The Best of Spiel Essen 2023

What’s the biggest event of the year? That’s right, it’s the DFS Winter Mega Sale! But right after that comes Essen Spiel, or as it is now k

What’s the biggest event of the year? That’s right, it’s the DFS Winter Mega Sale! But right after that comes Essen Spiel, or as it is now known: Spiel Essen. Every year, just under two hundred thousand board gamers flock to an industrial city in Germany to partake in a mass consumption event where over a thousand board game titles are released over the course of one weekend and this year we have played ALL OF THEM.

Or at least tried to. We played twenty five, ate a kebab and fell asleep. But now, on this one and only episode of Talk Cardboard, we’ll rank them from worst to best and talk about each one a little bit.

On to the timestamps:

0:56 Intro

Unranked Games:

3:13 Karvi

4:02 El Grande

5:30 Bruxelles 1893

7:30 Nana/Trio

Ranked Games:

10:25 Here Comes The Dog

12:00 Stich für Stich

13:59 Sunrise Lane

16:32 Couture

20:19 Ninja Masters

23:19 Havalandi

27:55 Tangram City

32:30 Quicksand

36:15 Extravaganza

39:14 Nuts a Go Go

43:50 Viking Sea-Saw

47:28 Tiger and Dragon

51:23 White Castle

55:55 Come Sail Away

1:00:41 The Top 3 Games from Spiel