Tag Archives: UK Games Expo

Report: My first UK Games Expo

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UK Games ExpoLast week I attended my first UK Games Expo in Birmingham. Having been spoilt by Essen over the years I’d never considered this a ‘must see’ convention, as it’s a 10th of the size, but this year I made the time to make it happen.

And – spoiler alert – I’m thoroughly glad I did. I had a fantastic time throughout, didn’t get to do half what I should have, but came home with a host of new games, new friends and great memories.

First, the boring (but significant) stuff: The organisers estimated they had 7,000 unique attendees (up 20 per cent on 2014) over the three days, with a total footfall attendance of 14,000 (up 40 per cent, but it was a day longer than last year) – impressive numbers by any standards. And the event is growing too, with 1,000 tables setup in the NEC Hilton for the weekend – that’s a lot of gaming!

As a holidaymaker

UKGE through the ages

First look at the new edition of Through the Ages, still in prototype form (so all this can still change)

However good the Expo itself was, you can’t get away from the fact it’s in one of the blandest, most soulless locations in the UK.

The NEC complex is a built-for-purpose money-grabbing warehouse-come-car park and the hotel I ended up in – The Crowne Plaza – was more of the same. Comfy but sterile, unfriendly and overpriced (£14 for breakfast you say? What if I just want cereal…?).

The Expo itself was held at the NEC Hilton which, while in the same price bracket, does at least have some personality. But what was truly remarkable was how open they were to the event. Throughout the weekend every available table, windowsill and corner had a game being played in it – often accompanied by greasy slabs of cardboard bought from the (really rather good) food trucks outside the hotel. But the staff were polite and patient in the face of what must have felt like some kind of natural disaster aftermath.

As a publisher

UKGE the dwarves

First look at the English version of ‘The Dwarves’ from publisher Pegasus

With my blogger’s hat on I spoke to representatives from a lot of publishers and retailers over the weekend, from main sponsors Mayfair to one-man-bands with a 10-ft table and one game to sell – and in all honesty I didn’t hear a single dissenting voice.

Of course there were minor quibbles – press events ending just as the main doors opened; the doors opening 30 minutes earlier than expected on one day; some rather unfortunate placements between inappropriate stands etc. But these were always brought up in the context of having a great show overall.

And this year’s publisher list was notably impressive. While many didn’t have their key staff on show, or large stands, you can’t argue with a line up that includes Fantasy Flight, Days of Wonder, Mayfair, Asmodee, Pegasus, Czech Games Edition and Queen Games – alongside the likes of Esdevium and Coiled Spring.

As a gamer

UKGE the game

Playing Spiel des Jahres nominee The Game

The Expo had set aside tonnes of open gaming space as well as nine board game tournaments, including the official UK championships for Catan, Carcassonne and Mage Wars (plus CCG Yu-Gi-Oh).

While at times near capacity, and tricky to find a large table at times, overall the system worked well.

The Thirsty Meeples game cafe ran the games library and all agreed it was a vast improvement on previous years – although at peak times the selection grew pretty thin. Oddly an insider told me Thirsty Meeples had wanted to bring more games but had been limited to 500, so hopefully next year’s selection will be even better.

People in general were friendly, making for a nice atmosphere. I shared a lot of silly conversations with those gaming on adjacent tables, and chats with people wondering what game I was playing. But it was hot and noisy and I wouldn’t want to play a long thinky game there. Highlights for me included Welcome to the Dungeon, Smash Up, The Game, Hawaii and Red7. I even managed to hold my tongue when a couple of ladies next to us were saying how ‘brilliant’ the Firefly board game was…

As an explorer

UKGE terror bull

Terror Bull Games’ Tom and Andrew preaching the Hen Commandments

I’m afraid this is where my coverage takes a nosedive, as I spent precisely zero time getting out of my comfort zone. I’m going to make a solemn promise that next year I’ll do at least a few sessions of miniatures, war games or role playing games.

Despite my adsence there was a lot of it going on and I heard some fun stories while chilling in the bar, overhearing other tables’ conversations. I know the Cardboard Console podcast guys got their feet wet in the RPG pool a few times, so listen out for their exploits in future episodes.

There were some great cosplay outfits on show too – shame on me for not getting any pics, but I’m sure there will be loads at the Expo site (linked above).

My favourite was definitely a Jawa – mostly because they had a speaker with all the cute sound effects that take me back to being seven years old. Wootini ftw! And there were some impressive remote control Daleks – that voice is still pretty menacing…

As a tester

UKGE art

Some great board game graphic design and art from Vicki Dalton

The Playtest UK area was a definite highlight for me, being filled to capacity pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday with about 15 unpublished games running at a time. I got a few hours of testing in on Saturday afternoon, then helped out as a volunteer for the last few hours of the day.

What I didn’t expect was to have people turning up saying they’d actually sought us out and wanted to ‘help’ – alongside people who would test one game, then come back to us a little while later and ask to test a different one. Rather than trying to reach out to passing traffic to try and get them involved, we were more often telling people they’d have to wait a few minutes for a slot to appear.

It’s hard to know if people realised that many of those testing games there over the weekend were published designers – the UK Expo award winner for Strategic Card and Dice Games this year was Elysium, whose designers spent almost the whole weekend helping organise r testing their games in the area.

Raise a glass to the volunteers – and the organisers

UKGE cycling party

Spanish game Cycling Party, brought to the UK by Games Quest

Overall I think it’s impossible to see the 2015 UK Games Expo as anything other than a huge success. There are of course lots of areas for improvement (I’ll certainly be emailing the organisers with my thoughts as a journalist who has visited many such events but has never felt so unsupported) but overall – win.

I think what I found most impressive was either the amazing attitude of everyone involved – especially all the volunteers, who need a massive pat on the back – but also how all this was achieved with ever-changing goal posts.

Every year the Expo has grown a significant amount, reflecting both the word-of-mouth goodwill for the event and the growth in popularity of the hobby games industry.

To be able to both improve and expand on the top line numbers while responding to the mistakes of previous years – while keeping both traders and punters appeased in the middle of it all – is a real achievement.

Bring on 2016

UKGE my games

My personal haul for the weekend – reviews of them all on the way!

And next year will be even bigger. While I’m not keen on the warehouse that is the NEC I can see the wisdom of moving the retail arm of the Expo into its wide open spaces – but equally note the importance of keeping its heart in the Hilton.

This is going to be a tricky balance to pull off but I think it should work: the trade areas will close as usual at 5pm and gaming in the hotel will go on until you want to go to bed – its just that you’ll have a five-minute walk between the two venues.

I’ve already put the 2016 Expo in my calendar (June 3-5 if you’re interested) – see you there!

Get into board games: Five reasons to go to the UK Games Expo, May 29-31

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UK Games ExpoWith just a week to go until the UK Games Expo in Birmingham I thought I’d give it a quick plug. It is the UK’s biggest convention dedicated purely to hobby gaming and it’s getting bigger each year, in line with the hobby itself.

The three-day event at Hilton Birmingham Metropole (at the NEC) runs 2-7pm on Friday, 9.30am-5pm Saturday and 9.30am-4pm Sunday. And it won’t break the bank, with day tickets just over £10 and a day family ticket at £30.

This will be my first year attending the Expo as I’m usually away during school half term. But I’m really looking forward to it, as its an event a lot of my friends put in the calendar before all others at the start of their year’s planning. If you’ve got nothing planned for this particular end of half term, and are within reach of Birmingham NEC, what have you got to lose! So what’s it all about?

1. Get back into gaming in ‘The Family Zone’

One of the largest open gaming areas at the show is the Family Zone. There will be a massive range of family games to try your hand at, as well as areas to get your creative hat on too (they’ll be everything from story telling to designing). Run by Imagination Gaming, its the perfect area for those rediscovering the hobby, as Imagination staff will be on hand to help you choose the right game for your group – whether all adult or with your kids too. Allegedly they’ll have 150 games to choose from too, so you shouldn’t get bored! And if you find games you like, you’ll be able to pick many of them up at the store too.

2. Putting games to the test

Hundreds of new board and card games are released each year – which all have to be rigorously tested. It’s a tough process for designers but it can be a lot of fun too – and you can be part of it. Playtest UK will be at the event all weekend, with budding and published designers looking for members of the public to try out and give feedback on their latest designs. Who knows – you may get a chance to change a rule in the next Ticket to Ride or Magic: The Gathering! Or if you feel you want to get involved, there will be chances to put your own design skills to the test with the board game redesign competition.

3. Get your geek on: dress to impress

young or old, many people like to get costumed up for a bit of a party – and parties don’t come much bigger than this. The UK Games Expo is also a celebration of all things geeky, so if you want to dress up as an elf or a super hero knock yourself out – you’ll be in good company (you can bet there will be plenty of daleks, stormtroopers and the like to mingle and your selfies with too). Cosplay is another growing hobby, with people spending an incredible amount of time getting their costumes as accurate as possible (some of them are amazing) – and it’s a great way to liven up the even with a bit of extra colour.

4. Open gaming – board games, competitions and RPGs

Open gaming is one of the highlights of any board gaming convention, and the UK Games Expo is no exception. At various places and points during the event there will be room for up to and over 1,000 people to sit down and play games – with hundreds available to borrow from the in-house games library (run this year by the fabulous Thirsty Meeples cafe from Oxford). But you can also sign up to join in with a host of role-playing games; or sign up to be in a tournament if you really want to get your game face on.

5. Let’s get serious: A gaming education

There will also be more than 20 seminars running over the weekend, ranging in topic from how to publish your own game right through to a sci-fi quiz. Some big names in gaming will be attendance for Q&As, including Eric Lang (Chaos in the Old World, Dice Masters, Game of Thrones card game) and Monica Valentinelli (Firefly RPG), while you’ll be able to get tips on everything from fiction writing to running successful competitions and events. Personally I’m looking forward to news on the 2016 expansion into the NEC itself!

I’m arriving Thursday evening and will be there pretty much throughout the weekend. You can see a pic of me on the ‘about’ page here: if you read this blog at all, do come up and say hello! It’s going to be a great weekend of gaming, but more importantly socialising. See you in the halls – or in the bar!

Happy & poor: One month into ‘game design Mondays’

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Go Play Listen business card 2015I started my attempt at making a living from my hobby six weeks ago (initial aims here), so thought I should post an update on the early progress.

It’s been an odd start as there have been three Bank Holidays in the first six weeks, meaning I haven’t had full days off from my ‘real’ job. But while frustrating, I have made progress.

First up, business cards (pictured). While a little pricey these seemed like a good idea, as I’ve been asked for them quite a bit – especially at Essen – and they seemed like a strong statement of both intent and professionalism.

The website

I spent my first couple of weeks researching and then actioning my transition to my own domain for the blog, which was a lot less hassle than I’d feared. Having sourced a good amount of feedback I went with TSO Host and everything has gone well so far.

Next I signed up with the UK Gaming Media Network (linked on the right) and created a logo that fully reflected my site’s shift in emphasis to almost 100% board games. It felt important to get the ground work up and done early, and it feels like a gaming site now – but is there anything more I can/should do? Any feedback welcome.

While I’m yet to have any success with sponsorship or similar, I’ve recognised the fact that ‘income’ in terms of the site doesn’t need to be in the form of actual cash. Clutching at straws? Maybe, but I’ve already received a free game to review (and a good one) and a press pass for an event I would’ve had to pay to get into, which between them have more than covered the cost of the business cards and the hosting for the year. It’s a start!

Unfortunately several other publisher approaches have met with deaf ears, but I’ll persevere – at least one is looking hopeful if I can get my rankings up (and that’s happening). And while I haven’t yet looked into AdSense (not that I’m getting the traffic to make much money), otherwise I think I’m making good on my initial goals.

Game design

UK Games ExpoWhile I’ve made a few small inroads into two new games – one collaborative and one of my own – new design work has largely been on the back burner due to some positive feedback from a publisher on a game I was pushing last Essen.

This is potentially great news, and at worse good news – so either way it’s a positive.

It would obviously be great to get the game signed, but even if it doesn’t happen the work I’ve been doing on it over the past few weeks has really improved it. I’d be much more confident putting it in front of other publishers in future if this one doesn’t bite.

The lack of progress on other titles is frustrating, but its easy to forget just how long game design takes – and how much writing up is as much as experimenting, especially in colaboration: doing it in this kind of programmed environment really brings that home. When I was just tinkering it was something I did of an evening without a care for what was really achieved. Now I’m on the clock I’m realising just how long something like writing rules or cutting out some cards really takes!

I’ve also realised I need to get more organised: get a list of game ideas, with a sense of each one’s progression and what I feel I should be prioritising. But also a list of publisher contacts, with an eye for already starting to think about a strategy for Essen.

But before then there’s just a few weeks to go until the UK Games Expo, so I need to really prepare for that – both in getting a prototype ready in case I get in on the play-test area and seeing about starting to build a network of contacts. While it isn’t yet the kind of internationally important event it could one day be, it’s the best the UK has to offer and I’d be foolish not to see it as a big opportunity.

So all in all it feels like these are exciting times and – so far – I’m glad I took the decision to try this out. I’ll check back in at the end of the quarter.

Gearing up for my first UK Board Game Expo

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UK Games ExpoNext month I’m attending my first UK Games Expo at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham (May 29-31).

It’s the UK’s largest annual hobby games convention and is attended by thousands of gamers, as ell as hosting the national championships and tournaments for the biggest games in the business including Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan.

So how come I’ve been to Essen three years in a row, but have never attended UKGE? It’s simply a matter of timing. My better half works in a school, the Expo is in half term, and we’ve usually booked flights to somewhere exotic before I realise they clash. But this year we’re staying local for our holiday, so I can get the best of both worlds.

I’ve been a regular at Essen for three years now, and love it, but the UK Expo is more than just a giant board game shop. There will everything from authors, artists and special guests to seminars and talks on all things gaming – as well as it being the UK’s biggest gaming trade fair.

It’s child friendly, hosting a family zone packed full of kids activities; plus if you get bored of board games there’s everything from live action gaming (The Dark Room), RPGs (more scheduled here than at any other UK event), costume groups – even a UK cinema premier for documentary ‘The Next Great American Game‘ by Doug Morse.

Doug is an occasional visitor to the Cambridge Board Game Design Meetup group and I’m pleased to say a big chunk of us will be in attendance – at least five at last count. And play-testing is another big reason to attend, as there will be plenty of great prototype games to demo from the likes of Matthew Dunstan and Brett Gilbert.

Sadly AEG aren’t in attendance this year, but hopefully Empire Engine will be on sale somewhere! But there are plenty of board game publishers heading to Birmingham: the big boys include Mayfair Games, Czech Games Edition, Asmodee, Queen Games, Ragnar Brothers and Surprised Stare.

As a first time attendee I’m not setting myself an agenda but am really looking forward to it. I’ll be there from Thursday night to Sunday afternoon, so if you read the blog at all and are attending please say hi – or preferably buy me a pint. See you in Brum!

Reclaiming Mondays: Board game design and website targets

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creativity is intelligenceI recently wrote about going to a four-day week to pursue my ambition of making money out of the things I enjoy doing creatively – or at least helping ends meet enough to get by. This becomes a reality this week: as of April 2015, this chapter begins.

In the past I’ve found listing my goals and challenges here to be a real motivator because even if no one else reads/cares about them, I know they’re here. So what better way to start the project than with some objectives and ideas?

Monetising the website

This may seem a little pie in the sky, but even if I can get a small regular income it could make a difference. And this doesn’t have to be as straightforward as cash in hand:

  • Explore possible sponsorship: As the site is now getting more than 2,000 views a month it would be great to get a relevant banner ad or two up here – maybe a store.
  • AdSense: It also seems sensible to get an unobtrusive Google ad panel on here too, as such clearly targeted traffic has to be worth something.
  • Explore my own domain name/hosting: What can I do in terms of advertising while this is still a free WordPress site? Do I need my own URL to up my game?
  • Review copies: If I can get publishers to send me games, I can review newer titles and get more views – while free games equals competition prizes, sale items etc.
  • Get more into the community: Who else is out there? What can I join, share links with, bounce ideas off? How do I extend my reach while making friends?

Game design

2015 has started slowly on the design front , but I feel I’m starting to get my mojo back. We’ve been sent the contract for game number two (hopefully a 2016 release) which I hope proves Empire Engine wasn’t a fluke, so again it’s time to kick on:

  • UK Games Expo: I need to see if there will be any opportunities to sit down with publishers, or with prototypes, at the event. May have left this too late.
  • Push War!Drobe: I put this in front of a few publishers at Essen 2014 and didn’t get a bite, but I think its good enough to make the grade so I need to go again with it.
  • Take the lead on collaborative projects: I’ve started on games with both Matthew Dunstan and David Thompson in 2014 and need to get back on track with them.
  • Empire Engine 2.0: I have an idea. I have a theme. I have enough to start fiddling with a prototype – so it’s time to get it made and to the table.
  • Football prototype: A good action-based football game is possible, I’m sure of it. It’s time to take my initial thoughts to the next level.
  • Revisit my old ideas: I’ve had ideas that have either gone into notebooks or been dropped after early failures. I know more now, so they’re worth another look.

Right – better get on with it then. As always, any and all feedback is most appreciated.