SPIEL Essen 2026 – Day 3: The Lull of Saturday

Saturdays at SPIEL are always a bit weird for the enthusiastic board gamer that’s deep in the hobby. Before SPIEL regularly sold out all days and back when it was more “just come and game something” convention, Saturday was always the most crowded day due to all the families and people who hadn’t been able to get off work. So there is a tradition for people to game late / party on Friday and then just sleep in on Saturday or not go to the Messe halls at all. Someone for example told me their group of friends spent their whole Saturday on an off-site gaming event in a neighbouring city where they play their recent acquisitions. I however had my one publisher meeting for the day and it was a 10:30 slot, so no sleeping in for me. Coming to the entrance closest to hall 3 (where most of the heavy games are) showed a different picture. I was a bit early, but still, at this time the previous days there would have been an at least 30-40 people with press passes queuing. The entrance for the…