More than 700 visitors at BrettSpielZeit in Mainz
The BrettSpielZeit on Saturday, 1 February 2025, was a great success: more than 700 visitors found their way to the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) to play together for free and exchange ideas.
Press release dated 2 February 2025
“The response was overwhelming,” said Tilmann Reiffen, chair of Spiel und Kultur e. V. “The BrettSpielZeit brought together people of all generations and backgrounds – to play, laugh and discuss. This shows that games are not just a pastime but create community.” Children, teenagers, adults and seniors: visitors kept meeting each other while playing. “That’s exactly our goal: games as a bridge between people,” said Reiffen.
Visitors could choose from a game library with around 400 titles – from family-friendly classics to challenging strategy games. The bring-and-buy flea market with over 500 listed games put many smiles on faces: collectors’ items found new owners just like classics and new releases. Publisher presentations and creative workshops, such as miniature painting, were also well received. LEIZA, which supported the event as a cooperation partner of Spiel und Kultur e. V., provided insights into the historical significance of games. The game designer and former chair of the Spiele-Autoren-Zunft (SAZ), Lutz Stepponat, presented his thoughts on the cultural asset of games in the talk “Warum wir Spielen?”.
“The BrettSpielZeit has shown that the interest in shared analogue gaming experiences is huge,” Reiffen summarised. “We are thrilled by the positive response. Demand exceeded our expectations: two weeks before the event, we had to largely stop advertising, as over 400 people had already registered in advance and capacities were limited. On the day itself, many more spontaneous guests joined.” Reiffen also thanked the more than thirty volunteers, without whose support the BrettSpielZeit could not have taken place on this scale.
Spiel und Kultur e. V. is planning further events to strengthen the cultural asset of games and give even more people the opportunity to come together through playing. One aim is to promote intercultural exchange. People with and without a migration background should play together and thus make new contacts.
More information about the association and its activities is available at www.spielundkultur.de, press images at spielundkultur.de/pressebilder.