UKGE 2017 2-4 June

[GTanny]

Hey,

So the UKGE is just under 3 weeks away and I was wondering if anyone else from OcUK is attending?

It was my first year attending last year and I went with my wife and our 2 daughters (4 & 8 at the time) and it was excellent but due to work schedules I was only able to go on Friday of the 3 days and this was spent mainly in the family section, this year its just me and the wife for all 3 days so we are hoping to get some group gaming done as most of the time its either the 2 of us or games the girls can understand.

 

[gradyhawks]

I'll actually be going there as a trader this time , come visit me! Stand A6, we'll have a mini game of D&D on the go where you can win some dice (we also sell dice..!)

 

[GTanny]

I'll actually be going there as a trader this time , come visit me! Stand A6, we'll have a mini game of D&D on the go where you can win some dice (we also sell dice..!)

Ill be sure to pop along, I'm there for all 3 days so should get chance to visit all the stalls. I have never actually played D&D so I am interested to see what the mini game is.

 

[Minibiker]

If you don't mind me asking,

what goes on at these shows?

Also do you have any links to this please

 

[GTanny]

If you don't mind me asking,

what goes on at these shows?

Also do you have any links to this please

last year was my first year but from what i saw its pretty much a giant hall full of tabletop gaming stuff, this year its 2 halls plus the NEC Hilton (its always been at the Hilton but it has expanded a lot in recent years).

you have a collection of the big stores and a lot of smaller ones normally selling stuff at slightly reduced prices or showing off items you normally wouldn't get to see in person such as top range custom gaming tables or niche apparel there is also a bring and buy where you can apparently get some great purchases but also need to be careful as people have been known to buy an incomplete game on rare occasion, people demoing games they are planning to kickstart/release that they want feedback on or games that are coming out soon.

they have panels of people important to the hobby such as designers, artists or respected reviewers. a few people do cosplay (not to the level of comicon but you do get a small group)

finally you have gaming areas, there is a lot of open gaming areas to just play games, if you have purchased them or just want to try them out you can normally grab a copy and give it a go normally for free. last year they had giant versions of popular games that looked good but i never did play any.

my main aim is to just enjoy playing some games with groups of new people, i tend to just play 2 player games with my wife, and try out a few games before the inevitable purchase if they are good enough, last year was a bit of a rush even though we had plenty of time my wife had a broken coccyx so needed plenty of breaks from being on her feet and 2 young daughters were quite a handful... thankfully the family area was very welcoming and had a selection of great games we all enjoyed.

link to the website: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

 

[ETanny]

I am thinking of popping along

 

[AndyCr15]

I'm there for Saturday and Sunday. My brother and friend are there from Friday. I went last year and was surprised how much I enjoyed it tbh. I think I thought 2 days would be too long, but actually the time flies by...

Spent a lot of money on new games, but not as much as our friend and his wife, who I think spent in the region £300-£400 I think.

 

[Cavallino]

WHat kind of games you bought Andy?

Also, is it somewhere where you can take games you want to sell second hand?

 

[AndyCr15]

I can't even remember now what we bought last year. Star Wars XWing, Splendor... I forget now.

 

[PoD]

I will be there on all weekend.

Me, my wife and son will be there on the Friday from start to finish to play see some of the demo's and maybe buy a few games and then we are back with friends on the Saturday to browse and play some games and I am there with one of my board game newbie friends on the Sunday to play games all day and show him the best of the expo in an attempt to get him into playing more games.

I am not staying overnight, but would be happy to do an OcUK meet in one of the free to play areas and maybe we can all play a game together.
My games of choice to play would be: -

• Mafia De Cuba
• Spyfall 2
• The Resistance: Avalon
• Coup

They are all fairly easy to teach, fun, and relatively quick games that we could play for 30 mins in a few sessions with players dropping in and out as necessary, so if people are delayed or have places to be then it keeps the table cycling.

Anyone think this is a good idea?

 

[dcsarge]

Also, is it somewhere where you can take games you want to sell second hand?

You can sell at the bring Bring and Buy shop but you have to pre-register every thing through an account on the website and then have it scanned in at the start of the show this year. They take a 10% commision for charity. I was planning on trying to sell a few Kickstarters and my friend was selling his SW Armada but we can't go now due to vehicle problems.

 

[Majago]

Would have loved to go to this but we're camping in Devon this weekend so will have to pass. Hopefully next year (but pretty sure I said the same last year)...

 

[suenstar]

I normally go to UKGE to run a couple of roleplay games & promote my club but this year I've got other commitments at a local event.
I'll definitely be back at the show next year, hopefully with my niece & sister... though not sure if I'd be running any games next time if I bring family with me; I might try doing some roleplay as a player for a change for one evening.

 

[swillsy]

I'm going on sat with my partner for the first time - cannot wait and debating whether to have a go at the Catan tourney??

 

[GTanny]

I'll actually be going there as a trader this time , come visit me! Stand A6, we'll have a mini game of D&D on the go where you can win some dice (we also sell dice..!)

Are you opposite A6? Popped today but they didn't sell dice just really nice wooden boxes, are you one of the ones selling the really nice metal dice? If so they are very tempting.

 

[swillsy]

I went on Saturday and couldn't believe how many people were there, it was rammed full of traders and tables everywhere gaming and it was struggle to get to the bigger distributors. I tried a couple of new games and walked away with Boss Monster and Tokaido. Definitely like the look of Yamatai and will be my next purchase. Next year I'll take a few more people and maybe enter a tourney.

 

[AndyCr15]

I would have liked to try Yamatai (the new Days of Wonder) but the tables were always very busy. (Sunday is definitely quieter mind)

As I said in a different thread, our favourite was Tiny Epic Galaxies, but that's sold out everywhere right now. My friends liked Unfair, but my game didn't go well, so I wasn't so taken. We played a Catan based game, Merchants or Europe, which was reasonable. Again, my game didn't go well as we misunderstood some mechanics of things early on.

Some 360 photo's here if anyone wants to see.

 

[PoD]

I was there all weekend and Saturday was definitely the busiest.

I played the new Batman game which is AWESOME

 

[PoD]

I would have liked to try Yamatai (the new Days of Wonder) but the tables were always very busy. (Sunday is definitely quieter mind)

As I said in a different thread, our favourite was Tiny Epic Galaxies, but that's sold out everywhere right now. My friends liked Unfair, but my game didn't go well, so I wasn't so taken. We played a Catan based game, Merchants or Europe, which was reasonable. Again, my game didn't go well as we misunderstood some mechanics of things early on.

Some 360 photo's here if anyone wants to see.

I thought I saw a 3D camera.

I am literally sitting over from you in one of the Thirsty Meeples photos.

 

[AndyCr15]

Ha ha, cool. (Although it's 360, not 3D ) You do feel a bit of a tool standing holding it up, but if you walk about with it, I found it a little motion sickening to watch!