November 12, 2009: Back from Spiel '09!

I'm finally back from the largest boardgame convention in Europe. (I actually returned before Halloween, but between the jet lag and the mountain of e-mails, this post got pushed back a bit!) The trip was fantastic -- the number of games blew my mind, as well as the gamers themselves. MIBs from all over Europe attended and provided support for Pegasus Spiel, our German translator. They were all top-notch, both while running games and when acting as "Munchkin mascot handler."

Yes, the mascot made several appearances at Spiel, including cheering on the munchkins playing in the Munchkin European tournament. Mega "thank you!"s to Christian, Danny, and Maria for guiding the mascot around the crowded halls. Special thanks to Marko from Croatia, for guiding the mascot when he was out of the suit and providing the photo to the left. (My biggest regret of the show was leaving my camera in the hotel room. Every. Single. Day. So if you attended Spiel '09, and got a good photo of the mascot -- or just have a good online album of images from the show -- shoot me a link at paul@sjgames.com!)

And of course, many, many thanks to Birger and the Pegasus crew for hosting Ross and me. We're both looking forward to returning next year!

-- Paul Chapman