By Guest Blogger: Hendri Adriaens

My story with Mindclash Games started in 2017. The company had just published the second title, Anachrony (after Trickerion). I got to know these games through a friend, and loved them very much because of the deep and immersive gameplay, and the wonderful integration of the theme. At that moment, I was doing some demo work for another publisher already, and decided to take a shot at demoing for Mindclash at Spiel. I sent them an e-mail, and I was delighted I was accepted to demo several games of Trickerion at Essen Spiel 2017.

The company was a lot smaller in those days, and whereas we had 8 tables at Spiel 2025, in 2017 we had 1.5 tables: we shared the booth with Mighty Boards and together we had 3 tables. That year I got to know Viktor Péter, Richard Amann, Villő Farkas and Frigyes Schőberl, and saw that this small and versatile team could not only create amazing games, but also run a successful convention. 

UK Games Expo 2026 was Mindclash’s and my fourth year of participating. Spiel 2026 will be my 10th year of joining the now considerably larger crew of Mindclash at Spiel. That convention is always something I look forward to from the moment I say goodbye to everyone at the past Spiel.

Preparation

So what does a convention involve for a demoer for Mindclash? I should make a disclaimer first. A demoer can of course run the scheduled demos, and spend the remainder of the time looking around at the convention. Not me. I love demoing for Mindclash, so you’ll find me at the Mindclash booth most of the convention time, demoing, helping with stock, helping other demoers and answering your questions. That’s of course not mandatory, and fully my own choice 🙂

Preparation usually starts early in the year. Mindclash sends out a form where you can indicate which days of a convention you will be available to demo, and which games you can demo. For me, the form is always easy to complete. I know all Mindclash games and have played and demoed most of them so many times, I could run a demo on the spot. I even already know most of the games that still have a working title as I also do quite some playtesting.

But I’m definitely not the only one on our demo team to know so many games. Lots of demoers have joined us for many years already, and hence also know most or all of our games. And if you don’t know a game yet, you’ll still have a lot of time to prepare for it after submitting your form. If you signed up to also demo new games or prototypes, the team always makes sure you receive the rules (and a demo script if it’s a complex game) several weeks in advance so you still have time to prepare.

The day before the convention

When the day before the start of the convention is finally there, I drive to either Essen or Birmingham (using a ferry). I’m situated in the Netherlands, which makes the journey to the convention quite easy compared to a lot of other people. The day before the convention is mostly spent setting up the booth with the core team members of Mindclash and the demo team members who are already there. In the past we were building the booth ourselves for both Spiel and UKGE, but the Spiel booth has become too big to build ourselves, so we get help with that.

For UKGE we have very efficient booth equipment, like a back wall that folds up to about the size of two Anachrony Infinity boxes. Also the counter is fully foldable, and the tables and chairs can be assembled quickly. And we use ready assembled kallaxes to store stock. The only less pleasant task is laying the carpet tiles, but because everyone is helping, it doesn’t take that long.

At Spiel most of the preparation work for the team is handling the stock. We have a separate storageroom, and need to make sure it is laid out in a logical manner so the sales crew can quickly get your game. We also have a small and well serviced (thanks Noralie!) break room, essential for the demo team to chill for a few moments when not demoing.

The convention

Then the party really starts! The first day of the convention we usually come in a bit earlier than other days, as we need to set up all of the games. At Spiel the doors open at 10, and we’ll start working from 8. UKGE always starts at 9, but we have fewer tables, and usually come in around 7:30 the first day.

When the doors actually open, it’s usually frenzy at Spiel. Players running to our booth to either buy a game, or sign up for a demo. We try to service as many of you as possible, and give everyone as fair as possible a chance to get a demo. So we work with sign ups, and only for the current day. Once you’re on the schedule, you don’t need to wait around in the booth and fight for the seats that become available. Just turn up at the scheduled time and the show will start for you!

And I enjoy doing that a lot! It’s great to see new or familiar faces at my table, and the magic really happens when a player makes a very fun, interesting or clever move, showing good insight in the game mechanics. I’m often impressed by those players who get even the heaviest of our games very quickly. And I love to see the interaction between fellow board game enthusiasts at my table. Of course it takes some energy to demo games most of the day, but I get so much energy back when you are having fun with the game! 🙂

And what do we do when the doors close for the day again? We clean up the booth and prepare some things for the next day. After that we hunt for some food, which often isn’t easy when all of you are already in the restaurants 😉 But somehow we always manage, and even manage to squeeze in some light games as well!

And then we just hit repeat 3 times. But that doesn’t get boring. The demo schedule is different every day, and usually I’m demoing at least 3 different games during the convention.

Oops

And besides that, a lot can happen during a convention, often fun, like meeting old or new friends, and sometimes, let’s say, it provides a nice conversation piece. Like Spiel 2021. Two team members got tested positive for Covid and needed to go into isolation in the hotel. To add insult to injury, there was a fire in the hotel that night. The whole hotel got evacuated, we spent some hours in front of the hotel watching lots of firemen arriving with heavy gear, rolling out all of their equipment, and when finally managing to open an automatically locked door, finding out it was just a cigarette that lit the contents of a garbage can.

Or another year when our logistical partner sent over only half of the stock we had ordered. We quickly had to find a way to deal with that. We decided to offer free shipping while out of stock and we managed to convince the logistical partner to express deliver more stock on Saturday. Never a dull moment during a convention!

The demo team

Something which is a very important asset for a boardgame publisher, especially when something unexpected happens, is a well oiled demo team. I do realize I talk about myself for a small part when saying this, but I do think Mindclash has such a team. The team doesn’t only stand out in their knowledge of the Mindclash games, but also because of their commitment. Unexpected things, like an ill person, can always happen. One of the reasons I love to demo for Mindclash and with this team is that everyone steps up when something unforeseen happens, and makes sure all demos run as scheduled without you noticing a thing! 

And besides that, the team members are also great fun to hang out with, during the day and in the evening. And some of them have become great friends and we chat and play(test) games on a regular basis.

I think you will now understand the subtitle to this story. If you also enjoy teaching games to other players, feel free to reach out to Mindclash! For the UK you can contact Natalie Pazar: [email protected], and for the US you can contact Kyle Guajardo: [email protected].