Labyrintus at Essen Spiel 2008 In October 2008 I made the long trip to Germany to show Labyrintus as a prototype game in The Essen Spiel Author’s Workshop. This was the first time I had attended Spiel and it was quite an amazing experience. As well as showing Labyrintus I was also competing in the Celebrity Speed Painting Competition run by Kraken Editions. I have to extend a big thank you to all the guys from Kraken for looking after me and to the gamers, retailers, manufacturers and distributors for all their invaluable feedback and for making me feel so welcome. Also thanks to Hendrik and Trina Mell for translating rules and texts into German for me. The show ran for four days. I spent approximately half of each day demoing Labyrintus and the other half seeing as much of the show as possible and participating in events at the Kraken booth. There was no shortage of interest in Labyrintus, its visual appeal instantly grabbing attention. Many gamers sat down and played a round. In all, being an exhibitor at Essen Spiel was a great experience. I met some wonderful people, made friends, saw some great games and models and had a lot of fun. Feedback. The feedback I received was very constructive and informative. Visual appeal being the game’s strongest asset. Many asked “Will the final game would look as good as the prototype?” and most considered retaining the quality more important than the final cost. The miniatures got a lot of smiles, the European crowd enjoyed their originality. The few miniatures I had with me to sell went very quickly, especially the Fairies. The games biggest weakness is the unfinished rules. I took the most basic version with me, which was fine to get people playing quickly but once I had talked new gamers through it most asked “And”? The biggest request was that the character of the miniatures is reflected in the game play, giving each team special skills or even individuals their own abilities. I feel that for the rules to achieve the next level of development I will need to collaborate. The other issue is of course the difficulty of production, but progress was made in this area. I was able to speak with and seek the advice of professional casting companies, many of whom were very generous and helpful.
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