Spiel
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Essen_2008_50120.jpg/220px-Essen_2008_50120.jpg)
Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, often called the Essen Game Fair after the city where it is held, is an annual four-day boardgame trade fair which is also open to the public held in October[1] (Thursday to the following Sunday) at the Messe Essen exhibition centre in Essen, Germany. With 1,021 exhibitors from 50 nations (in 2016) SPIEL is the worldwide biggest fair for board games.[2] Many new games are released at the fair each year, especially (but not exclusively) European-style board games.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Messe-Essen-Eingang-Sued-2016.jpg/220px-Messe-Essen-Eingang-Sued-2016.jpg)
At SPIEL board games are offered which are hard to find in retail because a lot of international and small exhibitors present their products. While the prices for buying the games at the fair do not tend to be significantly lower than those in retail, the games are typically available sooner than in regular board game shops, come with promotional materials (mostly extra cards or tokens with a few more game mechanics, but also T-shirts and similar merchandise) and it is an occasion where passionate board gamers can meet and chat with game designers, illustrators, and famous game reviewers.[citation needed]
The fair began in 1983.[3]
year | attendance | source |
---|---|---|
2011 | 147 000 | [4] |
2012 | 149 000 | [5] |
2013 | 156 000 | [6] |
2014 | 158 000 | [7] |
2015 | 162 000 | [8] |
2016 | 174 000 | [9] |
2017 | 182 000 | [10] |
2018 | 190 000 | [11] |
2019 | 209 000 | [12] |
See also
- Going Cardboard (documentary)
References
- ^ "Not twilight, but sunrise. Table-top games are booming in the video-game age". The Economist. 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ Duffy, Owen (2015-10-31). "For board gamers, heaven is a place on earth – located in Germany". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
- ^ Stewart Woods (16 August 2012). Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games. McFarland. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-7864-6797-6.
- ^ "147 000 Besucher bei der Spielemesse in Essen". WAZ. 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
- ^ "149 000 Besucher kamen zur Spielemesse Spiel 12 nach Essen". WAZ. 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ^ "Spiel '13: Con Report". Big Shiny Robot. 2013-11-01. Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ Friedhelm, Merz Verlag. "Exhibitor information". Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
- ^ Markus, Böhm. "Spiel 15: Das sind die Neuheiten der Spielemesse". Spiegel online (in German). Retrieved 2015-10-29.
- ^ Mendelsohn, Tom (2016-10-22). "Essen 2016: Best board games from the biggest board game convention". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
- ^ "Spielemesse Spiel'17 endet mit Besucherrekord". WAZ. 2017-10-29. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "„Spiel 2018" bricht Besucherrekord: 190.000 Gäste kommen nach Essen". WAZ. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
- ^ "Spielemesse in Essen endet mit mehr als 200 000 Besuchern". RTL. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
External links
51°25′41″N 6°59′39″E / 51.4280°N 6.9942°E