As I am laying in bed, feeling like a zombie, I just wanted to write a little bit about Gamescom 2016. I went there on Wednesdaymorning early morning (getting up at 5 o clock is not fun!) to take the ICE train to Cologne. I met my friend S at the famous big stairs and then the appointments and the expo craziness started. We did not have a lot of appointments in the diary, which was nice, cause she is pregnant and due in a few weeks. The Maxi-Cosi was already packed in the car, omg.

The whole day we went from appointment to appointment, we had a lovely time together. I also finally met her boyfriend, who is a German guy that she met last Gamescom, pretty adorable. Really nice guy, though he is in PR so you never quite know what is real 😉 But she looked happy around him, so that makes me happy. We were having a blast, going over the Gamescom itself, hanging out in the Business Area, talking to people we know in the Dutch gaming industry, it was good fun!

In the evening we went to this American sports bar, which was nice, they had a veggie burger so that was good. And I had an interview which I will talk about in a different blog, so I was super nervous, and of course that was totally unnecessary. Then we went to a publisher party, which was okay, until the bartender decided that a pregnant woman should totally drink something that might contain alcohol. It was weird, my friends were freaking out, so we decided to chill out at the guys hotel and watch the falling stars, while making wishes. Mine was pretty ridiculous, so I do not have high hopes for it to actually come true.

Anyway, as soon as S had calmed down a bit, we drove to our hotel, which was extremely overpriced, and the promised Wi-Fi code was nowhere to be found, even though it should have been in our room. Big bummer! German hospitality.. Thankfully I was very much ready to sleep, as it was 2 o clock and I had been awake for more than 20 hours on a very social day.. Anyway, we went to sleep and back to Gamescom the next day. Thankfully S did not have the baby at the hotel, as I was not ready to deal with that 😉

The next day Gamescom was very nice again, but in the late afternoon I really felt like just wanting to go home and sleep. It is so hot in there, so crowded, so many people to talk to, games to check out, lots of stuff happening all the time; it is intense. Very first world problem-y, I know, but it is still true. I would not have wanted to miss it though: Gamescom is a great big celebration of something I love, and even though this year is not super exciting when it comes to game releases, I still have gotten a lot of inspiration to write new stuff about video games.

The way back was scary, as I had to change trains a few times and I do not speak German. Eventually I made it, I even got to go to Cologne for the best thing ever: Dunkin Donuts. I always do that, ever since I know there is a DD over at the train station. On the train I was just listening to music, thinking about how lovely these two days were, even though the games itself might not have been mindbogglingly amazing.

Not that I am complaining too much about the games, I have enjoyed Zelda, Skylanders, LEGO Worlds, a bunch of indie games. Especially the Dutch ones are so easy to pick up. Very awesome concepts and I looove talking to the guys that make the games, they are all so driven and passionate! There were lots of things to discover at Gamescom, and especially those indies have really charmed me.

Gamescom is always a party of meeting people from the industry that I haven’t seen in a while, getting inspired by the many new games that are coming, and just enjoying how everybody is there to celebrate videogames. Even though Germans can be a bit stern, it is still an event with a very nice atmosphere. My favorite day though, is the pressday on Wednesday, cause then it is just a little bit less crazy crowded, so you can actually still play and see things at the floor, hihi.

It was a blast, it was exhausting, but I am very glad I went through all the trouble. See ya next year (at different days than usual?!), Cologne!