Since the whole world was shut down due to the Covid in 2019, various exhibitions and events have been postponed or cancelled one after another. But today, three years later, what we missed, what we dreamed of, they came as promised with more joy and surprises.

As the board game exhibitions in August ended wonderfully, the next one is the world's largest board game exhibition that everyone is looking forward to - the 2022 Essen Board Game Exhibition in Germany.

From October 6th to 9th, 2022, all board game players will focus on Essen, Germany, witnessing the return of the world-class board game exhibition to its former glory.

#German board game code 00001#

Board games been excavated from ancient tombs 5,000 years ago, have evolved through inheritance, and have grown from small families to the world. At the same time, board games are also used as a social game. Players build and destroy, trade, buy and sell in the preset game space. The simulation of a series of social behaviors such as judgment, struggle and compromise, competition or cooperation is the reenactment of society. People's initial social experience starts from "playing the house".

Slowly, board games have been gradually divided into two major factions, "American board games" and "German board games", which have been more carefully divided according to their themes.

American style, complex storyline and unique immersive game mechanism to write exciting adventure stories, German style is to combine logical thinking ability with strategy to create a battlefield of human brain games.

And about the German origin, literally, it came from Germany? Yes.

The beginning of modern board games began in the second half of the 19th century. The famous American game developers Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley (MB) and other publishers sold them through retail, introducing the board games to the world.

Among them, German board games take the lead. The meticulous German style not only makes them scrupulous about rules, but also combines rigorous game mechanisms with popular themes, which brings the German board games to neighboring countries, and then to the whole Europe, North America and even the whole world.

In the 1980s and 1990s, board games in German speaking countries had become more diversified and mature. Nearly 350-400 board games are launched every year in Germany. Even during the Christmas period in World War II, all commodity stores were closed, but toy stores were still open.

German classics have always been handed down, among them, which made "German style" shoot to fame in the world is DIE MACHER, launched in 1986. As a ceiling level board game, it won the favor of global players, but also left countless legendary reputation. At the same time, it was the first game, numbered 00001, included by BGG.

Five years before that, a mysterious board game show had begun in Germany.

# Germany: Essen#

The Garden of Eden for board players

The Spiel Messe has been developed for 39 years, carrying the enthusiasm and good expectations of board players from all over the world. It is an annual carnival.

The exhibition is not only the global debut of board games, but also gives visitors the opportunity to test the game before purchasing. It also allows players with common interests to get to know each other, making this small German town, a medium-sized city with a population of about 500000, an ideal Eden for board game players.

Every year, the number of exhibitors is increasing. By 2019, there will be nearly 200000 exhibitors, breaking the previous record.

Unfortunately, 19 was also the year when the epidemic began. Subsequent exhibitions were either cancelled or changed to online format, as if the winter of board games had fallen.

However, board games unexpectedly achieved reverse growth during the epidemic period, and the global board game market also grew by about 32% in the past two years.

In Germany, the turnover of the board game industry in 2021 alone will exceed 600 million euros, accounting for 4% of the global board game sales, and becoming the third largest game market after the United States and France.

It was originally thought that European citizens would rush to buy "domestic winter artifact" because of heating, but the statistical results were so unexpected.

According to official statistics in 2022, about 980 game publishers from 56 countries will gather in Essen Exhibition Center. After the successful restart last year, the number of exhibitors will increase significantly.

In addition, the number of new games launched in the exhibition also set a new record. In the four days of the conference, more than 1800 new games were presented in the exhibition, more than any previous year's new products. In order to accommodate these "treasures", the overall exhibition space increased by 75%.

In the future, the Essen as a whole will return to its pre-Covid-19 level sooner than expected, which indicates that players will face a much broader international board game market.

But the chain of events brought about by the two-year pandemic is irreversible, and supply chain issues have created a lot of challenges for publishers. Inflation is the most real problem for publishers, with huge increases in raw material and shipping costs for paper, currency losses and huge jumps in energy prices that have so far only been passed on to a limited extent to players (the price of board games has generally increased).

But board games still take us to look for the bright side in the dark. German style starts from 01, and constantly develops the structure, in which the rigorous rules are reproduced, isn't it just us now?

# Christmas wish List #

In uncertain times, board games are a source of relaxation and balance, a prescription for stress relief, and a way to bring family and friends together across generations.

In the digital era, personal communication and shared experience are being sought and valued by more and more people. Collaborative play promotes this sense of shared experience and validates the trust and joy it brings.

Are there more and more people playing board games? I think so, and the most important thing is that "those kids" have grown up, and we've come to the point where we can pay for the "stuff" we're passionate about, and we're no longer loners, and this is the future that we're "playing" with, and board games have always been a cool thing.