BGG Rating:7.98 Overall Rank:42
Two booths down from us were the friendly Splotter folks who were kind enough to help us newbies in various ways, like with extra boxes for shipping stuff home. I hope we were sufficiently grateful and/or returned some favors too. Some of us picked up this game, the more fancy version of Roads & Boats, though it was awfully heavy. review
BGG Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:45
We tried this out one evening at the wonderful Savoy restaurant. It reminds me that sometimes being told that a game is not very good is the best recommendation of all. Because then when you discover otherwise, there is such a happy moment and thrill of discovery. I could tell right away that this one was hitting the same special niche achieved by Die Siedler von Catan and it doesn't surprise me at all that in terms both awards and expansions it has followed rather a similar path.
It went on to become one of the few games which has won both the Spiel des Jahres and the Deutscher Spiele Preis. review
|
BGG Rating:7.56 Overall Rank:56
What really got me about this one was that in the press room they had hired Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe lookalikes to perform. Wonderful! to see so much trouble and expense being invested to promote board games. But actually Reiner Knizia, who we seemed to keep running into, was even a more interesting attention getter. Hope he didn't think we were stalking him.
Because of IP rights problems with the name – not the only game at the Fair to suffer from that that year – it was later changed to Fabrik der Traume and later Hollywood Blockbuster. review
|
BGG Rating:7.42 Overall Rank:80
Inventor Bernard Tavitian was in the booth right next to us. Being so abstract we didn't really get involved in his game though – it seemed kind of out of place with what everyone else was doing in fact. So seven years later it naturally it turns out to be one of the biggest phenomena going. review
BGG Rating:7.31 Overall Rank:141
One of the about eight card games Adlung brought out that year. Trying to figure out which ones to get was always tricky. But this one was getting excellent word of mouth, being called "Verräter Goes to Sea" so with such a small box, this was a must buy. It has survived quite well in the rankings, even despite the arrival of the later Citadels which used much the same idea. It wasn't the only game for which Adlung got some of our money. review
BGG Rating:7.12 Overall Rank:153
As our clocks were set for California time, we tended to get up really early in the morning. We tried this one on a hotel room bed one morning before breakfast. I must confess I didn't find any inherent tension or see the point and was falling asleep during the proceedings. review
|
BGG Rating:7.14 Overall Rank:170
The amazing thing about this one was not so much the nature of the game – Tikal had gone before – but that the publisher actually hired a seven piece gamelan ensemble that performed right outside the press conference! When have we ever seen that kind of commitment to a game in the US? By the way, did you know that Germans tend to pronounce the title staring with a "y" sound?
Co-inventor Wolfgang Kramer was treated like something of a rock star. He was swarmed by press in the press room and was giving a live interview on German radio while I was there. Can you imagine that happening in America? review
BGG Rating:7.07 Overall Rank:197
This was not purchaseable, but Alea was testing it, at about eight 4-person tables, if I recall, with developer Stefan Brück patiently watching and answering questions. He was so nochalant and casual it was hard to tell at first that he was the one actually running the show. Unfortunately no time for us to participate, but I later acquired, still own and enjoy the game. review
BGG Rating:6.83 Overall Rank:293
Believe we checked this one out in the hotel, but didn't have time to play it until getting back home. It continues to hold up quite well. review
With nine games in BGG's top 300, it seems Essen 2000 can be fairly proud.
|
BGG Rating:6.85 Overall Rank:317
This was new at the Fair, but we had trouble playing it because we didn't grok the rules correctly. Should have read them instead of getting half an explanation. Well, player aids would have helped too. Still own and enjoy, perhaps the most involved of the Kosmos two-player series. review
BGG Rating:7.01 Overall Rank:357
This was by Jacques Zeimet and Zoch Verlag. In those days before Villa Paletti and Niagara we pretty much ignored games by Zoch and I don't even recall stopping in their booth. And I still haven't played this one, being somewhat surprised that it still ranks this high.
BGG Rating:6.72 Overall Rank:443
Believe this game went into production pretty fast after Hans-im-Glück's plan to bring out Industria fell through in September. Amazingly it works pretty well, if one can sort out the colors issue. I still enjoy playing it. A tribute to the fast invention work of Karl-Heinz Schmiel and the publishing ability of Hans-im-Glück. review
BGG Rating:6.62 Overall Rank:537
By Reiner Knizia/GMT. As an American in Germany, one tends to ignore all American games – not worth hauling back on the plane when one can buy at home – and this was no exception. Actually we were surprised that GMT even bothered to attend Essen, but that was around the time that they started getting into society games. review
BGG Rating:6.73 Overall Rank:623
The Warfrog booth was just down the way from our booth (in the foreigners and weird, but non-warlike hall) and we admired the esprit-de-corps of the Warfroggies in their bright yellow shirts and ten gallon hats. I didn't end up picking this one up at the time – despite its high praise from some like my Belgian friend, Didier Renard, it also got some negative buzz – but only did so later. I've spent a lot of time with this, both playing it and devising variants. Still playing it avidly. review
BGG Rating:6.76 Overall Rank:646
Another by our friends at Splotter Spellen (Jeroen Doumen). They were having quite a good year and multiple games on transportation themes. I had tried this one before Essen, somehow it didn't really gel with me though. Apparently I was wrong though as its ranking shows it certainly has its fans. review
BGG Rating:6.59 Overall Rank:651
Heard about this, but no chance to check it out. This is a good example of the word of mouth game that inevitably happens at Essen. You run into someone, get to talking and ask, what looks good, what's worth getting. What follows is this list of every booth the person has visited and a thumbs up or a thumbs down on every one of them. This one wasn't getting many thumbs.
BGG Rating:6.68 Overall Rank:674
This game by Martin Schlegel/Abacus had me very interested at first because I thought it might be related to the classic German film starring Peter Lorre. When I found out that was not the case, I lost interest, though judging by the ranking, apparently wrongly so. Still haven't managed to play it.
BGG Rating:6.60 Overall Rank:790
I seem to recall a lot of complaints about this game by Alan Moon and Richard Borg. I seemed to be one of the only people willing to say anything positive about it. But it definitely has its following, apparently just not around my friends. So it scared me as a game I would buy and never be able to get to the table.
More interesting was meeting Alan at the Savoy, along with Aaron Weissblum and trying out some of their prototypes in the restaurant. One night the restaurant owner started playing some country music. With a smile he asked me, "do you know who that is?" It was Alan on vocals!
It was great meeting the very friendly Richard Borg as well, who actually visited our booth a couple times during slack periods and was happy to shoot the breeze. He was riding the success of Battle Cry at the time and even then had completed designing ancient world and fantasy versions. Hard to believe it's taken so long and switching to other publishers to finally get them published so many years later. review
BGG Rating:6.30 Overall Rank:926
Didn't manage to find this one, but it wasn't getting much buzz either. Folks complained the simultaneous activities made it too random. But it's done all right. review
BGG Rating:6.37 Overall Rank:974
This game by Reiner Knizia/Ravensburger has absolutely no buzz, but turned out quite fun. Didn't find out about it until many moons later, however. review
|
BGG Rating:6.31 Overall Rank:1002
This was the other game from Warfrog. This particular one didn't really appeal to me. As I recall they shared their booth with Winsome Games so there were all kinds of goodies to be found there. review
BGG Rating:6.48 Overall Rank:1018
Someone, I can't remember who, tipped me to this one and the more I heard the more interesting it sounded so I made sure to pick it up and even paid an extra mark for one of the plastic cases Adlung was selling to hold them. (Wish I'd picked up several more of those.) Still playing it, the last time just a couple of months ago. review
BGG Rating:6.33 Overall Rank:1023
Another society game by GMT – the redo of Knizia's Titan: the Arena. The fact that it was an American company and a redo kept us from spending time there. review
BGG Rating:6.51 Overall Rank:1037
The gamecabinet.com's Ken Tidwell had brought back Isi from a previous year and I had liked it fairly well so I picked up this one, even though its round shape made it kind of awkward to pack and it's still awkward on my shelves. Met and chatted with its publisher/inventor Corné van Moorsel as well, both at our booth and his, which was fun. He had a rough time with this one as the glue on the wraparound labels had not dried and the white piece had come out looking slighly bluish. He provided extra pieces later during the Fair to compensate. I still play this from time to time, as is true of many of the games in this list, but with a special variant that introduces holes in the map. review
BGG Rating:6.31 Overall Rank:1043]
This game by Thorsten Lopmann & Andreas Wetter/Hans-im-Glück was a pirate game, but apparently wasn't piratic enough as it got a lot of complaints because the pirates' goals are the acquisition of food. This was a middle range one which was somewhat interesting, but not enough so to haul back to America, especially when we knew there was an American edition coming out anyway. Its ranking has pretty much stayed in the same range. review
BGG Rating:6.13 Overall Rank:1127
The German premiere of this game by James Ernest/Mario Truant Verlag. Apart from being surprised at seeing Cheapass Games here, and in a fancier package, we pretty much ignored it as we did all the American games. review
BGG Rating:7.21 Overall Rank:1140
This was completely off our radar and I still don't know it at all. Apparently it's an abstract with variable powers, one player being Chaos, the other Order. Sounds interesting actually. The 7 means this new version was played on a 7x7 grid instead of the 5x5 that preceded it.
BGG Rating:6.11 Overall Rank:1178]
I didn't pick it up at the Fair, but have since played it hundreds of times, especially on-line. I must have played over a hundred times face to face as well. This is one of those games that may irritate you at first, but if you would just play it about forty times, it becomes fascinating. Then if you play it another forty times it might well become infuriating. And so on, on and on. So I think this deserves a ranking which is either much higher or much lower, only I can't decide which. review
BGG Rating:6.16 Overall Rank:1210
This was the game by Friedemann Friese/2F for the year, later re-done by Queen as Turbo Taxi. Friend Dave O'Connor has a good chat with Friedemann, who apologized for not having a real game that year, only, in his words, "this puzzle". But he promised that he had good things in the pipeline. And sure enough, it wasn't long before Fische Fluppen Frikadellen and Funkenschlag came along. review
BGG Rating:6.32 Overall Rank:1260
Amigo was doing well, riding both the Magic: the Gathering and the Pokemon crazes at the time. Being that the real San Francisco is close to home, I had to pick this one up. It's okay to bring out once in a while. review
BGG Rating:6.37 Overall Rank:1280
This was the most successful of the three "Krimsu" games that year. I got to know Ralf Sandfuchs a bit and received free copies of both. That started my long years of duty translating their games into English. I still have and enjoy this one quite a bit, though Tichu has been cutting into its table time severely. review
BGG Rating:6.14 Overall Rank:1301
Good two-player card games are really not that common so I picked this one up. Actually this was not the only Bohnanza type of game to appear at the Fair. Curiously this one is ranked higher than the other (see below), but was said to be the better game and does have the higher rating. Naturally that was the one that was sold out before I got to it. I still haven't managed to play it. review
|
BGG Rating:6.63 Overall Rank:1329
These guys were just across the aisle from us, but I never quite figured out what their game was all about.
BGG Rating:6.19 Overall Rank:1357
Another Zoch game that was off our radar.
BGG Rating:6.04 Overall Rank:1370]
Another game by James Ernest/Mario Truant Verlag. We didn't pay anymore attention to it than to Kill Doktor Lucky (read above why), but actually I tend to like this one better. Not sure why it gets a lower ranking. review
BGG Rating:6.35 Overall Rank:1382
The Y2K re-release of this 1993 game by Stefanie Rohner & Christian Wolf/HABA. Like all HABA's games for kids, we didn't have time to pay attention. review
BGG Rating:6.73 Overall Rank:1386
This was a new edition for 2000 by Heidelberger. Some of us picked this up, having heard it was similar to Tichu. We had tried Tichu and hadn't really understood it well (maybe because of some gaps in the translation), so we easily passed this one by.
BGG Rating:6.7 Overall Rank:1346
There were probably just too many auto racing games in this year so this one escaped our notice.
BGG Rating:6.53 Overall Rank:1414
We didn't find this at Essen, but played later. I much prefer their later Viking Fury. Not sure where this was, probably back in the wargames halls, which we didn't visit very much. review
BGG Rating:6.10 Overall Rank:1530
This game by Bruno Faidutti/Heidelberger Spieleverlag was off our radar. Heidelberger probably had one of those small booths that was mostly obscured by its larger neighbors.
BGG Rating:6.69 Overall Rank:1698
We also bypassed this 2000 re-release of a 1986 game for kids by Anneliese Farkaschovsky/HABA. (Fruit Garden)
BGG Rating:6.06 Overall Rank:1959
Believe this was tucked back into the warlike games hall and we never found it. As an owner who is still happy with Circus Maximus, have not played this one.
BGG Rating:6.47 Overall Rank:1983
Another kids game by Jürgen P. Grunau/HABA that we detoured around.
BGG Rating:6.17 Overall Rank:2011
I met the friendly Mr. Richard Breese during the setup time. Believe he was already sold out of his print run, or close to it. Kind of surprising that the overall rank isn't higher.
|
BGG Rating:5.86 Overall Rank:2047
Never checked out the game, but somehow the scantily-clad Amazons in the press room left a visual impression ...
BGG Rating:5.91 Overall Rank:2064
The third Adlung game I picked up. As it's about the Silk Road game I liked the looks of it right away and still play it from time to time. Could use a little fixing I guess. review
BGG Rating:6.25 Overall Rank:2106
The game of Matt Leacock, our booth partner, is still a hoot to play. I'm surprised to doesn't have a higher ranking/rating. review
BGG Rating:6.25 Overall Rank:2113
We ignored also this game for kids by Heinz Meister/HABA. How great it must be to buy games for kids in Germany with so many wonderful products from HABA.
BGG Rating:5.98 Overall Rank:2214
We probably only saw the Cheapass Games at the Truant booth and totally missed this one by Pascal Bernard/Tilsit/Mario Truant Verlag. They were just across the aisle from us with a wall between and I felt that their big booth kind of made us hard to find. So out of a kind of resentment I never visited really, not that it was their fault. Anyway, checked tghe game out later and found it not too bad. Surprised that it rates below the two Cheapass Games. review
BGG Rating:5.73 Overall Rank:2273
This American game by Mark Alan Osterhaus/Out of the Box was not something we were willing to haul back. Better to buy/try in America.
BGG Rating:6.01 Overall Rank:2357
I thought this was a beautiful-looking game by Günter Cornett, a re-release of Canaletto. Strangely however, some German reviewers thought its plastic bits looked cheap. Well, that's horseracing. It was published by Noris, who are almost totally forgotten today. They had for a long time been publishing not very good games and this one was an attempt to start making better games. Unfortunately, they went out of business right after this and the game hasn't even been rated very much. I had already made my own set from the web-published version so I took a look at the big box and decided to avoid the headache of fitting it into my luggage. Günter Cornett was very helpful to us, even before the show, and invited us all out one night to the dinner that a number of game designers joined. We all played games there afterwards.
|
BGG Rating:5.55 Overall Rank:2743
I'm surprised this one is ranked as high as it is because the buzz was so universally negative. And it's by Michael Schacht! Hard to understand ... I did eventually play it back home, as a six-player game, and it seemed the rumors were right. review
BGG Rating:5.55 Overall Rank:2851
This was another of the Adlung games. I figured not all of them could be good, so I passed on this one and somehow have still not played it. But it may be more of a game for children anyway.
BGG Rating:5.36 Overall Rank:3061
I didn't get this one, but some of us took a flier on it. I recall playing shortly after returning home and not enjoying it very much. review
BGG Rating:5.37 Overall Rank:3066
I watched for a bit one night as Günter Cornett played this one at a restaurant that a number of us had gone to on the subway, first for dinner and then breaking out the games. He explained that he didn't want to play it all the time, but sometimes it was nice. What folks may not know was that ever since Schliemann started excavating at Troy, Germans have found this topic very interesting. And back in 2000 a German, Manfred Korfmann, was in charge of the latest excavations there in Turkey (he has since died). So this was partly seen as an educational game and in fact was partly sponsored by Daimler. I've yet to try it, but the nature of it probably explains its lower ranking.
BGG Rating:5.24 Overall Rank:3132
One morning on the last or second to last day, before the doors opened, I was wandering around and spotted a very nice booth showing an extra large and deluxe edition of this handsome game. Chatted with the lady in the booth for a bit and was surprised to discover they were there from South Africa, as I hadn't heard much from that quarter before. The game sounded interesting, but I was out of luggage space by that time. When I got back, reviews kind of turned me away from it and I've still never tried it out.
BGG Rating:5.31 Overall Rank:3185
The German premiere of Overthrone (1999) by Frank DiLorenzo & Stacey Merrill/Heidelberger Spieleverlag. Another American game ignored by us since we could get it back in America. review
BGG Rating:5.20 Overall Rank:3216
Card games are really good for the plane and I liked David Parlett's 99, so this Amigo production was picked up. It turned out to be more of a kids' game though and it has passed out of my hands. review
BGG Rating:5.00 Overall Rank:3243
Another game by Uwe Rosenberg of Bohnanza fame that also uses the "card backs are coins" idea. This was another one from Adlung that I was told was too much of a memory game so I avoided it. I suppose the lower ranking reflects that. review
BGG Rating:4.90 Overall Rank:3328
A game we ignored as it was available in America.
BGG Rating:4.80 Overall Rank:3329
We played this one with, I think, eight players one night with the inventor Christward (Vino) Conrad, who taught it. It wasn't bad as an experience, but somehow I didn't see this near party game being popular back home, so it was another Adlung game I didn't pick up. review
BGG Rating:3.60 Overall Rank:3530
Not sure where this was and didn't even hear of it. It's ranking doesn't inspire me to go and find it though.
BGG Rating:4.63 Overall Rank:3568
This was the heyday of the TV program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and of course we ignored this American trivia game. Uncredited by Pressman.
From here on are games which are either expansions or haven't been played enough to get BGG rankings.
|
|
BGG Rating:7.72 Unranked
Amigo was just introducing the German edition. To really push it, they had created a RoboRally board large enough to use humans as pawns that teams of two were playing in one of the main halls, one player turning the cards, the other acting the robot. Would have been fun to try if only we'd had the time. review
BGG Rating:7.50 Unranked
Several of us picked this one up. I think we don't play it enough. Or we should be using its bits to make creative new scenarios. I especially like the Teuber-designed one. A friend I made at Essen there helped playtest one of the other ones, but his name seems to be messed up in the credits in the sense that he was assigned a surname other than his own! review
BGG Rating:7.32 Unranked
This is part of a long-running series of games that nobody I know has played since there is a heavy dependence on German text. Perhaps someone will re-publish in English one day. By the designer of Tichu.
BGG Rating:7.08 Unranked
This was the other Bohnanza product to get at the Fair that year and word was that if you only get one, be sure to get this one. Naturally, it was sold out by the time I got around to it, so I still have never tried it. review
BGG Rating:7.29 Unranked
An American product so I didn't get it, preferring to get it back home. I'll bet this would be played more if it hadn't been for Age of Steam. By Martin Wallace/Winsome Games. review
BGG Rating:7.06 Unranked
Not being a Starfarers of Catan fan, I ignored this. Also premiering, but not as a separate entry in BGG, the Starfarers alien figures. By Klaus Teuber/Kosmos. review
BGG Rating:6.88 Unranked
I didn't get Kontor so I ignored this one. Strangely, I find myself missing Kontor a bit now and would like to play it again one day. review
BGG Rating:6.52 Unranked
Folks were ignoring games by Günter Burkhardt because Edison & Co. proved so unpopular. But this one sounded refreshing, came in a small package and I picked it up. I still like playing it from time to time, especially when we are five players. Am astonished that it hasn't been rated enough to be ranked. Published by Berliner Spielkarten which shortly thereafter was acquired by Ravensburger and disappeared. review
BGG Rating:6.50 Unranked
Another Adlung game which didn't get good buzz, probably because it's a memory/party game. We ignored it.
BGG Rating:6.42 Unranked
This game by Danny Brittain & Tim Purkess/Purkess Brittain Games was totally off our radar. Just as well since combining Chess and soccer didn't sound promising.
BGG Rating:6.16 Unranked]
This was a game for children by Volker Schäfer/Bambus. I didn't really play it, though maybe I should have as it could be one of those rare games good for both children and adults. I strongly recall Günter Cornett demoing it with such virtuousity. Always thought the English title could be "Such a Circus", but maybe that's just me.
|
BGG Rating:6.15 Unranked
Game by Dirk Henn and his db Spiele. One of my friends picked up a copy in the strangest way. One went into a certain place in the flea market and asked for Dirk Henn. Then one hears, "Dirk Henn, who wants to know?". One looked and there was a man with a backpack. In it are the latest treasures from Dirk Henn, that year Derby, a hand-made game we played and enjoyed. I'm somewhat surprised it hasn't achieved a ranking. I guess he just didn't get very many copies of it out there. We later placed ordered directly from him other titles on a "made to order" basis. But with the Spiel des Jahres win of his Alhambra I think the days of his small press efforts are long gone. review
BGG Rating:6.15 Unranked
I checked this out both in the press room and on the floor and wanted to buy it, but just wasn't sure without having a chance to play. Probably I should have. Maybe I still should, though probably Bolide has surpassed it?
BGG Rating:6.05 Unranked
Our own humble contribution to the proceedings. review
|
BGG Rating:6.00 Unranked
A Swedish soccer game by Súni and Magnus Egholm/Tellus Games. Soccer has never seemed a great topic for a board game to me so I would have avoided this, even if I had known about it.
BGG Rating:5.93 Unranked
This game by Franjos suffered horrible accident: another game came out at the Fair with the exact same title and the other one was by board games giant, Hasbro. Guess which one was going to have to change names. Hint: not Hasbro's. At least they were nice about it. Franjos was allowed to keep selling it under this name for the duration of the Fair. Afterward, which is something of a joke, at least to me, the name was changed to Offline. Actually, the bigger joke is that that I hear from my friends who bought it, Offline is actually good and Hasbro's game: not.
BGG Rating:5.88 Unranked
I think this game by Han Heidema/Winsome Games was lost amid all the other higher profile stuff going on in the Warfrog/Winsome booth as I never knew about it, though ended up playing it later, and found it didn't do much for me anyway. review
|
BGG Rating:5.76 Unranked
The folks who made this game were another very small operation, just like us. It was really quite a coincidence that there were two games in the same year in which wind played such a vital role. This game had some very interesting features, but in the end didn't really grab me. review
BGG Rating:5.70 Unranked
By Manfred Ludwig/W&L/Spiel Spass, which must have been a small company not found by us.
BGG Rating:5.68 Unranked
I don't know where I would have found this game by Michael Schacht/Spiele aus Timbuktu. And now there's a Die Tafelrunde 2, and I've still not played either.
BGG Rating:5.67 Unranked
Game by Quattro Silvestri/HABA that as a kids game we avoided.
BGG Rating:5.50 Unranked
Avoided as I'd heard it was an action game. Seems most have done likewise.
BGG Rating:5.42 Unranked
Another game by Mike Reilly & John Beaupre/Zoch Verlag that was ignored by us because we didn't expect anything good from Zoch in those days.
BGG Rating:5.35 Unranked
I knew that there had earlier been a Kampf um Rom board game and somehow I got the impression this might be an attempt to sell off extra parts from this game and avoided it. Seems many others have done so as well.
BGG Rating:5.20 Unranked
This John Bohrer/Winsome Games product was avoided by us since it seemed to be something we could get in America more easily anyway. Have never checked it out though.
BGG Rating:5.10 Unranked
This game by Amigo seemed too much for kids so we avoided it.
BGG Rating:5.04 Unranked
A product in the wrong language and easier to get in America – we avoided (and have continued to do so).
BGG Rating:5.00 Unranked
by Wolfgang Lüdtke & Annette Stanger/Belser (Kosmos)
BGG Rating:5.00 Unranked
This John Bohrer/Winsome Games product was avoided by us since it seemed to be something we could get in America more easily anyway. Have never checked it out though.
BGG Rating:4.65 Unranked
This card game about sharks for just two players was another Krimsu offering of the year. While an interesting idea, it fails to escape certain problems and doesn't really get played anymore. review
BGG Rating:4.48 Unranked
This was the Hasbro game, essentially a new version of Touring. It is rightly ignored.
BGG Rating:4.33 Unranked
Had a look at this game and met the inventor, quite a memorable character. Passed on it. (This one may have appeared at 1999's Essen as well.)
|
|
BGG Rating:4.25 Unranked
These folks were in the booth next to us on the other side. As far as we could tell the game was just kind of Tetris as a board game, so didn't investigate further. Apparently not many others did so either as there are only four raters on BGG at the moment. The funny thing is that we thought similarly about our other neighbor, Blokus, but it turned around and became a huge success. Never judge a game by its cover.
BGG Rating:4.18 Unranked
This ended up being the lowest-rated of Adlung's games for the year. Theme of a monster hunt using five different types of monster-catching devices was interesting, but it was a speed game, so we ignored it. Seems most have.
BGG Rating:4.13 Unranked
In the press room the guys promoting this were so happy to run into us, real Americans! People who would know all about the Simpsons and were probably fans! Their cup overflowed!! Unfortunately I'm not really a Simpson's fan and I'm afraid I was quite the disappointing American to them. And like most tie-in games, it appears their game was quite disappointing to everyone else.
BGG Rating:4.00 Unranked
I don't believe we ever got much into the Heidelberger Spieleverlag booth and didn't se this game by Frank Stark, but judging by its rating, it's probably best we didn't as it's the lowest rated game of the Essen 2000 set.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
As a party game in the German language, this did not come into our purview.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
A game for kids that was ignored by us.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
I don't recall ever seeing this, but it was a trivia and other party game about the German city of Cologne.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
A kid's game about rats by HABA and designed by the award-winning Hajo Bücken (Ausbrecher AG).
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
Another kid's game by HABA which has been reviewed twice in German.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
A game for kids aged 2-4 by HABA which we ignored. Designed by Karin Pennther. If the game were in BGG, I'd add her to the "Designing Women" geek list.
BGG Rating:0.00 Unranked
One in the series of HABA's Memory games, this one for kids 4 and up, so that they can learn which foods are tooth-friendly and which have too much sugar. Has been reviewed by Spielphase, where it received 2 out of a possible 6 pips.
You know, people may think that every game ever invented has been entered into BGG, but actually, if you start looking at it seriously, there are still plenty of omissions. All of the following, a significant percentage of the Essen 2000 offering, are not in the database.
I think this was a promotional game. In any case it entirely escaped our notice. By Michael Sohre/Theta-Promotion.
As a role-playing game entirely in German, we ignored this, the third offering from "Krimsu" that year.
|
This is a Hasbro game I surprisingly never read or hear much about, but it's still "in print" in Germany. The laser would shine down randomly from the top and the receiving player had to catch it and reflect it to the other player's court, who in turn had to reflect it back again.
