When I was young, my mother always told me: Don't lie, do your homework before playing games, don't dig through your dad's wallet, don't hit your friends, and 'don't go to crowded places.'

And as someone who took pride in being a fairly good son, I followed these words religiously. As a result, I didn't have many friends and couldn't even dream of dating during my school years, but I didn't feel particularly regretful. After all, I'm a hardcore Introvert (Capital I). Before joining the military, aside from unavoidable events like entrance ceremonies or college retreats, the most crowded place I had ever been to was Orgrimmar.

Alas, becoming a gaming journalist meant my fate was sealed to go only to crowded places. If I were to pick the top 10 gloomiest moments of my life as still cuts, eight of them would be on-site at trade shows. ChinaJoy 2016, Gamescom 2015, PAX 2014, G-Star 2013, and countless other gaming convention floors remain in my head like a Hall of Fame—of moments where I almost got crushed to death by crowds.

And here I am, back again. I thought there were a lot of people over the previous two days, but 'devcom' was merely a prelude. The main event, 'Gamescom 2026', has finally arrived in earnest.

From this point on, I had a bad feeling.

It felt like an invisible wall blocking the way forward. An unexplainable sense of pressure. Looking closely, all those people bunched up ahead were waiting to enter. Order like forming a single line was nowhere to be found. Like mayonnaise mercilessly squeezed inside a pastry bag, they were packed together, waiting for the person ahead to move. I thought it might be less crowded since it was early morning, but I was wrong.

Come to think of it, the event is in Germany. Historically, Germans are famous for having a strong sense of community and gathering together exceptionally well. Didn't over a million Germans gather at Tempelhof Airport alone at the call of that moustachioed 'Great Master H' who almost set half of Western civilization ablaze? Comparing then to now is an insult to Germany, but regardless of time or era, gathering en masse at a location is quite a remarkable knack. If there was a silver lining, it was that the weather was relatively cool (I was drenched in sweat) and people were generally calm (though nobody lined up).

Generally, introverted (Capital I) journalists like me head straight for the press room as soon as the show opens, unless we have an immediate appointment. That's because it's relatively less crowded there. With Gamescom, however, that's no easy task. For starters, the press room is at the far end of a trek that takes a good 20-minute walk just to see. And during those 20 minutes of walking, you continuously pass through exhibition halls. ChinaJoy and TGS are also huge, but ChinaJoy's density falls a bit short, and TGS is still slightly smaller than this—not that there's a huge difference, though.

So there's only one option: duck into a company booth and hang out until schedule time.