TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Indonesia will participate in the world`s largest trade fair for toys and games in Essen, Germany on October 25-29. The country`s committee will select 15 local developers of board game and card games to join in the annual exhibition dubbed Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or often called the Essen Game Fair.

The Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) deputy IV in tandem with Indonesia Boardgame Players Association (APIBGI) was looking for at least 15 local board games to be displayed in the exhibition.

Developing an Archipelageek theme, Indonesian board games and card games will be promoted in the 66-meter-square spot on the third floor of Messe Essen. “The booth will display high-quality boardgames and card games that represent its industry and Indonesia as a whole,” said APIBGI head Andre Dubari.

The association and Bekraf invited all creators or developers of local board games to register their creations until August 10. The requirements and registration info can be accessed through http://bit.ly/archipelageek-essen2018.

Back in 2014 and 2017, Indonesian game developers attended the event as exhibitors. Based on data from Spiel ESSEN in 2017, approximately 182,000 people and more than a thousand exhibitors from 51 countries visited the fair.

Andre said at least 40 titles of board games in Indonesia were brought up since 2014 and that 20 studio publishers were opened thus far to create and release board game and card game products in the country.

ANWAR SISWADI