Blog

It’s hard not to feel proud of this hobby right now.

Last week, SPIEL Essen opened its doors to more than 220,000 people. That’s the biggest attendance the event has ever seen, and I think it says something powerful. The hobby is absolutely thriving! People are craving connection, creativity, and the shared thinking and laughter that only happens around a table.

I’ve been following it all from here, scrolling through photos between packing orders. Row after row of booths, tables full of people learning something new, friends clutching freshly bought boxes like treasure. Even from afar, you can feel the energy of it. It’s the kind of buzz that makes you pause and think, "we’re part of something really special!"

That feeling has been carrying through here at Boardgamist too. Every week brings a few new arrivals, a few restocks, and the space shifts again. It’s not dramatic, just the natural rhythm of a small shop finding its flow. The shelves fill and change, and slowly it starts to feel like a reflection of what’s happening out there in the wider hobby full of creativity, variety, and movement.

One game that perfectly captures that energy is The Old King’s Crown. It’s the kind of release that reminds you how far board games have come, a project created by a single designer and artist, Pablo Clark, who spent years shaping every mechanic, illustration, and detail. The result is striking! A world of rival heirs, careful strategy, and slow-burn tension that rewards patience and creativity in equal measure. It’s ambitious, beautiful, and exactly the kind of game that shows how confident the hobby has become.

Seeing titles like this arrive on the shelf is a good reminder of why I love doing this. It’s not just about stocking the latest hit, it’s about being part of a wave of design that’s pushing the hobby forward. Games like The Old King’s Crown show that tabletop isn’t slowing down, it’s evolving, deepening, and finding new ways to bring people together.

Watching games like these come in and go out again is quietly rewarding. Each one heading to a new home, another group of players about to crack open a box and see what it holds. It’s a small but meaningful part of something much bigger!

The hobby is thriving. You can feel it in the buzz of Essen, in the stream of new ideas arriving each month, and in the simple act of seeing people still choosing to gather around a table. That’s what keeps me excited about all of this, the sense that, after all these years, there’s still more to discover.

Here’s to what’s next.

— Dan