In the old days of this podcast, I often offered an "Essen Anticipation" episode. That's where I would browse the various previews and other scraps of info about the many games being shown at Essen each October. Besides the enjoyable "window shopping" or wishlist-ing of it all, sometimes I even tried to analyze how accurate or useful my anticipation was, judging which games proved to be keepers (or at least fun to play someone's copy), and whether my excitement could be traced to a game's designer, mechanisms, publisher & production, or—heaven help me…—its theme.

Then it all got to be too much, and I stopped doing that. To be honest, it's still too much, but I made an exception this year. There are just too many games to think about and anticipate. Plus, I'm now that many more years along in the hobby, meaning I've really settled in to a smaller-sized collection, focusing on my favorites, and it's very hard for a new game to squeeze its way into that limited space. And yet…my gaming throughout the year isn't limited by my collection size or even the need to acquire the game. I have friends who buy other things, and I go to a lot of gaming events, from local games days to national conventions. It's pretty easy for me to end up trying games that interest me, as well as politely playing others that don't!

I knew I'd be away on vacation during the time I'd normally record & post this episode, so I decided this was a good topic for me to tackle in advance. Though going out on October 1st per my monthly publication schedule, it was recorded halfway through September. I waded through a lot of previews and lists, easily finding ten games that I wanted to say something about. What are you looking for from Essen?



Very few games are anything like an insta-buy, sight-unseen for me nowadays. Once upon a time, we'd place a group order to Germany just as soon as the show ended, hoping the titles we were excited about would arrive before Christmas so we could play them by New Year's parties. These days I can just plan to try almost whatever I want at BGGcon a month later. And I do. What do I want to try? Mostly games I feel less sure about, but still intrigued. My friends or I will acquire the more sure things and get to them eventually.

The ten games above are a mix of games I want to talk about because I want to own them, want to just see about them…or have something to say even though I'm not particularly interested.


-Mark

Opener: Thief's Market

Closer: 3D printing and game aids/enhancements

During the summer I always get in plenty of gaming…but not always with my normal game group. Often I'm away on vacation, or at a game convention. Or they are. Regardless, it means I get together with those local friends a little less often, and I miss it. Of course I enjoy going on my own vacations, but it'll also be nice when things get back to normal. This shouldn't shock anyone…I'm very much a "back to normal" kind of guy. This episode is normal in the sense that it's just me, talking about stuff that interests me…possibly more than it interests others!

Between last time & this the Spiel des Jahres and other prizes were announced: Jinxo, Rebirth, and Mookie Island. All great games. This year I watched the awards ceremony live on YouTube, which was "simulcast" in AI-translated English voiceover. At least I think that's how that worked. BGG was the host for the English broadcast, and I think there were other options, e.g. in Portuguese. Very cool.

Also, as much as I feel I already know about the SdJ organization and its awards, I still learned a lot from listening to the audio versions of Oliver Kinne's outstanding game journalism on the subject. These are short and easy to take in. Highly recommended for anyone who is avid about our hobby. I think it's required reading/listening for anyone who has a podcast or blog or video show about boardgaming.


https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/06/09/spiel-des-jahres-th...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYYEXheFKkA
Similarly useful were Ben Maddox's outstanding interviews of the nominated designers. He did this on his excellent 5 Games for Doomsday podcast, which is also available on YouTube (the way of podcasts, these days… sigh). If you listen to one, listen to the Donald X Vaccarino interview. If you listen to two, add the Reiner Knizia one. But go ahead and listen to all of them. Really worthwhile. Kudos to these other game journalists, Ben & Oliver!

After that I talk about what makes "a Mark Johnson game," because I sometimes hear that folks are surprised I play any long, complicated games at all. I do, and I also play new games. This goes to explain some of why I do, and which ones I enjoy.



-Mark