Secret Garden at Essen: time slots and a two-copy cap
On Thursday October 22, the opening day of Spiel Essen, the Riftbound booth cancelled every sale of the day: the queue for the Secret Garden Bundle had grown long enough to block the aisles, and it was the show itself that asked Riot to stop, citing attendee safety. In the afternoon the official @playriftbound account confirmed it and announced the fix: for the three remaining days the bundle is sold only to people who book a time slot, with a cap of two copies per person for the whole weekend. Six days from now the same box lands at Lucca Comics & Games.
What happenedA morning with nothing sold
Spiel’s halls open at 10am. The Riftbound booth, however, only started selling at 11, and during that hour the line stretched far enough to get in the way of neighbouring booths. Staff walked down the queue warning that if people stayed in line, no product would go on sale at all. People stayed. In the end nothing was sold on Thursday: no Secret Garden, and none of the rest either.
The account comes from the r/riftboundtcg thread opened by u/AceCham3leon, who was in the queue: «then it was suddenly announced that they will not be selling ANY products today». Others present back it up: u/Ralica_P, whose partner was near the front, and u/KL3GG, who reports the warning staff gave along the line. No refunds and no alternative were offered on the spot to the people waiting.
The fixHow booking a slot works
At 5:58pm Italian time @playriftbound posted the official version: «Due to long queues and attendee safety SPIEL Essen requested we cancel Secret Garden sales for today». The statement adds that Riot has worked with the show «to address concerns» and that the way the bundle is sold is changing.
From Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October, Secret Garden is no longer bought by queueing: you have to reserve a time slot, by scanning the QR code displayed at the booth or using the link Riot provided. Sign-ups went live on Thursday at around 8:30pm, the same hour in Germany and in Italy. If you hold a slot, you turn up at your time; if you do not, in principle you are not served.
Two copies each
The limit is not per day but for the entire weekend: two Secret Gardens per person, and the booking system is what makes it enforceable.
Three days
The slot system covers the rest of the show, 23-25 October. Riot has not said how many copies will be available each day.
WhyA box that only exists at events
The Secret Garden Bundle is an event exclusive: it is not sold online, it never reaches shops, and it can only be found at the events Riot brings its booth to, while stock lasts. That is exactly what makes the box desirable and what produces the queues: anyone who wants one knows there is no easy second chance, so they line up hours early.
It has happened before. On August 1 the same official account cancelled that day’s scheduled creator meet & greets «due to booth congestion around Secret Garden», noting that the bundle «is an event exclusive and will be available at future events». Back then, though, sales were not stopped: the booking system is the first real countermeasure.
CalendarWhere the bundle can still be found
On its official Secret Garden Bundle Events page Riot listed the 2026 stops. Three are still running or still to come:
| Dates | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| October 22-25 | Paris Games Week | Paris, France |
| October 22-25 | Spiel Essen | Essen, Germany |
| October 28 - November 1 | Lucca Comics & Games 2026 | Lucca, Italy |
After Lucca, Riot writes on that same page, it will see «what stock remains at the end of 2026» and, if possible, extend the bundle to events in 2027. In plain terms: for Europe, Lucca is the last confirmed date.
Why it matters to us. In six days the same box, sold under the same event-exclusive rules, arrives at Lucca Comics & Games. Essen teaches the Italian community two useful things. First, turning up at dawn may not be enough, because the queue itself is what blew up the day. Second, Riot now has a system ready — booked slots and a two-copy cap — and every reason to reuse it in front of Lucca’s far bigger crowd. If you mean to take one home, the move is not to arrive extremely early: it is to watch the official Riftbound channels during the show, because so far every notice about queues and bookings has landed there, with only a few hours’ warning.
In short
- On Thursday October 22 the Riftbound booth at Spiel Essen sold nothing: the show asked Riot to stop Secret Garden sales over queue length and attendee safety.
- From 23 to 25 October the bundle is sold only with a booked time slot (QR code at the booth or the official link), open from 8:30pm on Thursday.
- The cap is two copies per person for the whole weekend.
- Next and last European stop on the calendar: Lucca Comics & Games, October 28 to November 1.
Source: @playriftbound on X, r/riftboundtcg, Riot Games – Secret Garden Bundle Events. Images: Riot Games.
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