Did Any Essen 2019 Games Pique Your Interest?

Games like Sanctum are odd to me because they feel like the designer has unwittingly reverse-engineered a genre that already covered much of the same territory but without the elaborate trappings of contemporary “decision space” Lament Configurations. In this particular case it seems Runebound has been replicated with even worse multi-player solitaire and probably more down time between turns because of all the “interesting optimization decisions” that need to be made.

I’m personally curious to try Prêt à Porter

it's all game track management in euros at the moment.

This thread got me to look at some Essen releases. Found one game that sounds interesting and I hope to get a review from one of you eventually. Cool setting and it uses a freaking Jenga tower.

Sarah's Vision

Josh Look wrote: I have no idea what kind of presence it had at Essen, but Sanctum has been on my radar all year. It’s the new game from the designer of Adrenaline (which I *love* and needs to hit the table very soon). Where Adrenaline was going after FPS deathmatches, Sanctum is going after Diablo.

Yeah, my interest is piqued for this one as well. I lost a decent chunk of my late teens/early twenties to Diablo, and if a board game comes out that can replicate that feedback loop, sign me up! I'll have to see how much "Screw you, Australia" tax is added to the price of this before I commit, though...

Also: I love how the Board Grazers at BGG are raising concerns about the "replayability" of this game, despite no-one from Essen having actually played the game more than once.

ChristopherMD wrote: This thread got me to look at some Essen releases. Found one game that sounds interesting and I hope to get a review from one of you eventually. Cool setting and it uses a freaking Jenga tower.

Sarah's Vision

My podcast received a review copy of it about a year ago. Here's my comments on BGG after a few plays of the first scenario.

Wow... this is the most bizarre game I've ever encountered in pretty much every respect (right down to the publisher being an insurance and wealth management company...) but hot damn did we all have a fun and intense time with it. Pandemic + Jenga simply works, and much better than I thought it would. In fact, I would say I now prefer cooperative Jenga more than competitive since you feel the same level of tension no matter who is pulling the blocks.

Beyond it being an enjoyable game, I've never really experienced another board game quite like it. The production (for the most part) is also highly impressive, particularly the stylized art.

I do have a few nitpicks, though:
- the rulebook is overly vague in places;
- the Directive cards could be more varied and feel thematically dry when compared to how much the rest of the game exentuates the theme at every opportunity;
- the Jenga pieces could be improved, especially by etching the symbols on the ends instead of using stickers (maybe the money spent on the animated promotional video, which I can't imagine would have been cheap, could have been spent on this instead);
- the Reveal action is fairly useless at the bookends of the game;
- during set-up, perhaps players should be dealt out a Directive card so that would be an option with the first action;
- the writing doesn't always measure up with the lush and imaginative setting; and
- the Tower could wipe out the entire board when it falls (less a nitpick and more a warning to players to put a lot of distance between them).

Overall, though, I am quite impressed with this amalgamation of dexterity, strategic coordination, and storytelling.

Sarah’s Vision was more than just published by an insurance company, it was made as a training/team-building tool for Baloise which might explain the oddness, the slick video and lack of general distribution.


Every year a bunch of people from my club go to Essen and spend too much money on buyer’s remorse.

Last night I saw the last half of Bloom Town which is a dry tile layer with erratic placement and scoring rules that didn’t make a lot of sense. Mind Extreme was played to a chorus of meh, something very sparkly (Ishitar?) where people collect gems and spend them on whatever. I only had time to play Fast Sloths which has a fun concept but felt unfinished which seems to me to be Fridemann Friese’s MO these days.

I looked through the heaving stack of forgettable mid-weight Euros and the only thing that looked interesting was Wayfinders, kind of a Ticket To Ride blended with pick up and deliver vibe going on, could be an OK family game.

I have a copy of Wayfinders and it's a big meh. Board is too busy, the tempo is uneven, and the massive reliance on iconography makes it difficult for non-gamers. YMMV of course.

My interest is piqued by Sanctum, will have to keep an eye on that one. Looks like a real weird design, but if it captures some of the fun of Diablo build tinkering that would be right up my alley.

charlest wrote: I have a copy of Wayfinders and it's a big meh. Board is too busy, the tempo is uneven, and the massive reliance on iconography makes it difficult for non-gamers. YMMV of course.

Thanks! I might still give it a go one club night, the first few weeks post-Essen tend to be an awful roller-coaster of one-and-done games so a short 'meh' might be a safer choice than getting stuck in two hours of something more regrettable.