendleton Hill
Max Michael from Stratamax Games dicusses their latest release: Sheepdogs of Pendleton Hill. Players assemble and move flocks with different colored sheep through pastures hoping to avoid the wolf and score the most points at the top of the hill.
-
Essen 2012 - Jactalea
Timothee Leroy discusses three games: Mana, an abstract strategy game with leather pieces. Docker, a puzzle game about manuevering shipping containers. And Blue Lion, a pattern building tile laying game about jewel thieves.
-
Essen 2012 - Fryx Games
Swedish publisher Enoch Fryexlius shows us mass market versions of two previous titles: Wilderness and Space Station. Then, we discuss Brawling Barons, a strategy card game where players must build, upgrade, and defend a village.
-
Essen 2012 - Ted Alspach
Game designer Ted Alspach chats about three new releases from Bezier Games: Mutant Meeples, Suburbia, and Enter The Passage.
-
Essen 2012 - HUCH & Friends
Stephanie Schulz introduces us to three new titles: Voll ins Schwarze (a wagering trivia game), Nox (a set collecting card game) and Wolf Im Schafspelz (a speed dice game).
-
Essen 2012 - Bruno Cathala
Noted game designer Bruno Cathala discusses three new games: Button Up, Okiya, and Shadows Over Camelot: The Card Game.
-
Essen 2012 - Kosmonauts
Gil d'Orey introduces Kosmonauts, the latest title from Mesa Board Games. Kosmonauts is a rocket race around the solar system with players programming their rocket to visit each planet.
-
Essen - Conclusion
We conclude our Essen coverage with some promos and outtakes.
-
Essen - Messe - Walkthrough
A walking tour of the Messe exhibit hall "loop." We hope this gives you a sense of the scope and size of the event. Special thanks to friend and fellow Spieler John Knoerzer for filming this an hour before the doors opened.
-
Essen - Messe
A look at the landscape of the Messe Exhibition Halls from setup to crowds filling the aisles.
-
Essen - Press Event
A special preview press event gives publishers a chance to show off some of the nearly 800 new titles debuting at the Game Fair. We take you on a tour and give you a snapshot look at the amazing variety of fun available at the show.
-
Essen - Ravensburger
Board games meet technology. Michaela Magin introduces 3 new titles with electronic elements.
-
Essen - HABA
HABA makes wonderful creative games for kids of all ages. From magnetic cards to stacking animals to giant-sized boards and games with dice and fruit, we survey the booth to give you a brief peek at the many fun titles they have available.
-
Essen - Weykick
Wooden games with magnetic appeal. From soccer and hockey to barrel tossing and catapults, Weykick offers tabletop fun for all.
-
Essen - Gen-X Games
Vintage airplanes, new battles, and a daring escape! Guillermo Soria gives a tour of Air Show, a 2 de Mayo Expansion, and Stalag 17.
-
Essen - Adlung Spiele
So many possibilities with a simple deck of cards. Bernhard Naegele gives a tour of four new titles: Flying Carpet, Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bah!, Taureg, and Ladybug and So.
-
Essen - Kosmos
Carol Rapp introduces 3 new titles from Kosmos: Rapa Nui, Helvetia, and Ankh Morpork.
-
Essen - Minion Games
Quests, Temples and Uranium! James Mathe discusses Venture Forth and Kingdom of Solomon and previews The Manhattan Project.
-
Essen - Hans Im Gluck
Gods, gold, and sandy beaches. Mortiz Brunhoffer introduces three titles: Pantheon, Stone Age: Style is the Goal, and Hawaii.
-
Essen - Eagle/Gryphon Games
Keith Blume introduces a full lineup of games from Eagle including 1812: The Invasion of Canada, Dragon Rampage, Mirror Mirror and new editions of Can't Stop and Montage.
-
Essen - Martin Wallace
From Discworld to the French & Indian War to orangutan filled forests, Martin discusses the development of his most recent designs: Ankh Morpork, A Few Acres of Snow, and Old Men of the Forest.
-
Essen - Portal Publishing
Rafal introduces Pret-a-Porter, a game about the competitive world of high fashion and New Era, the latest game set in the world of Neuroshima Hex.
-
Essen - Amigo
Bernd Keller gives a tour of four new games from Amigo: The City, Friesmatenten, Rio d'Oro, and Carre.
-
Essen - Zoch Verlag
From Rhino poop to the streets of ancient Rome, Alfredo Berni gives us a tour of Das Is Der Wurm Drin, Fuchs und Fertig, Kalimambo, Schnapp's, Wollmilchsau, Tante Trudel'ss Trodel, Avanti, and Aquileia
-
Essen - Noris Games
Janko Franke shows us Noris' first board game using the ToyStick pen to enhance gameplay.
-
Essen - Philippe des Pallieres
Designer and publisher Philippe des Pallieres talks about the anniversary edition off Werewolf, and a new edition of the bluffing game Skull & Roses.
-
Essen - Mammut
Norwegian designer Kristian Ostby talks about Mammut, a stone age game where players must decide how best to divide up the spoils of a great hunt.
About this show
The Spiel is a show about games and the people who love them. In addition to our audio program which features game reviews, history, and much more, we cover game conventions throughout the year. Here, you'll find interviews with game designers, publishers, artists, authors, and other key figures in the gaming industry as well as conversations with people passionate about games.
Hosted by
Stephen Conway & David Coleson