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Operation: Kindergarten
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Rules assistance for ESSEN: Live!
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–8 players
- 45 min
- 12+
Rules assistant for ESSEN: Live!
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
ESSEN: Live! is an expansion for ESSEN released in 2014 for 3–8 players, 45 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Robin Lees and Harry-Pekka Kuusela and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Commodity Speculation, and Action Queue.
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About the game
ESSEN: Live! is one of the ESSEN bonus tiles When playing with the bonus tiles, players have one additional action during the Action phase. By placing their player token next to the bonus tiles, a player is allowed to either place a bonus disc on to a tile, or move one disc from one tile to another. If a disc is moved away away from a track, all progress made on that track is lost. The bonus tiles are all intended for games with at least 3 players. When the players are using one or two bonus tiles, use 1 bonus disc per player. When the players are using three or four bonus tiles, use 2 bonus discs per player. ESSEN: Live! Every year there are hundreds of board game geeks who can’t make it to ESSEN. These unfortunate souls watch from their computers while the newest games are presented by their designers via a live feed, right from the fair. When placing a disc here, place it on the first numbered space. In each subsequent activation of this tile, the disc advances on a track, which corresponds to 1,1,2,2,4,4,6, or 10 bonus points at the end of the game. If a disc is moved away from this track, all progress is lost.
Designers
Publishers
- LudiCreations
Questions and answers
ESSEN: Live! supports 3–8 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for ESSEN: Live! is 45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists ESSEN: Live! for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
ESSEN: Live! belongs to these categories: Humor and Economic. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Commodity Speculation, and Action Queue. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of ESSEN: Live! are: Robin Lees and Harry-Pekka Kuusela. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists ESSEN: Live! as an expansion for ESSEN. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need ESSEN to use it. Check that your edition of ESSEN is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.