Essen SPIEL ’18 Live Blog – Saturday

It’s just about time for us to kick things off again here at Essen SPIEL ’18 as the guys get ready for another day of awesomeness here at the convention in Germany.

Check Out Day One & Win Prizes

Decrypto – Aliens: Hadley’s Hope – Witless Wizards – Gizmos – Dragon’s Breath – Escape Tales: The Awakening – WWX Forlorn Hope Posse – 8BitBox – The Walking Dead: Here’s Negan – Magnificent Flying Machines – PlastCraft Crashed Plane Terrain

Check Out Day Two & Win Prizes

Vault Of Dragons + 2x D&D Paint Sets (Heroes & Monsters) – Aristeia Walls Terrain Set – Lincoln – Don’t Get Got – Holding On: The Troubled Life Of Billy Kerr – Dicium – Mountains – Fog Of Love (Choice Of Cover) – Swordcrafters – Silk – V-Commandos – 3x Tainted Grail Artbooks + Exclusive Coin – Pyramid Of Pengqueen

We have lots more prizes to give away, some great games to talk about, and much more besides SO with that in mind make sure to follow along AND check out the previous days too to see what catches your eye!

We got to stop off with the folks from Pegasus Spiele and talk about what they have planned. As well as a great game called Showtime we also have a new version of Talisman called Legendary Tales to look out for which looks like it is going to be great for younger gamers, and the young at heart.

Win A Copy Of Talisman Legendary Tales

As a big lover of Talisman it’s great to see this game getting some more love and expanding to include different mechanics whilst still feeling true to the original spirit of the game.

One of the awesome things about Essen SPIEL ’18 is the sense of community that surrounds the event where folk are happy to meet up with each other, talk games and generally enjoy themselves after a hard days work.

If you’re lucky enough to be here you’ll find plenty of meets like this around the convention centre where people are playing games, enjoying their time with each other and generally getting stuck into more nerdy chat!

Embrace some tried and tested board gaming mechanics including arena control and hand management in the release of Warpgate from Wolffdesigna.

Move your fleets of star-ships on a hex-based modular game board, establish colonies and outposts and engage your enemies in battles for the control of prized commodities. Research new technologies and grow your galactic empire.

It sounds like a great excuse to try out something Sci-Fi without having to dive into a massive game like Twilight Imperium!

We were able to talk to the guys from Rudy Games about what they have been working on and with both Scubi & Lost Galaxy popping up on our radar.

The awesome thing about these games is that they are combined with a digital app, making the most out of modern technology AND what regular board games have to offer.

The apps that run with these games help teach you how to play them AND they offer interesting and unique options for hidden knowledge and such, especially with Lost Galaxy.

They also look very nice too!

Carcassonne is one of my favourite board games of all time and it’s nice to see how many different varieties there are for you to get stuck into.

One of the newest ones from Hans Im Gluck is Carcassonne: Safari where you will be doing the typical tile-laying that you’d expect from the game but with a twist as you try and spot as many animals as possible and enjoy an adventure in the bush!

Colin is a great lover of Terraforming Mars and so when he got a chance to talk to FryxGames about what they have coming up it was hard to say no!

Win A Copy Of Venus Next (Terraforming Mars Expansion)

Terraforming Mars is a vastly evolving game which has managed to delight a lot of people who love science AND board games, bringing to life a wonderful interpretation of what life on Mars might look like.

Of course, they have also then gone beyond the bounds of the Red Planet and shown off what it will be like when we venture to others worlds too, and that’s what these expansions are all about.

Robin Hood & The Merry Men is a game that we’ve looked at before when it hit Kickstarter and now Final Frontier Games has been showing it off at Essen SPIEL ’18.

The game features wonderful artwork and has you doing what you’d imagine Robin Hood would be doing, venturing out into the wilderness to rob from the rich and give to the poor.

It also comes with some stunning meeples!

Days of Wonder are giving demos of their new game The River, creating new societies on the banks of a verdant stream.

The River sees players working to build their settlements on the banks of the titular river, utilising the many resources to be found there. There is an interesting balance between resource gathering and construction as you seek to gain the most victory points. However, you have to be careful as your supply of settlers will dwindle as they decide to settle down.

We stop in with Ares Games and ask them about what is new from them right now! This means delving into Battlestar Galactica and Sword & Sorcery (which is coming back to Kickstarter soon!).

Check back soon for a proper game mechanics breakdown of Battlestar Galactica! We have a video for that coming out very soon so watch this space!

People of all ages have been heading over to Hasbro to play some of their collection of family favourites.

It’s really encouraging seeing the wide range in ages enjoying gaming together. Some of these games are well-established staples, while others are shiny and new.

We dive into a look at the gameplay for Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles from Ares Games.

Win A Copy Of Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles

This game has you playing as the Vipers and Raiders from the updated version of the show that hit TV screens a few years ago. You will be embracing the array of different mechanics that made space combat in the show so awesome with lots of spinning around and blasting foes in zero gravity.

Plenty of LARP stores are at Spiel ’18 showing their wares and we could not resist playing with their weapons.

King Racoon are at Spiel ’18 selling and demoing their first game Tsukuyumi.

Comment To Win A Copy Of Tsukuyumi

Tsukuyumi sees players compete for dominance in a fantasy scifi world after the moon has crashed to earth, bringing with it the power of the dragon that lives inside. Tough survivalists go up against mutated creatures and high tech cyborgs in a stylish, strategic game.

Antler Games are going to be looking to bring the awesome Shadow Tactics to life on the tabletop with a new board game in the near future.

The tactical stealth action game which made the PC game well worth delving into is going to be represented here in the same fashion via a Kickstarter which will be popping up soon!

Aha! You activated my trap post!

The Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game remains hugely popular and plenty of gamers are piling in to duel.

Justin stops in with Para Bellum Wargames to talk about Conquest and how things are shaping up for this immense Fantasy world that has been designed by this team.

As well as the Humans and Spire that we’ve seen before we also have the Dweghom coming to life in the game right now.

There has been a lot of buzz around this new mass battle game with rank n’ file mechanics so watch this space.

Released last year, Space Race: The Card Game from Boardcubator is a great way to show off the struggle of the major powers as they tried to beat each other into space and finally the moon.

The game can be played solo or with as many as four players and is all about construction synergies and complex combinations so that you can get the most out of your hand of cards.

You will be playing as your chosen Space Agency and during rounds which are driven by simultaneous action selection mechanisms you will be battling for control of the right cards to help you achieve victory.

We stopped in with the folks from AEG to discuss two of their big games right now. The first of these is War Chest which you will have seen played as part of our Let’s Play collection right here on the website.

Win A Copy Of War Chest & Scorpius Freighters

War Chest is an interesting game which has you playing out battles on the tabletop using not miniatures but discs which represent the different units from your force.

Scorpius Freighters has you heading into space and becoming a dastardly smuggler, trying to make the most vibrant criminal outfit that you can.

Vesuvius Media are here at Essen SPIEL ’18 with Covil: The Dark Overlords which features some rather cute artwork and an interesting theme.

The game is one of area control where you are looking to make sure you can claim a stake on the land. It’s a small game with plenty of strategic value to it as you delve into the different combinations of monsters and characters you can use to enact your plans.

It’s time for us to meet with the Burning Games team and learn all about Core Ball which is a fantastic zero gravity sports game with a twist.

Win A FAITH RPG Core Book

Core Ball is a fascinating game where each of the teams has their own awesome feel, unique from the others. It is then heightened by offering up a board that continually shifts and changes as you play, offering up the unique sensation of drifting through Zero-G.

This means that as well as going for the awesome plays you are going to have to make sure you don’t end up drifting into an asteroid or two!