Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
In ESSEN, players are exhibitors who are trying to sell their games at a large board game fair in the well-known western German city of Essen.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Action Queue
Place actions into an ordered queue that resolves now or on later turns.
Commodity Speculation
Buy or influence goods whose values change before they are sold or scored.
Worker Placement
Commit limited workers to action spaces before opponents occupy them.
Read the full game description
In ESSEN, players are exhibitors who are trying to sell their games at a large board game fair in the well-known western German city of Essen. By placing their sellers, creating buzz, and managing their promotional efforts correctly, they can turn a profit and get board game geeks excited about their games. Each player board is themed as a certain type of game publisher (eurogames, ameritrash, war games, RPGs) with the reverse side showing other possibilities (abstract, children's games, party games, LARP). ESSEN is a game for 2-4 players, and by combining two copies of the game up to 8 players can play at the same time.