Get excited: Messen ACE and Spiel!
There are Messen community gatherings all year round, but the Messen Annual Community Event (ACE) is our biggest.
What makes Messen ACE different from other game conventions?
There are three main distinctions.
Messen ACE is an invitation only event. In order to attend you must know or be referred by someone in the community. We look for people who love playing board games (or are board game curious) and who enjoy meeting new people and making friends.
No vendors. As a board game convention focused on building community, we keep the focus on friendship, and games. The only sales that take place are at the ACE Game Selling Table(s), where community members can buy/sell games from their personal libraries (more on that closer to ACE).
ART brings games back from Spiel. In October, we send an ACE Retriever Team (or, Messen ART, aka the Messen Mules) to Essen, Germany to pick up the newest, hottest board games from Spiel, the world’s largest board game convention. The Messen ART spends months researching and ranking the games scheduled to be released and then retrieves them with laser-like focus at Spiel.
Tom presents Justin of the 2025 ART (aka Messen Mules) Artemis, the Mule.
What’s a Spiel?
Game publishers from around the world wait until the world’s biggest board game convention–Spiel–to release their new games. Thousands of new game titles–some that will never be available in the U.S. or won’t arrive on our shores for months or years–are first made available for purchase at Spiel. Over a quarter of a million people converge on the mid-size, former coal-mining city of Essen each year–some travel like we do to pick up new games, some travel with their families and friends to try new games, others come to network with industry leaders and game designers, and more. We go to bring you fun.
The Queue Hall at Spiel brings thousands of people together, ready to play and connect.
Book Your Messen Tickets and Hotel for the Annual Community Event (ACE)
Messen ACE planning is beginning for this year’s big 5 DAY event (November 11-15, 2026) in Bellevue, WA! We may be 7 months away, but a third of the passes have already been claimed! Don’t miss out on all the fun (Past Messens have sold out.) Get your badge(s) here.
PS - You can also book your hotel room for the weekend and get special conference rates here.
Room Rates:
Standard King Bed – $89.00++
Two Double Beds – $99.00++
Rate includes Complimentary Daily Parking
To reserve your room: Call 425-455-9444 and mention the MESSEN 2026 or Book Here
People. Play. Connect.
