In ESSEN, players are exhibitors who are trying to sell their games at a large board game fair in the well-known western German city of Essen. By placing their sellers, creating buzz, and managing their promotional efforts correctly, they can turn a profit and get board game geeks excited about their games. Each player board is themed as a certain type of game publisher (eurogames, ameritrash, war games, RPGs) with the reverse side showing other possibilities (abstract, children’s games, party games, LARP).