[#009] The Nuremberg edition - how was the biggest toy / game fair in the world?

Welcome to your weekly dose of board game design!

I just got back from Nuremberg, Germany yesterday - after 5 days of attending the world's largest toy / game fair of its kind, consider this the overview of the event that was.

Something I learned about game design this week

Not every part of your game has to be perfectly original. A new or unexpected twist, a retheme, or a tweak in the mechanics or components can create a unique experience thanks to emerging gameplay and knock-on effects. You still have to design a clever core loop, but there are plenty of core loops to start from.

This week's tip

Considering attending a convention this year? Count up the costs:

• The ticket / badge to get in

• Hotel / a place to sleep

• Snacks, food, and drink (whether cooking for yourself or eating out)

• Transportation costs (getting there and back)

• Printing / components for your games

So, let's talk about Nuremberg

Nuremberg, for the uninitiated, is also known as the Spielwarenmesse. It's the biggest toy and (mass-market) game fair in the world. It's for people in the trade, not open to the general public - and despite that was still quite crowded. 

Each hall has a pretty specific category - based on your interests, you may spend the vast majority of your time in only a couple of the dozen halls. The convention center is pretty sprawling, meaning you'll have to walk through some other connected halls to get to the ones you really care about seeing.

Personally, I spent a lot of time in hall 10 (the board game hall), but I'll also note there were board games in hall 3, 11, and 12. Most of my pitches were in hall 10 (and if you go, be sure to note 10.0, meaning the ground floor, or 10.1, the upper floor). I spent time on Friday and Saturday to meander around the rest of the halls, mainly to see the rest of the halls.

My goals with Nuremberg were three-fold:

• To pitch some games to the publishers attending

• To see what games were coming soon

• To be inspired by other toys / games

I had scheduled about 15 appointments, and unlike my experiences at Essen and UKGE, I was able to schedule a few impromptu appointments as well. Lots of games and toys coming soon, though they didn't always have the dates on display. As for inspiration, it's safe to say I left with over 20 (!) new game ideas, so there's lots of new stuff to play with.

Dozens of booths featured the widest selection of balloons I've ever seen.

Oh, go on. You know you want a photo op. This was one of the few times I didn't see anyone in or around the car...

I'm sure I'll have more to say about the event in the future. For now, some takeaways:

• Being for professionals only meant it didn't feel as crowded as a con that's open to the public. Even so, some attendees noted attendance was down 15%-25% from pre-COVID times.

• It's. Freakin'. Huge. It can take a half an hour to get from one end of the building to the other, and that's only if you're not being slowed down or stopping to actually look at things.

• Despite appearances of products on store shelves, there are no games or toys for sale. Giving away samples seemed to be OK, and if you're around late on Sunday, you might find some booths increasingly willing to give away some of their stuff so there's less to pack up.

What's coming up this week

• Catching up from Nuremberg - lots of following up and going through notes

• Some updates to Tabletop Publishers and my personal notes about publishers

• Signing a contract for game #16

• Follow up with people from Nuremberg

• Make a few changes to some games I demoed / playtested

Thanks for reading!

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Thanks for reading, and see you next week!