SPIEL Essen 2026 – Day 1: The Running of the Geeks

Aaahh, Essen-Thursday! The day when the gates finally officially open to SPIEL and thousands and thousands of gamers are let loose on the various deals to be had. If you haven’t been to SPIEL, imagine the running of the bulls but more as brisk walking than running, with no serious injuries, and minus the bulls of course. But lets rewind … My day started with grabbing a “Mettbrötchen” (with fresh onions of course) at a local bakery and then waiting outside until the press was allowed in. Things were noticeably better organised than last year. Even on day 1, there were crowd control people direction press and exhibitors to a side entrance and the main crowd into the waiting hall. It really is quite astonishing to think about how many people attend SPIEL every single day and how little issues there. While waiting outside, I had a lovely chat with JP from the Just Play Podcast and Mark from NinjaGeekGames how had come over from the UK. I’m probably more on the introverted than extroverted…