Gallery: Essen: Anatomy of a Ban

"No war games at Essen" - <em>Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser</em>

"Nuclear weapons are nothing to joke about" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser

(Seriously) "no war games at Essen" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser

Andy T's shocked to find some war games at Essen

And then we found some replica guns, nice

And some real knives, nasty

"It's a family show" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser

Every family needs some orgy training

Yet more family goodness

OK, so sexual violence is often a family issue, but still ... this was a bit strong even for us.

A game about mental illness, that wouldn't offend anyone

"(WoT is) beyond the boundaries of satire" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser. We managed to find 'One More Barrel' on sale, a satire about invading Iraq to get your hands on their oil. Guess that's within the boundairies?

Holy crap! Tom finds 'Suicide Bomber' the card game on sale, and it's not even satire

"Terrorism is unsuitable for games" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser. But it seems fine for computer games.

"(WoT is) worse than having a swastika on the box" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser. But what about inside the box?

"(WoT is) Sick and ridiculous" - Dominique Metzler, Essen Spiel toy fair organiser.