Road to SPIEL 2026: MicroMacro Kids 2: Wild Wild Weekend

MicroMacro Kids 2: Wild Wild Weekend is the second child-friendly version of Edition Spielwiese’s hugely successful hidden-picture detective series. Designed by Johannes Sich, with illustrations from Daniel Goll, Tobias Jochinke and Sich himself, it gives 1-4 young detectives another enormous city map containing 22 mysteries to investigate and explore.

Is that Bigfoot wandering through the forest? Did you hear that somebody has stolen a gold digger’s treasure? Why does Harold have an arrow stuck in his hat? Cleary it’s been quite a weekend!

What is it?

The original MicroMacro: Crime City won the Spiel des Jahres in 2021 with it’s combination of Where’s Wally? style searching and detective stories played out across a huge illustarted map.

The Kids series take the same central idea and approach, but removes the murders and other adult subject matter, replacing them with mysteries designed specifically for players aged six and up.

In Wild Wild Weekend, players work together to discover what has happened by locating characters, following their movements around the map, and piecing together the sequence of events,

Some cases might be solved relatively quickly whereas others willr equire more careful observation and logical deduction. The difficulty rating of each case allows families to choose something appropriatye for their young investigators.

How does it play?

Each investigation presents the players with a mystery and questions that can only be answered by studying the map.

Characters don’t only appear once on the map, with the enormous illustration showing them at different moments in time, allowing players to effectively follow somebody across the city by finding each of their successive appearances and find out what they’ve been up to. Find one clue and it leads you towards the next.

Wild Wild West contains 22 new cases, collected in an Investigator Book, with individual investigations lasting roughly 15-45 minutes.

The game is entirely cooperative, with all players being able to point out suspicious activity, compare theories and collectively work out where someone went and what happened.

Why we’re watching it

Part of the point of our Road to SPIEL series is to look beyond heavyweight strategy games and show just how broad Essen’s audience is. SPIEL Essen is a massive family show in Germany, and while many hobby fans travel from all around the world to the show, it is common to see several generations of the same German family attending… grandparents, parents and kids all eager to try out the thousands of new games at the show and pick up some new games to play back home. MicroMarcro Kids 2 is a great example of one of the many games being released at the show for the younger audience.

The original MicroMacro turned an extraordinary simple idea into one of the biggest family games of recent years. The Kids editions are interesting because they don’t merely simplify the rules, the core rules were never particularly completed, but instead rethinks the stories and investigations for younger players.

For many attending the show, games like this are considerably more relevant and interesting that the latest multi-hour economic simulation or 4X game.

The Game at SPIEL Essen 2026

Essen will be the first opportunity to see, and purchase, MicroMacro Kids 2: Wild Wild Weekend, although if you’re not at the show (or are at the show but don’t bring a copy home with you) you won’t need to wait long. Hachette Boardgames in the UK currently have the English editions release date down as 28th October 2026, three days after SPIEL finishes.

The game is for 1-4 players, ages 6+, with cases lasting between 15-45 minutes.

The game will be available at SPIEL Essen on Edition Spielwiese’s stand in hall 6, Stand A300.

SPIEL Essen runs from 22nd-25th October 2026.

MicroMacro Kids 2: Wild Wild Weekend at a glance

Publisher: Edition Spielwiese

Designers: Johannes Sich

Artists: Daniel Goll, Tobias Jochinke, & Johannes Sich

Players: 1-4

Ages: 6+

Playing Time: 15-45 minutes

Type: Cooperative / deduction /hidden-picture puzzel / children’s game

English Edition: Yes

Expected retail release: 28th October 2026

SPIEL: Hall 6, Stand A300

More information: Hatchette Boardgames UK - MicroMacro Kids 2: Wild Wild West

Tomorrow on Road to SPIEL 2026: The Book Worm - horseback librarians carry books into the mountainsof depression-era Kentucky in one of this year’s more unbusual historical games.