Peter Struijf
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
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Hi everyone out there,
I have just returned from four days at Essen, where my game Kraków 1325 AD made its debut. This was an experience I like to share with you, from my own and possibly unusual perspective: that of a first-time, self-publishing game designer. I hope you will find it interesting, revealing or otherwise entertaining (yes, you will get to laugh at me, I guess).....
A few facts to get you into the groove of things:
Fact 1: My games (print run 2,000) reached warehouse in Holland one week before the start of the fair.
Fact 2: Before joining BGG and starting my company (May/June 2008) I lived in blissful ignorance of the value, need or necessity to take my game to Essen. This ignorance resulted in some "unfortunate" holiday planning on my part: I arrived back in Holland from a 3-week holiday with my wife in the USA and Canada on the morning of Wednesday, 24 October. Therefore, I first held the final product of "Kraków" in my hands on the morning of Wednesday, 22 October. Yes, that day.
Fact 3: From Amsterdam airport I went straight home just to see the game brought by Melchior, the Artist, was briefly filled with immense joy and relief (YES! - it's all there, looks great and I might even be able to sell this at Essen!) and then collected the rental van, drove to the warehouse at my Dutch printers, then to Essen. Here I met Jack Pope, the man of Reiver Games, for the very first time in my life. This was a good thing, because Jack let me have a table in his (three-table) stand at the fair and in return he would sell my games on commission basis. Without him, I would not have been to Essen at all. This happened at 1800 on Wednesday, the evening before the opening of the fair - for Jack. For me, this happened at some indistinct point in time in the middle of the day in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That's called a jet lag.
Fact 4: Jack, his team and I unloaded some of my boxes, talked a bit and separated our ways for the night. I drove to a German friends' house, where I then lay down in bed and stared at the ceiling. What on earth was I going to get into the next day.......
Enough facts, they are boring! I will now tell you in the form of a fable what impression Essen has left on me over the past five days.
Fable: The Impression.
Once upon a time there was a small ant - an industrious and resilient little creature, full of energy - but in particular: very, very small.
The ant went walking and met an elephant. The elephant is a beautiful creature, full of memories and a gentle character - but in particular: very, very large.
The elephant stepped on the ant and then tried to do a circus trick: standing on one leg. Unfortunately, the one with the ant underneath. After the trick, the elephant walked away. The ant was still alive and had learned a lot, although he had not seen much of the circus trick.
I was the ant. Spiel 08 was the elephant. Fable ends.
It was awesome......when is next year's ???
to be continued.
Peter
Geode Games
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Steve Duff
Canada
Ottawa
Ontario
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peterstruijf wrote: Enough facts, they are boring!
Au contraire, good sir.
Thank you for sharing your story, it was very interesting.
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Jens Hoppe
Denmark
Frederiksberg
What are you, like 80?
It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
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So, how well did the game sell? I know the fate of one copy but what about the 1999 others?
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Peter, thanks for finding some time to sign our copy of the game!
All you got to do now is making sure you become a world famous designer and the box will be worth a fortune  BTW, also thanks to the german players that didn't realize they had bought a dutch copy and not a german one 
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United Kingdom
Great Barford, Bedford
Bedfordshire
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jens_hoppe wrote: So, how well did the game sell? I know the fate of one copy but what about the 1999 others?
Make that 1998 
Very much looking forward to the game hitting the table, one of my two 'impulse' buys at Essen.
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Peter Struijf
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
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Hi All,
The Facts and Fable are only the introduction !
While I deal with all the administrative fallout, sleep deficit and residual excitement of Spiel 2008 this week, I will write a small series of reflections, memories and highlights about my Essen experiences. I might write three or four more - I have been very energised by this...
All your questions will certainly be answered.
Just for the record and to avoid misinterpretation:
The fable did not say that the ant did not like the elephant's circus trick. He thought it was great ! It just made a very big impression although he missed most of it (if your stuck behind a three-feet table for 14 hours a day, you sort of miss what goes on in the other 6,000 stalls)....
Catch you later.
Peter
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David Larkin
England
Brighton
Sussex
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Glad you enjoyed your first Essen. Your game was well explained (many people explaining the games are not so good) such that I hardly had to refer to the rules when I explained it on Sunday with all the poor souls that were unable to make it to Essen (having returned home on Sat pm budget spent!).
Congratulations on a good job.
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Paul Bryant
United Kingdom
Telford
Shropshire
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Peter, hope the excitement stays with you for a good long while, it was great to get a chance to meet and chat to you.
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Tim Goose
United Kingdom
Hitchin
Hertfordshire
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Peter
Hi! I was one of he "first four" on Thursday morning. If you were suffering from jet-lag that morning then you must be a real "live wire" when your at 100%.
Many thanks for agreeing to explain your game to us and let us play it. I hope you got the idea that we realy enjoyed it and I wish you every success with it in the future.
Tim
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Peter Struijf
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
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Hi Tim,
You guys (They-Who-Shall-Play)will feature prominently in the next episode of this docu-drama, which should try to capture my vivid memories and experiences of The First Day.....stay tuned....
Peter
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Jonatan Lind
Sweden
Gothenburg
Unspecified
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Hello Peter,
Me and a friend got the opportunity to try your great game on friday morning. It was by far the best demo I got for any game on the fair. Krakow also became my favourite game of the show, such nice components, wonderful artwork and the gameplay, wow.
Me and my friend bought a game each and the only thing I regret is that it didn't hit me I could get it signed.
Good luck in the future!
Jonatan
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tom franklin
United States
Garner
North Carolina
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peterstruijf wrote: I will now tell you in the form of a fable what impression Essen has left on me over the past five days.
Fable: The Impression.
Once upon a time there was a small ant - an industrious and resilient little creature, full of energy - but in particular: very, very small.
The ant went walking and met an elephant. The elephant is a beautiful creature, full of memories and a gentle character - but in particular: very, very large.
The elephant stepped on the ant and then tried to do a circus trick: standing on one leg. Unfortunately, the one with the ant underneath. After the trick, the elephant walked away. The ant was still alive and had learned a lot, although he had not seen much of the circus trick.
and the moral is... ?
...
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Peter Struijf
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
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fivecats wrote: peterstruijf wrote: I will now tell you in the form of a fable what impression Essen has left on me over the past five days.
Fable: The Impression.
Once upon a time there was a small ant - an industrious and resilient little creature, full of energy - but in particular: very, very small.
The ant went walking and met an elephant. The elephant is a beautiful creature, full of memories and a gentle character - but in particular: very, very large.
The elephant stepped on the ant and then tried to do a circus trick: standing on one leg. Unfortunately, the one with the ant underneath. After the trick, the elephant walked away. The ant was still alive and had learned a lot, although he had not seen much of the circus trick.
and the moral is... ? :cool: How about: "Don't be afraid, even if you are small" ?? ...
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Peter Struijf
Netherlands
Zoetermeer
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fivecats wrote: peterstruijf wrote: I will now tell you in the form of a fable what impression Essen has left on me over the past five days.
Fable: The Impression.
Once upon a time there was a small ant - an industrious and resilient little creature, full of energy - but in particular: very, very small.
The ant went walking and met an elephant. The elephant is a beautiful creature, full of memories and a gentle character - but in particular: very, very large.
The elephant stepped on the ant and then tried to do a circus trick: standing on one leg. Unfortunately, the one with the ant underneath. After the trick, the elephant walked away. The ant was still alive and had learned a lot, although he had not seen much of the circus trick.
and the moral is... ? :cool: How about: "Don't be afraid, even if you are small" ?? ...
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Phil Kilcrease
United States
SLC
Utah
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Oio. Thanks for sharing this with the BGG community. I'm sure there are many who wish to hear your tale, as they are planning their own Essen attendance with hopes of selling many games... (myself among them...)
Regards,
Phil
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Posted Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:16 am
