History
How did the club come to be?
All of this is based on a passion for board games that started in early youth for everyone of us. Our parents played the classics with us, such as LUDO and MONOPOLY. Later more and more games were added to the collection.
Some time later, boardgaming took a bit of a backseat to other pastimes and there were only intermittent gaming meetings. In 1993, I met Carole, and I also met Marc, her brother and now our club's president. Marc was then a bit more active in the boardgaming domain and quickly rekindled my passion for playing. Laurent, Nicolas, and Guy have been recalled from their hiatus as well. What was now an intermittent event quickly became regular gaming evenings.
1995
with Klaus Teuber's SETTLERS OF CATAN, things really started to get underway. Every time we met, someone called, "How about a game of Settlers?" We settled until the ore and the sheep came out of our ears. The boardgaming industry changed a lot in this time. More and more interesting and well-designed games were published. Our collection grew slowly, but steadily. Boardgame evenings became boardgame marathons. Together with our girlfriends we alternately met at someone's house to play. Often such a marathon would start on Saturday morning and end on Sunday evening!
2002
Marc went with his wife to the SPIEL at Essen. The SPIEL is the world's biggest exhibition and convention for boardgame enthusiasts. It's a gigantic event where gamers and publishers from all around the world meet for four days, testing, playing, and buying. Card games, board games, and role playing games are all featured.
In 2003, me and Marc went to Essen with our wives. And we soon realized: this was not to be missed! The following year, the rest of our crew joined us and have been regulars since and we keep purchasing the newest games to stay up to date.
2004
we inadvertently laid the foundation stone for a club. We decided to print T-shirts for our Essen visit to show our dedication for board games.
A name was searched and found and we became the "pact of the playful brotherhood" ('Pakt vun der verspillten Brudderschaft').
As it often happens, it became harder and harder to schedule gaming evenings on a regular base. We all grew up and had our own families. It wasn't easy to get everyone around a table any more.
2010
… kuerz virum Untrëtt op d’Spiel, koum de Marc mat der Idee fir e regelrechte Spillclub ze grënnen. Hien duecht et mussen dach nach méi Spillverréckter an eisem klenge Ländche ginn. Zudem hätte mer dann eemol d’Woch en feste R-V, fir ouni Zwang ze spillen. Mier duechten all: ‘Jo Marc, dreem weider’. Mais iergendwéi huet dee Gedanke kee méi sou richteg lass gelooss. Jiddereen hat op eemol Iddie wei esou ee Club ausgesi kéint.
On the 2nd November 2010, we had our first committee meeting. A few weeks later, the club was christened "Game factory" ("Spillfabrik") and we deposited our statutes at the Lintgen municipality, where the Spillfabrik was officially registered on the 10th December 2010.
Since the 13th January 2011 we play in our club locale in the old pre-school in Gosseldange. We started with eight players and our small community has been growing ever since.
2011
Alain continues the tale:
What happened after the inauguration?
When I was looking for a boardgaming club in the September of 2011, I happened upon the Spillfabrik, and I was delighted. Here were a bunch of people you could play games with and who treat each other with respect. The assembly of games consisted mainly of Marc's private collection, and it fit in two metal cabinets.
2012
...was the first big change to the committee. Jean-Claude and I joined, and Laurent and Néckel resigned. While Jean-Claude brought in his concept for the Ludobus and pushed us towards motivating the youth for boardgames, I took over the website and redid a large part of it. That year was also the year of our first Viva Vakanz tournament, for which we only had 7 contestants, but that got much better in later years. At the end of the year, we had our first Pegasus game club day, for which Pegasus gifted us a bunch of their games, as they would often do in subsequent years.
2013
...was the organization of a GeoCache gaming evening on Chrëscht's initiative. This was an occasion for passionate cachers to get a whiff of the boardgaming air. Then Steve joined our committee. In May, we had our first "Chill, Grill & Spill" barbecue, which we kept as a recurring event just like our tournament. We had a little event at Echternach (for which we unfortunately stayed largely alone), and we joined the Carré Rotondes' Gameboys & Playgirls for the first time.
2014
…...was the year when we joined the first LuxCon, which unfortunately stayed a unique thing due to different reasons. We also organized the Luxembourgish part of the world wide Ticket to Ride tournament, which was a huge success. That year, we again joined the Carré Rotondes for a series of "Jeudiscover" events, where we showed a few simple games to interested bar patrons. It was a fun concept, but unfortunately drifted into oblivion later.
2015 an 2016
That way our recurrent events continued. In 2015 and 2016, the committee changed again. Steve resigned and Rodrigo and Gaëtane joined. A few months later, we celebrated our 5-year-anniversary at the Kuelbécher Haff. In August we installed an effective sound isolation on the ceiling, which contributed to a much more comfortable ambience. The Gameboys & Playgirls took place in the new Rotondes, and we had our first second hand shop there, which quickly became a fan favorite.
2017
In the course of the years, our collection grew noticeably. In 2017, we ended up needing 6 cabinets, due to also now having jigsaw puzzles in our concept. Sophie joined the committee and took over the role of the treasurer from Guy, and she brought her passion for jigsaws with her. We also finally got rid of the preschool's old cabinets. At the end of 2017 we had our first Game On event at Tétange with our friends from the Social Gaming Club and videogames.lu. Although the weather spoiled the event, this happening developed into something big in the years to come.
2018
...jigsaws finally became a fixed asset in the Spillfabrik. Since our seniors' card game retired, we had a jigsaw in progress every week. Sophie's teams for jigsaw events in Arlon and Hannut grew, and we even started our own event with the table tennis club DT Ell. Our ten-hour-jigsaw tournament was a resounding success, and we are already sold out for the following year. This also showed in our new logo, which we presented that year.
2019
...was the committee grow further with Lol and Dennis joining us after helping out at our various events.
Our usual annual events like Viva Vakanz, Chill & Grill, were already well-oiled, and a second jigsaw tournament at Ell was successful. As for Game On and Playgirls & Gameboys, the idea surfaced to merge both events into one large one, so we took the decision to set up the next Game On at the Rotondes.
2020
However, as you all know, things changed a lot. 2020 was the year of the corona virus, and even if we can win in the Pandemic board game, we had to abide to the legal obligations as a club and close our doors twice for a few months. During the first lockdown, we switched to BoardGameArena and we set up a Discord server to facilitate communication. Of course, all major events were canceled: no Essen, no Game On, no jigsaw tournament, only a small Viva Vakanz was possible. However, a few die-hard gamers met at the Kuelbécherhaff for a gaming weekend to replace the SPIEL.
2021
Although vaccinations to protect against Covid began rolling out, this was not a time to be careless. We were able to organize our events, albeit in a modified form. Our first Game On at the Rotondes was limited to 300 concurrent visitors, Essen was shrunk and masks were mandatory, and the jigsaws at Ell were still not possible. Our Chill, Grill & Spill took place in September at the new BBQ site at the Mouschelt event venue, which had huge assets.
2022
Now that restrictions have been lifted, we could organize our events as usual. Everything was successful, but one thing in particular was our belated 10-year-anniversary party, which took place at the Mouschelt event hall. Our first "real" Game ON at the Rotondes was a real success.
Towards the end of the year, our website started to get a new coat of paint.
Chrëscht and Alain
History
How did the club come to be?
All of this is based on a passion for board games that started in early youth for everyone of us. Our parents played the classics with us, such as LUDO and MONOPOLY. Later more and more games were added to the collection.
Some time later, boardgaming took a bit of a backseat to other pastimes and there were only intermittent gaming meetings. In 1993, I met Carole, and I also met Marc, her brother and now our club's president. Marc was then a bit more active in the boardgaming domain and quickly rekindled my passion for playing. Laurent, Nicolas, and Guy have been recalled from their hiatus as well. What was now an intermittent event quickly became regular gaming evenings.
1995
with Klaus Teuber's SETTLERS OF CATAN, things really started to get underway. Every time we met, someone called, "How about a game of Settlers?" We settled until the ore and the sheep came out of our ears. The boardgaming industry changed a lot in this time. More and more interesting and well-designed games were published. Our collection grew slowly, but steadily. Boardgame evenings became boardgame marathons. Together with our girlfriends we alternately met at someone's house to play. Often such a marathon would start on Saturday morning and end on Sunday evening!
2002
Marc went with his wife to the SPIEL at Essen. The SPIEL is the world's biggest exhibition and convention for boardgame enthusiasts. It's a gigantic event where gamers and publishers from all around the world meet for four days, testing, playing, and buying. Card games, board games, and role playing games are all featured.
In 2003, me and Marc went to Essen with our wives. And we soon realized: this was not to be missed! The following year, the rest of our crew joined us and have been regulars since and we keep purchasing the newest games to stay up to date.
2004
…hu mer iergendwéi onbewosst schonn de Grondstee vun engem zukünftege Club geluecht. Dat Joer hu mer decidéiert eis fir Essen T-Shirte maachen ze loossen. Esou wollte mir weisen dass mir ebe Spillverréckter sinn an ob eis opmierksam maachen.
Esou gemaach, gouf och en Numm gesicht. Dobäi koum dunn de ‘Pakt vun der verspillten Brudderschaft’ eraus.
As it often happens, it became harder and harder to schedule gaming evenings on a regular base. We all grew up and had our own families. It wasn't easy to get everyone around a table any more.
2010
,kuerz virum Untrëtt op d’Spiel, koum de Marc mat der Idee fir e regelrechte Spillclub ze grënnen. Hien duecht et mussen dach nach méi Spillverréckter an eisem klenge Ländche ginn. Zudem hätte mer dann eemol d’Woch en feste R-V, fir ouni Zwang ze spillen. Mier duechten all: ‘Jo Marc, dreem weider’. Mais iergendwéi huet dee Gedanke kee méi sou richteg lass gelooss. Jiddereen hat op eemol Iddie wei esou ee Club ausgesi kéint.
Den 2. November 2010 wor dunn och deen éischten offizielle Komiteesowend. De Grondstee wor geluecht. E gudde Mount méi spéit gouf de Club mam Numm ‘Spillfabrik’ gedeeft a mir hunn eis Statutten op der Lëntgener Gemeng eragereecht, wou d’Spillfabrik dann den 10. Dezember 2010 offiziell ageschriwwe gouf.
Since the 13th January 2011 we play in our club locale in the old pre-school in Gosseldange. We started with eight players and our small community has been growing ever since.
2011, Chrëst
What happened after the inauguration?
Wéi ech am September 2011 bei der Sich no engem Spillclub op d’Spillfabrik gefall sinn, war ech direkt begeeschtert. Hei waren e ganze Grapp Leit, mat deenen ee gutt konnt zesumme spillen, a wou sech jidderee verdroen huet. D’Spillsammlung huet nach gréisstendeels aus dem Marc senger privater Sammlung bestanen, a se huet an zwee metalle Schief gepasst.
2012
…war dunn deen éischte grousse Changement am Kommitee. Ech an de Jean-Claude si bäigetrueden, an de Laurent an den Néckel hunn ofgedankt. Während de Jean-Claude säi Konzept vum Ludobus abruecht huet, an eis och an d’Richtung vun der Spillmotivatioun fir d’Jugend gepusht huet, hunn ech mer de Webserver op d’Long gezunn an a groussen Deeler nei gemeet. Dat Joer war och deen éischte Viva-Vakanz-Tournoi, wou mer leider just 7 Kandidaten haten, mee dat huet sech herno och verbessert. Enn des Joers hate mer och eisen éischte Pegasus-Spieleclubtag, wou mer vu Pegasus mat villen neie Spiller versuergt goufen.
2013
…war op dem Chrëscht seng Initiativ e GeoCache-Spillowend organiséiert ginn. Hei konnte begeeschtert Cacher emol an d’Brietspillwelt eraschnoffelen. Dono huet de Steve eise Kommitee verstäerkt. Am Mee hate mer eisen éischte “Chill, Grill & Spill”-Event, dee mer wéi eisen Tournoi als dauerhaften Event bäibehalen hunn. Mir haten e klengen Event zu Iechternach (wou mer leider wäitgehend ënner eis bloufen), a mir waren déi éischte Kéier beim Playgirls & Gameboys am Carré Rotondes derbäi.
2014
…ware mer bei der éischter LuxCon derbäi, wat leider aus diverse Grënn eng eemoleg Saach war. Mir hunn och de Lëtzebuerger Deel vum weltwäiten Zug um Zug Tournoi ausgedroen, wat e grousse Succès war. Dat Joer hate mer och am Carré Rotondes eng Partie “Jeudiscover”-Eventer, wou mer interesséierte Leit eng Rei einfach Spiller gewisen hunn. Eng flott Saach, déi awer leider sech am Joer drop ausgelaf huet.
2015 and 2016
Sou goung et weider mat eise regelméissegen Eventer. 2015 an 2016 huet de Komittee sech erëm erneiert. De Steve huet opgehal, an de Rodrigo an d’Gaëtane si bäikomm. E puer Méint méi spéit hu mer eis 5-Joer-Gebuertsdagsparty am Kuelbécher Haff gefeiert. Am August hu mer eng gescheit Schallisolatioun op de Plafong montéiert. Doduerch ass d’Atmosphär direkt méi gemittlech ginn. De Playgirls & Gameboys ass dëst Joer an den neie Rotonden ofgehal ginn, a mir haten do eisen éischte Second-Hand-Shop, wat sech zu engem Dauerbrenner entwéckelt huet.
2017
Am Laf vun de Joere war eis Spillsammlung ordentlech gewuess. Am Joer 2017 hu mer mëttlerweil 6 Schief gebraucht, och well mer elo Pëzzelen am Sortiment hunn. D’Sophie ass an de Kommitee gestouss an huet den Trésoriers-Rôle vum Guy iwwerholl, an et huet och seng Passioun fir Pëzzelen an d’Fabrik bruecht. Mir waren och elo endlech déi ural Schief vun der Spillschoul lass. Enn 2017 hate mer och eisen éischte Game On Event mat eise Kollege vum Social Gaming Club a videogames.lu. Obwuel duerch d’Météo de Succès net dee beschte war, sou huet sech dat awer an de Joeren dono gutt weider entwéckelt.
2018
…sinn d’Pëzzelen endgülteg zu engem feste Bestanddeel vun der Spillfabrik ginn. Duerch d’Ausfale vum Staminet gëtt elo all Woch un engem Pëzzel geschafft, dem Sophie seng Equipë fir Arel an Hannut si méi grouss ginn, a mir hu souguer eisen eegenen Event op d’Bee gesat, zesumme mam DT Ell. Eisen Zéng-Stonne-Puzzle-Tournoi war e vollen Erfolleg, a mir sinn och schonn ausgebucht fir d’Joer drop. Dat huet sech och an eisem neie Logo gewisen, dee mer dat Joer presentéiert hunn.
2019
…ass de Kommitee nach weider gewuess, well de Lol an den Dennis derbäi komm sinn, nodeems se schonn oft bei diversen Events gehollef hunn.
Our usual annual events like Viva Vakanz, Chill & Grill, were already well-oiled, and a second jigsaw tournament at Ell was successful. As for Game On and Playgirls & Gameboys, the idea surfaced to merge both events into one large one, so we took the decision to set up the next Game On at the Rotondes.
2020
However, as you all know, things changed a lot. 2020 was the year of the corona virus, and even if we can win in the Pandemic board game, we had to abide to the legal obligations as a club and close our doors twice for a few months. During the first lockdown, we switched to BoardGameArena and we set up a Discord server to facilitate communication. Of course, all major events were canceled: no Essen, no Game On, no jigsaw tournament, only a small Viva Vakanz was possible. However, a few die-hard gamers met at the Kuelbécherhaff for a gaming weekend to replace the SPIEL.
2021
Although vaccinations to protect against Covid began rolling out, this was not a time to be careless. We were able to organize our events, albeit in a modified form. Our first Game On at the Rotondes was limited to 300 concurrent visitors, Essen was shrunk and masks were mandatory, and the jigsaws at Ell were still not possible. Our Chill, Grill & Spill took place in September at the new BBQ site at the Mouschelt event venue, which had huge assets.
2022
Now that restrictions have been lifted, we could organize our events as usual. Everything was successful, but one thing in particular was our belated 10-year-anniversary party, which took place at the Mouschelt event hall. Our first "real" Game ON at the Rotondes was a real success.
Towards the end of the year, our website started to get a new coat of paint.
Chrëscht and Alain
