UK Games Expo 2018

[lordhughes]

thats a lot of content for us to ignore

 

[No1newts]

thats a lot of content for us to ignore

Can't win with you lot, if you don't write it then it gets focused on, you write it you ignore it

Everything is in skeleton format otherwise I would be writing thousands of pages, I'll just be seeing what you all choose to do then reacting. (Essentially I'll think of the dumbest **** in advance and focus on that as Stu will almost inevitably drag you in that direction )

 

[Sao_Sin]

I spent too much at the bring and buy last year... Some real bargains to be had!

 

[Tobywon]

So with slightly over 3 weeks to go, what are people looking forward too/aiming to playtest?

Does anyone have specific recommendations of things to see and do there? or advice for those who haven't been before.

 

[PoD]

So with slightly over 3 weeks to go, what are people looking forward too/aiming to playtest?

Does anyone have specific recommendations of things to see and do there? or advice for those who haven't been before.

PLAY ALL THE THINGS

 

[suenstar]

So with slightly over 3 weeks to go, what are people looking forward too/aiming to playtest?

Does anyone have specific recommendations of things to see and do there? or advice for those who haven't been before.

As I don't know your interests, here's my usual/planned routine for the show (not necessarily all being done in one day).

My first stop in the trade hall is almost always A1 Comics as they've often got lots of hidden gems in old roleplay books for systems that are out of print.
After that I usually aim to go to Leisure Games, Esdevium Games or Gameslore to see what haggling can be done for add-ons for games I already own.
I'd then go to Playtest UK's stand, checking if they have any freebies or cheap samples of new game rules to take home and play with.
Then it's time for a mad raid of all the dice retailers to see who has the best stuff and if they've got anything I want to add to my dice collection.
After my round in the trade hall I'll go to the open play area to see what games are being played and join in a couple, usually some good new stuff being play tested in there as well.
Finally after all that, if I have time and it's still open, I'll usually finish up with a very quick glance around the bring and buy for anything quirky that'd be good for 2 players.

I'm also hoping to go visit the Reaper Miniatures stand to say hello this year... as I've been buying tons from their online shop/kickstarters over the years, it'd be nice to pick up some stuff in person.

 

[montymint]

Work commitments have me missing it this year. My brother and best mate are still going like. No doubt they'll spend my money for me lol

 

[Tobywon]

So turns out I'm demonstrating for Oink games this year, should be fun.

 

[bsoltan]

Who went, what did you see, what did you buy?

I hadn't heard of the Expo until this thread so it was the first time I had visited. I went with my cousin and ended up meeting some of his friends there too. I think it really is helpful to go with someone else that is interested otherwise playing the games is going to be difficult.

I just went for the Friday, and we had tickets to see two live shows: Kightmare Live at in the afternoon and then Pandemic Live in the evening after the main halls have closed.

Knightmare Live was brilliant, that bit of nostalgia from the old series coupled with improv acting and comedy was hilarious specially when targeted at the geeky/nerdy adults in the audience.
We explored the main halls and just had a play of whatever caught our eye/wasn’t occupied: Played Samurai, Kingdomino, Citadels, and got a good look at Villagers which still has an active Kickstarter which we then backed.
Picked up a copy of Friday to play solo, and one stall was selling a copy of Fluxx at a bargain £5.
As the hall was closing at 6pm we queued up for Pandemic Live which was a full game of Pandemic played by 3 members of the gaming ‘scene’ and chaired by a comedian so it certainly had it’s comedy moments, and the fourth was made up of random people from the audience that would play a turn each.

Overall I had a great time, was really cool to see how busy and popular this kind of thing is; I saw most of the halls but I would have liked to stay longer/come back and play more games but I don’t know anyone else going so it’s hard to play with people. Hopefully that will change for next year.
I’m putting some more effort into finding a local board game club now but it seems nothing is active in Milton Keynes, although a board game café is supposed to be opening in the near future so hopefully that will change things.

Anyone else got any stories from the expo?

 

[JeditOjanen]

As I always say to people at times like this: wait until you see Spiel. It's vast.

 

[suenstar]

I ended up driving to Birmingham fairly early on the Friday, got there a little before 10:30 sat around waiting until 11 to check-in to my B&B and then managed to wrangle free entry for the afternoon to the show in exchange for a bit of volunteering. The Friday afternoon gave me a good chance to scout the area and decide where I wanted to visit on the Saturday.

Felt the traders were a little over crowded in some areas this year, there were moments when I struggled to get near a vendor to see what they had. I think they could really do with some sort of rule to prevent people just standing around so others can get a chance to browse and purchase something, either that or vendors really need to have a brochure/menu of their stock that you can grab and step a few feet from their table to make space.

Didn't get a chance to sit in on any of the live shows, I did want to go to Pandemic Live but I completely forgot about it... was distracted by a game of Sheriff of Nottingham.
Bumped into a couple of old friends from back when I lived near to London, that was a nice surprise so ended up killing about 3 hours of the day just chatting with them and catching up while playing Pirate Fluxx.


Purchased a few boardgames:

• Caverna
• Gloom
• Pirate Fluxx
• Seafarers for Settlers of Catan
• Takenoko
• Unseen Forces for Elder Sign

There were two others but my mind has gone blank...

Also picked up some books:

• D&D - Temple of Elemental Evil
• D&D - Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
• World of Darkness - Midnight Roads
• Cthulhu by Gaslight
• A big portfolio filled with maps

Sold off a couple of books in the Bring & Buy as well as my bookcases are getting too full.

 

[PoD]

I played quite a few games, saw all my favourite Youtubers and bought a few games.

• Mansion of Madness 2nd Edition
• Cat Lady
• Anatomy Fluxx
• Barenpark

My collection is getting quite vast now.

Also I don't know why, but I felt it was pretty exhausting this year. I had a 3 day pass, but only went for two as I was so tired out by Saturday afternoon.

 

[Pudney]

I went over the weekend, first ever time to a games expo. Went with a couple of friends who go every year, both enjoyed telling me how much bigger and better Essen is.

Played a few games including Dominations, Peak Oil, Civilization: New Dawn, DropIt, Ticket to Ride: New York, and some party game I've forgotten the name of.

Got some good deals as well, including at least one game I think was mispriced:

Mansions of Madness,
Mystic Vale,
Civilization (2010 edition),
Tokaido,
Firefly (actually bought this "2nd hand", i.e. never been played, from one of my friends), and
Twilight Imperium.

Overall a fun experience, although agree with suenstar that the trade area was overcrowded on Saturday, Sunday was a lot quieter.

 

[gradyhawks]

As I always say to people at times like this: wait until you see Spiel. It's vast.

Am off to Spiel this year as a trader, will be my first time going. Been told its on another level entirely in Germany.

Felt the traders were a little over crowded in some areas this year, there were moments when I struggled to get near a vendor to see what they had. I think they could really do with some sort of rule to prevent people just standing around so others can get a chance to browse and purchase something, either that or vendors really need to have a brochure/menu of their stock that you can grab and step a few feet from their table to make space.

As a trader who went last year and this year, it was about twice as busy this year. I had twice the size stand as well and still at times had customers all the way across the front of the stand blocking people out. For the stuff I sell (DnDice.co.uk) the only thing that helps is an even bigger stand and more staff....!

 

[suenstar]

Dice stands often have it harder than most other traders as well.
With books and board games there's the possibility of people standing to one side while they look and think, however with dice you often get people wanting to feel the weight, test roll them and compare to others a lot more to find their favourite.

 

[JeditOjanen]

Am off to Spiel this year as a trader, will be my first time going. Been told its on another level entirely in Germany.

Spiel is vast. Footfall of 180,000 over four days. Which hall will you be in? I'll make a point of stopping by, and if you want to know where some of the decent restaurants are I'll help you out.

 

[gradyhawks]

Not sure which hall yet, only just paid the deposit for the stand.

Might be making up some limited edition "Spiel 2018" stuff as well for the show, Spiel said we can use their logos and stuff for 10% of the profit which seems fair. No idea on how much stock to bring...