Ask anybody to name one thing that October and Germany have in common, the chances that the answer will be “Oktoberfest” right away are quite high. While being the obvious answer for the vast majority of people, for Wrebbit 3D and many gamers, October and Deutschland (Germany) are associated with something that could be described as a cornerstone of worldwide entertainment and the embodiment of the play spirit : Spiel Messe.
With thousands of game enthusiasts attending the four day event, Spiel in Essen, Germany is one of the largest table top and hobby game conventions in the world. This year around 209,000 board gamers, roleplayers, puzzlers and fun aficionados walked through 6 Halls and hundreds of booths to play with family, friends and fellow gamers.
People waiting by the West entrance.
Every year, the importance of attending Essen Spiel keeps growing. For us, it is one of the greatest opportunities to meet new fans and 3D puzzle addicts from Germany, Europe and all over the world in person, as well as friends, acquaintances and « regulars » (you know who you are !). After all those years, it’s really starting to feel like home.
For our fourth participation at this thrilling convention, we set up a few tables to have people sit down (a rare luxury and a welcomed offer after walking the vast halls for so long !) and join us in assembling Weasley Wizard Wheezes and the Daily Prophet, Madam Malkin’s and Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream, The Knight Bus, Fire Station 3D puzzles. Some puzzlers sat down for a few minutes, assembling the flat section of a door, a wall or a roof. Others really committed to the build, getting off their chair only once the last piece was placed and every puzzler looked and admired the finished building with a proud and broad smile.
Woman assembling the Fire Station, Urbania Collection.
You can never have too many hands! Team assembling the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and Daily Prophet.
We also had a Gewinnspiel (giveaway game/contest) for folks to try to win a 3D puzzle of their choice. You can always put your name in a ballot to win, but being creative and having fun doing it is even better. Enter the “Visual Rally” game. The Visual Rally is a series of questions related to our 3D puzzles, where answers can be found by meticulously observing the puzzles themselves or the boxes. This year, we had multiple collections displayed, like Castles and Cathedrals, Classics, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey. Curious to try it out ? What’s the colour of the car in front of Downton Abbey ? Search our website to find out !
Participants of the Visual Rally.
We had so many participants and the contest was such a great success that we couldn’t resist… We drew a total of 10 winners over the span of four days ! Those who didn’t win but where still present for the draw got a limited edition Ford Anglia 3D puzzle as a consolation prize.
And the winner is…
Even though these are four intense days (six, if you count the setup up and dismantling time as well), our brains are always working, always bubbling with ideas and interesting concepts. We’ve scribbled a few of them down during the fair and while traveling back, we are already planning a few things for next year. Want to know what they are? Well, first of all, we’re thinking about doing something that would have the magnitude of…
