Parliamentary Gaming Night 2024
Would you have thought that German politicians are also real board-game fans? Sure, computer games have been discussed quite a lot in the German Bundestag, but board games? They have long been overlooked in politics. The association Spiel des Jahres wanted to change that and invited guests to the first Parliamentary Board Game Evening in the Bundestag last Wednesday. Around 60 attendees came to play together, including Bundestag President Bärbel Bas as well as representatives from the SPD, CDU/CSU, Greens, and FDP. We, as SPIEL Essen, were also invited so that our managing director, Carol Rapp, could talk about the fair and the significance of playing games in general.
The evening began with a game of Sky Team, the current Game of the Year, in which cooperation and coordination are key. The cooperative game was not only fun but also sent an important message to the participants: teamwork. Bundestag President Bas noted that such games could promote political discussions by emphasizing common ground. Cooperative games are on the rise, as Carol pointed out in a conversation with Maren Hoffmann, the spokesperson for the Spiel des Jahres jury, when she shared with the politicians about SPIEL and the more than 200,000 gaming enthusiasts from all over the world who come to Essen every year.
"Board games are simply cultural heritage," said Katrin Budde, Chair of the Culture Committee, who, along with Ulrike Bahr, was the patron of the event. And not just since gaming has been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage lists in Bavaria and Thuringia. "People have been playing them for thousands of years, and they are still being played today." Just like the good dozen modern board games the Spiel des Jahres association brought to the Bundestag. With these games, the association captivated the politicians and hopefully also created lasting awareness that this cultural heritage of gaming can advance society and politics, and therefore should continue to be supported.
