Page 3 - Spielbox Special 2022 - English

Editorial
Dear readers,
Whatever spring means for Mother Nature, fall means for players. After the summer, people withdraw into their homes and spend more time indoors. In keeping with this, an incredible mass of new games is released in the run-up to the Christmas shopping season.
At least, that used to be the regular fall narrative. Nowadays, none of us can predict what this fall and especially this winter will bring, whether we will actually feel all that playful: with energy prices skyrocketing, seemingly unstoppable inflation, many medical professionals predicting Corona numbers to rise massively, and more restrictions looming.
Sounds like a gloomy season ahead? Well, some observers of the board gaming industry believe that playing together will remain a popular pastime in times like these. In other words, after a year that has been anything but trouble-free, especially compared to 2021, the industry could get off lightly this winter. But would people want to spend money on games when they now have to watch every penny? While games may be luxury items, they re- main quite affordable, compared to many other leisure activities. To draw a somewhat simple comparison: For 50 euros, a family of four can go see a movie, if they‘re lucky—or they could spend many happy hours around the games table.
Fall always means the start of a new season, and also a new game season. Designers, editors, illustrators, in fact all publish- ing house employees have been working hard to showcase their latest and greatest. The main focus of all this creative outpour will be the “Internationale Spieltage” SPIEL in Essen, Germany, in October. According to the trade show organizers, we can discover 1,800 new releases there. Now, while that may sound impressive, on close inspection, the figure collapses like a soufflé pulled from the oven too quickly. Since the year has not started well for many publishers, they are also staging some titles as “new” that
were published in the spring or summer and have in fact been in stores for weeks or even months. Among those 1,800 titles announced by the exhibitors, there are also many that will not even be available until next year.
Still, the number of actual novelties is certainly in the triple digits. We from the spielbox team have hand-picked some truly exciting games and present them to you in this special issue. The regular magazine will have even more new releases and some of them we have already played for you. Our large team of expert critics will reveal how much they enjoyed Feed the Kraken (Funtails), First Rat (Pegasus), Hitster (Jumbo), Garden Nation (Board Game Circus), Old London Bridge (Queen Games) and many, many more.
We at spielbox not only provide an in-depth view of games, but also take a look behind the scenes: We profile designers and publishers, keep an eye on new developments around the world, investigate games research, and question decision-makers about any hiccups they experienced. In short: spielbox always stands for multi-faceted, analytical and entertaining board games journalism. And on top of that, almost every issue of our magazine comes with a goodie for a current game. This special, for example, includes a card for Evergreen, a new game from Italian publishers Horrible Guild. The rules for the card can be found on page 32.
If you go to Essen, find yourself with time on your hands and in the mood for a chat, why not come visit us at booth J114 in hall 5? Our team is looking forward to meeting you for an exciting exchange of ideas. With playful greetings
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