SPIEL'25 sees significant expansion in scale; "Bombers" by Naoshi Hayashi wins Bronze Award at German Game Awards

From October 23 to 26, the world’s largest board game festival, “SPIEL Essen 2025” (hereafter SPIEL'25), was held at Messe Essen in Essen, Germany. During the event, publishers and creators from around the globe gathered to unveil new titles. Board game fans enjoyed playing and shopping at the show. The exhibition also attracted many industry professionals who used it as a trade fair for promoting their works and purchasing games. We’ll be reporting on this year’s highlights.

Image Gallery No.001 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Hall area significantly expanded. Long queues at entry

SPIEL Essen has been growing steadily year by year, and SPIEL'25 saw a major expansion in scale. The exhibition and sales space—which had previously occupied six halls—was expanded to seven halls. As a result, the Family Game area (for lightweight to mid-weight games) and Expert and Hobby Game area (for heavy games) each increased from two to three halls.

Additionally, press briefings noted that “the booths for TRPGs and miniature games were particularly well-developed.” Last year’s Role Playing, Miniature & Trading Card Games area had occupied two halls combined with TCGs; this year it became even more prominent in size and presence.

Hall 7 was previously used as a waiting hall but this year featured an impressive lineup of booths from major publishers. Image Gallery No.002 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

From press presentation slides: This year’s venue map. Last year, only Hall 6 was used as the exhibition space. Image Gallery No.003 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Attendance increased from 204,000 to 220,000 people. Tickets for Friday and Saturday sold out well before the event began, resulting in long entry lines even on opening day. This was unusual since SPIEL Essen had previously allowed smooth access immediately after opening.

The venue itself was packed right from the start—crowds were so dense in each hall that walking became difficult.

On Friday, a long line formed immediately after opening hours, doubling back multiple times and requiring around 30 minutes just to enter. Image Gallery No.004 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Exhibitors were diverse, ranging from major publishers like Asmodee and Kosmos to small and indie game companies—948 organizations gathered in total. The exhibitors came from all over the world; this year, 50 countries across four continents participated. During a press Q&A session, one attendee asked for “affordable exhibition plans outside Europe,” reflecting strong interest from international publishers toward SPIEL Essen.

The Expert & Hobby Games area featuring heavy games. While Hall 3 had traditionally been the center of this zone, Hall 4 also featured many standout titles this year. Image Gallery No.005 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.006 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

SPIEL.talks venue where interviews with game designers and seminars on board game business were held. This year, a grand stage was installed inside Hall 4, showing the event’s strong focus. Image Gallery No.007 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Roundtable discussion on major global events like SPIEL'25, Gen Con, and UK Games Expo. Attendees heard firsthand from staff about the challenges and efforts involved in organizing such events. Themes included “memories of my first event after joining the company.” Image Gallery No.008 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Image Gallery No.009 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

TRPG publishers from around the world gathered, and shops selling dice sets and game-enhancing accessories seemed to have increased. Image Gallery No.010 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.011 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Image Gallery No.012 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Miniature game booths featured not only major titles like Warhammer and Battletech but also a wide variety of emerging games. Limited editions and pre-sale items were available, showing strong commitment from exhibitors. Image Gallery No.013 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.014 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Japanese exhibitors reach record 24 groups, “Japan Area” becomes a standout

At SPIEL'25, 24 Japanese organizations with 22 booths participated. The number of Japanese exhibitors has been increasing annually and accounted for 2% of the total 948 participating organizations at SPIEL Essen 2025—showcasing their growing presence.

Oink Games booth. A special display celebrating its 15th anniversary highlighted the company’s history, with promotional materials displayed throughout the venue, effectively “taking over” the space. Image Gallery No.015 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.016 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

itten × Saashi & Saashi joint booth. Known for their creative booth designs, this year’s setup featured both groups’ new titles prominently on opposite sides. Image Gallery No.017 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Hobby Japan booth located in Hall 3, dedicated to heavy games. Featured two titles: “FINAL FANTASY XIV TTRPG” and “Dice Democracy.” Image Gallery No.018 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

A distinctive feature of SPIEL'25 was how Japanese exhibitors were grouped. Most Japanese booths were clustered together within the Family Game area, forming a de facto “Japan Area” even without an official name. Many visitors came specifically to try these games, making each booth bustling with activity. Exhibitors noted that “the concentrated layout attracted more visitors than last year.”

The scene at the “Japan Area.” Located near hall entrances, familiar Japanese game booths like Engames, ArcLight, and Yapon Brand lined up in a row—certainly a dream for fans of Japanese games. Image Gallery No.023 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Engames booth. Offered pre-sales of “Ghost Lift,” which had been nominated in the Scout Action, and hosted popular sessions for their hit title “Nokos Dices.” Image Gallery No.019 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

ArcLight / Game Market booth. Sold titles including Adisawa Moyuki’s “Tornado Splash,” OKAZU brand’s “Railway Boom,” and Rapiss’ “Snow Colony.” These items sold out quickly due to high demand. Image Gallery No.020 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

CMON × Yapon Brand booth. Sold works by Sato Yusuke’s “CHARGE” and HEY!’s “The Millionaire Matchseller.” Also displayed titles such as Suitta’s “GOTOKU” and “GUESSER,” Isegon’s “Animal Collection,” and Arata Toshiki’s “Poker Brawl.” Image Gallery No.021 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

JELLY JELLY GAMES booth. Inspired by a murder mystery at a campsite, the game “The Slasher” was showcased with an actual tent displayed inside the booth. Image Gallery No.022 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

GOTTA2 booth. Sold board games from their lineup, including “Alice’s Wonder Puzzle,” Japanese-made supplies through Dokkoi_JP’s goods, and titles like HEY!’s “Flag King.” Image Gallery No.024 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Adventure Planning Bureau booth. Featured new board games like “Kampa!” and a special corner displaying past Japanese TRPG titles. “Though many visitors may not read Japanese, I hope they pick up our games to experience the charm of Japanese-made TRPGs,” said representative Kondo. Image Gallery No.025 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

ClaGla × Korokoro-dō booth. Featured a new edition of “National Economy” from Korokoro-dō, along with ClaGla’s “Human×AI Racers,” among other titles. Image Gallery No.026 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

The group known for “Animal Shogi” — Nekomado. Joint exhibition with ilexberry BV, who presented “Shogito,” a chess variant using cute-shaped pieces. Image Gallery No.027 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Phantom Lab × Frenchy Kuma booth. Showcased Phantom Lab’s new title “Astraios: Starlight,” which recently succeeded on Kickstarter, and Frenchy Kuma’s “Tales of Kunugi,” previously sold at Game Market this year. Image Gallery No.028 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Mamé Wasabi booth. Displayed three titles from their “MAMÉ WASABI” series. In addition to booth sales, they continued online activities including live streams on YouTube during SPIEL'25. Image Gallery No.029 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Kumagera booth from Hokkaido. After independently researching various exhibition procedures, this was their first appearance at SPIEL'25. They sold a game titled “YOTEI,” inspired by Mount Yotei. The booth recreated Japanese scenes with tatami mats and kotatsu tables. Image Gallery No.030 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

SzpiLAB (Shpilab) booth, also making their first appearance at SPIEL'25. Presented three titles: “Lafresian,” “Planepita,” and “Snowpe.” Image Gallery No.031 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Studio Mundibu, known domestically for videos like “Mundigarapon” and the Silk Road Oji-san’s event travels. At SPIEL'25, they focused on selling and demoing their game centered around “the ultimate instant ramen.” Image Gallery No.032 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

TRYBE booth, which promotes the “Tai-Pa Supremacy” series. Simplified rules for games like Mahjong, Hanafuda, Hyakunin Isshu, and Poker to deliver an experience that lets players enjoy the essence of games in the shortest time possible. This was their first appearance at SPIEL'25 (photo provided by TRYBE). Image Gallery No.033 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

BUNGU SQUAD booth, which offers board games using everyday stationery like pencils and erasers. This was their second appearance at SPIEL'25, offering both standard and deluxe versions of the game. Image Gallery No.034 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Joint booth by PeakBGM, a board game agent company based in Nagano. Also featured demo areas for titles such as “Frog Tower” from Sunnybird (distributed internationally by PeakBGM) and works by Miyano Kaya, including “Seven Prophecies.” Image Gallery No.035 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Esper Game Studio booth. Presented three titles, including “JI-SO-GI,” a board game inspired by the hectic anime production environment. Image Gallery No.036 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Other Japanese TCG booths also drew strong crowds. In addition to returning booths for “Pokémon Card Game” and “Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game],” this year saw the official booth debut of “ONE PIECE Card Game.” Additionally, numerous Japanese TCG series were played at the Blackfire booth.

Image Gallery No.037 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.038 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.039 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.040 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Grand Prize goes to SETI. Japanese “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award

On October 22, the day before SPIEL'25 began, the prestigious German Game Awards were announced—world-renowned board game awards voted on by fans from German-speaking countries.

The Grand Prize went to “SETI: Searching for Extraterrestrial Life,” designed by Tomáš Holek. It’s a heavy strategy game where players explore planets in search of intelligent life forms from other stars. In the award ceremony interview, Holek shared an anecdote that had the audience laughing—“Due to advancements in astronomy, some flavor text became outdated, and information on cards turned out to be incorrect just six months after release.”

Scene of SETI winning the Grand Prize. Astronomy is also Tomáš’s personal hobby. Image Gallery No.041 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

The expansion “Space Agencies” was announced even before the award ceremony. Image Gallery No.042 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Additionally, “Bomb Busters,” designed by Japanese game designer Shangzhi Lin, won the Bronze Award. Lin had previously won Gold at the German Game of the Year in July, making this a remarkable achievement. The game is a cooperative title where players act as bomb disposal units dismantling bombs on assigned missions. It evolved from Lin’s 2020 work “Bomb Skad” and was published by French company Cocktail Games in 2024.

Scene at the Bomb Busters award ceremony, where questions included the reason for choosing the bomb theme. Image Gallery No.043 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Following the ceremony, we received comments from Lin. Regarding his feelings about winning: “I had hoped to win one of the German Game Awards after receiving the Grand Prize last year. However, I knew that heavy games are usually favored in these awards, so I still thought SETI was very strong.” On future plans as a game designer: “I’d like to work on expansions for my award-winning game and take on more requests from others. But above all, I want to keep creating my own games.”

Lin Shangzhi answering our interview after receiving the award. It had been nine years since his last visit to SPIEL Essen. He noted, “Compared to my previous visit when most booths were from Germany, now there are so many international exhibitors—this year’s SPIEL'25 felt much more global.” Image Gallery No.044 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

The Bomb Busters demo booth at SPIEL'25. Daily, the tables were so crowded that you couldn’t see inside due to high demand. Image Gallery No.045 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Special booth for Bomb Busters at Gen Con held in August in America. The booth, which prominently featured the game’s time bomb motif, left a strong impression. Image Gallery No.046 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

The Children’s Category award went to “Die kleinen Alchemisten” (translated as “The Little Alchemists”), designed by Fertessa Allyse and Randy Flynn. Players combine ingredients to create potions, sell them, and compete for the most coins. The game includes a feature where smartphone apps can scan ingredient tokens to display the resulting potion.

Other award-winning titles are listed below. Most of these have Japanese versions available—so be sure to pick one up!

| Title | Designer | Publisher | |——-|———-|———–| | SETI: Auf der Suche nach ausserirdischen (English title: “SETI: Searching for Extraterrestrial Life”) | Tomáš Holek | CGE / HeidelBär Games | | Endeavor: Die Tiefsee (English title: “Endeavor: The Deep Sea”) | Carl de Visser, Jarratt Gray | Frosted Games/Board Game Circus | | Bomb Busters (English title: “Bomb Busters”) | Shangzhi Lin | Pegasus Spiele | | Castle Combo (English title: “Castle Combo”) | Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel | Kosmos | | Faraway (English title: “Faraway”) | Johannes Goupy, Corentin Lebrat | Kosmos | | Civolution (English title: “Civolution”) | Stefan Feld | Deep Print/Pegasus Spiele | | Blood on the Clocktower | Steven Medway | Funtails | | Slay the Spire: Das Brettspiel (English title: “Slay the Spire: The Board Game”) | Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, Casey Yano | Nice Games | | Astrobienen (English title: “Astrabees”) | Connie Vogelmann | Feuerlant | | Dune: Imperium Uprising (English title: “Dune: The Sand Planet: Imperium Uprising”) | Paul Dennen | Dire Wolf Digital/Asmodee |

Children’s Category Winners
Die kleinen Alchemisten
Designer: Matúš Kotry
Publisher: CGE / HeidelBär Games

The voting results for the “Scout Action” were displayed throughout the event at the Fairplay booth, allowing attendees to see progress in real time. The photo above shows the mid-progress of the Expert category on October 26.

The participant-voting ranking “Scout Action,” held during the exhibition, also drew excitement. This voting features newly released games most often. Top-ranked titles frequently become award winners for the following year—making it a true barometer of next year’s board game scene.

This year, “Boss Fighters QR” by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach won top marks in the Family category, while “COMPILE” by Michael Yang topped the Expert category. A Japanese title, “Ghost Lift” from Engames (by Yone Gia), ranked fifth in the Family category.

Family Category

| Rank | Title | Rating | Japanese Version Available? (Including Planned) | |——|——-|——–|————————————————| | 1 | Boss Fighters QR | 4.1 | × | | 2 | Map Masters | 4.1 | × | | 3 | Rebirth | 4.0 | × | | 3 | Tag Team | 4.0 | English title: “Tag Team” | | 5 | Ghost Lift | 3.9 | English title: “Ghost Lift” | | 5 | Take Time | 3.9 | English title: “Take Time” | | 7 | Formidable Farm | 3.8 | × | | 7 | Fearless | 3.8 | × | | 7 | Ghostbumpers | 3.8 | × | | 7 | Light Speed Arena | 3.8 | × |

Expert Category

| Rank | Title | Rating | Japanese Version Available? (Including Planned) | |——|——-|——–|————————————————| | 1 | COMPILE | 4.5 | English title: “Compile” | | 2 | Last Droids | 4.4 | × | | 3 | 1ers Contacts | 4.3 | × | | 3 | Arten Garten | 4.3 | English title: “Arcnova: Sanctuary” | | 3 | Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor | 4.3 | × | | 6 | The River of Gold | 4.2 | × | | 6 | Kavango | 4.2 | × | | 8 | Kuldhara | 4.0 | × | | 9 | Finspan | 3.8 | English title: “Finspan” |

Catan Connect breaks Guinness record with 1,170 players

On October 24, a special event commemorating the 30th anniversary of Catan—called “Catan Connect”—was held, featuring 1,170 participants. This set a new world record for the largest number of simultaneous players in one game.

Scene at Catan Connect: All players seated. It’s astonishing that such a large group played a single board game together. Image Gallery No.048 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Normally, Catan is played by up to four players. However, in Catan Connect, the map of Catan Island was linked side-by-side to enable large-scale gameplay. While detailed changes are omitted here:

• Dice determining resource supply (wood, stone, etc.) are shared among all players.
• Initial placement of roads and settlements at game start is fixed for all players.
• Resource trading negotiations can occur with five people: directly opposite, both adjacent sides, and the two diagonal neighbors.
• Players are divided into “Moon” and “Sun” pairs facing each other, taking turns alternately under a time limit.
• The player who first reaches 18 victory points wins.

Overall, this version of Catan progresses much faster than the original. A YouTube video with Japanese subtitles explaining the rules by GP is available—check it out if you’re interested.

After seating and rule explanations, the event kicked off with talks. Once gameplay began, players enthusiastically negotiated, shouting for resources like “Lehm!” (brick), making for a lively game.

Game board setup before start: about 30 players per table. The Catan Island appeared much longer than in standard versions. Image Gallery No.049 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Initially, the event schedule expected a 45-minute game time—some feared it would be too short. However, in reality, the game ended just after 15 minutes, with decisive results within around 30 turns. Players nearby exclaimed “It was fast!” The winning player received official “Catan Connect” and 3D Catan products. Im Karton members participated—two of us faced off against players from various countries. Though we aimed for first place, the game ended before we could fully build up our production capacity.

Scene at victory award ceremony: The winner received a golden trophy and commemorative items. Image Gallery No.050 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

My final game board. Victory points increased by only two from initial state—reaching six, still far short of 18. Components like roads, settlements, and resource cards used during the game were allowed to be taken home—like “sand from Koshien Stadium.” Image Gallery No.051 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Although fewer options were available than in standard Catan and luck played a role depending on neighboring players’ strength, the time-attack element made for a refreshing experience. Large-scale Catan Connect was previously held 10 years ago in 2015; it’s expected to be revived on milestone occasions in future years. If you’re interested, keep an eye out. Additionally, “Catan Connect” is now available as a product from KOSMOS—capable of supporting up to 18 players when linked horizontally. The Japanese version has not yet been confirmed for release, but it’s worth trying.

Product version of Catan Connect: Can be connected side-by-side and supports up to 18 players max. Image Gallery No.052 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Notable games spotted at the venue

We’d also like to highlight some other intriguing games we encountered. These may serve as useful references for planning future event visits or enriching your analog game life.

“1ers Contacts,” which ranked in Scout Action. Players become aliens who crash-landed on Earth and must escape undetected. Image Gallery No.053 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Another Scout Action finalist, “ABROAD.” Players aim to earn money by selling travel skills to publishers while writing guidebooks for their travels. Image Gallery No.054 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Image Gallery No.055 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

We noticed a number of Tokyo subway-themed games. Top: “Shinjuku,” Bottom: “Travelers Tokyo.” Image Gallery No.056 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Placing many components on a map is inherently exciting. “Era of Tribes” (top photo) and “Mesopotamia” (bottom photo). Image Gallery No.057 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards Image Gallery No.058 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

A game where players collect seashells along Florida’s coast. New title from Elizabeth Hargrave, known for “Wingspan.” Image Gallery No.059 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

New title from Friedmann Freese: “Five Families.” A territory-control game inspired by gang rivalries. The main board features a map of New York City. Image Gallery No.060 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

The series “HEABY METAL,” which gained attention last year through a collaboration with Blind Guardian. This year’s new title is a cooperative game, “1589,” where players lead Powerwolf to rescue a girl. Image Gallery No.061 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

A new game titled “Machine,” inspired by Shoji Yamagishi’s earlier work “Bricolage Heads.” The title and world setting are captivating. Image Gallery No.062 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

A board game with a pinball-like mechanism for rolling balls, “12 Rivers.” The alpaca personal boards are also cute. Image Gallery No.063 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

Expansion for Inside Up Games’ “Earth”: “Earth: Abundance.” Enjoyable game where players compete by combining cards placed in a 4×4 slot. Wonder how the expansion boosts gameplay power. Image Gallery No.064 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

A new expansion for the popular heavy game “Twilight Imperium” is now available. Along with additional factions, a new mode called “Twilight’s Fall” has been introduced to offer fresh gameplay experiences. Image Gallery No.065 thumbnail / SPIEL'25 greatly expanded. Lin Shangzhi’s “Bomb Busters” wins Bronze Award in the German Game Awards

About the Author: Im Karton
A trio of travelers who visit international board game events. Pronounced “Im Karton.” They have previously visited major global events such as Germany’s SPIEL Essen (Schpiel Essen), America’s Gen Con, and France’s Festival International des Jeux. Following their 2023 publication “Essen Spiel Guidebook,” they released a travel guide for fans of American board game conventions in 2024: “Gen Con Guidebook.”

Omochicard
Member of Im Karton. Oversees trip planning and shipping domestic board games to overseas destinations during events. A passionate fan of foreign board games. Favorite titles include “Ark Nova: The New Ark” and “Kemet: Blood and Sand.”