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UK Games Expo 2021 - Convention Report

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

03 Aug 2021

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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UK Games Expo 2021 - Convention Report

The UK Games Expo is all wrapped up for another year now, and my friends and I had a great weekend at the convention. The four of us were a little apprehensive about going to such a large event in the middle of a pandemic, but there were plenty of considerations made by the organisers and by the individual exhibitors to keep everyone safe (more about that a little later). We attended the press preview day on Thursday and we attended on Saturday along with our friends Charlotte and Jordan. We came home with quite a few new additions to our collection, some of which we’ve already had a chance to place since leaving the convention.

The list below is made up of some of our favourite games that we came across during the weekend. This is by no means an extensive list, actually it only makes up a fraction of what was available at the convention. If you want to find out for yourself why not come to next year’s expo, it will be held at the NEC again from 03/06/22 - 05/06/22. Hopefully by then all this COVID stuff will be behind us and things will start to get back to normal.

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

Bedsit Games

One of the main games that I’ve had my eye on this year is Paupers' Ladder, designed and beautifully illustrated by Paul Stapleton. In this game players explore a map full of monsters, treasure and side quests with their trusty bird companion in pursuit of achieving enough virtues to win. There are five virtues including slaying a dragon, amassing gems and completing quests, the first person to achieve three is the winner. The theme draws from old-school RPGs while the gameplay can probably be best described as competitive exploration. I bought myself a copy which came with a free solo gaming expansion named One Lonely Pauper, I’m hoping to get this one to the table very soon. Bedsit Games were also promoting their upcoming expansion The Moon Towers due to be kickstarted for a 2022 release, which adds a further 400 cards to the game, plus 8 new characters and 14 new birds.

https://www.bedsitgames.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/bedsitgames/

Big Punch Studios

I got a chance to get a closer look at Sandwich Masters on Saturday after seeing the game pop up on my instagram feed a little while ago. This is a small box card game that sees players racing to fulfill food orders for sandwiches while taking a few dodgy shortcuts to save on the cost of ingredients. Big Punch Studios were promoting their new Bread Roles expansion too which at the time that I’m writing this has just hit it’s funding goal on Kickstarter. The new expansion adds individual player powers to the game as well as a bunch of new cards, it also takes the maximum player count up to six players. I loved the vibrant colourful artwork, and while I was visiting the booth I could see a game being played and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Click the link below to find out more.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigpunchstudios/sandwic...
https://www.bigpunchstudios.com
https://www.instagram.com/bigpunchstudios/

Board Game: Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition

Black Chantry Productions

Back in the late 90s I had a bit of a Magic: The Gathering addiction, and at the time I remember dabbling in some of Richard Garfield’s other card games including Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. I remember enjoying the fact that the game could be played in groups rather than one on one, with each player attacking the player to their left and defending against the player on their right. Back Chantry were exhibiting Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Fifth Edition, which is by far the best looking iteration of the series, leagues ahead of the ugly cards I used to buy from the Electronic Boutique back in the 90s. I didn’t get a chance to play at the convention but I’d definitely be up for trying it in the near future.

https://www.blackchantry.com
https://www.instagram.com/black_chantry/

Blue Donut Games

Another one of the games that I was eager to find at the convention was Horror in the Library, designed and illustrated by the wonderful Marcus Pullen. This is a chaotic set collection game set in a spooky library that is ever changing shape. Players race to find books while trying to prevent their opponents from doing the same. The library is made up of cardboard tiles, each containing a metal doorknob in the middle, as players can pick them up and turn them at certain points in the game. Horror in the Library will be Kickstarted around autumn along with an expansion which will take the maximum player count up to six. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pre-launch copy of the game so you should see it appear in a future blog post, once I get it played a few times.

https://www.bdgame.uk/about-the-company/
https://www.instagram.com/bdgameuk/

Blue Orange Games

Kingdomino has been one of my favourite Spiel des Jahres winners of recent years, especially when played with two players. I liked the sequel Queendomino even more as it added a little more complexity to the game and I also have the Age of Giants expansion and the roll-and-write spin-off Kingdomino Duel in my collection. Naturally I was always going to be interested in the newest addition to the series Dragomino, which has recently won the Kinderspiel des Jahres. We bought it and we played it at the convention, and all four of us loved it. The game feels fresh but maintains some of the core elements of the original Kingdomino, it’s by far the simplest game in the series so far but that doesn’t take anything away from gameplay. I can’t wait to play this one again.

https://www.blueorangegames.com
https://www.instagram.com/blueorangegames/

Bubblegum Stuff

I stumbled across Plant-Based Riot on Instagram, a small box card game in which players are vying to be the dominant cartel in a gang war, only the gangs are vegetables, fruits and fungi. This is a light hearted set collection game with plenty of mean take-that elements for two to five players. The artwork is hilarious and vibrant, and the game has a real table presence. The game has just gone live on Kickstarter with a standard edition and a fancy-pants deluxe edition. I saw plenty of people playing and enjoying the game at the convention so hopefully it’ll meet its funding goal later this month.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bubblegumstuff/plant-ba...
https://www.instagram.com/plantbasedriot_game/

Board Game: Zambezi: The Expedition Game

Burley Games

Burley Games were back this year with plenty of interesting mostly abstract games. Burley publish two of my favourites in the abstract category, Kamisado and Take it Easy!, as well as the much larger Take It to the Limit! and the Reiner Knizia crossover Take it Higher!. We also got a chance to see one of their none-abstract titles called Zambezi: The Expedition Game, which sees players racing tugboats up the Zambezi river. This one actually came out a few years ago but I hadn’t seen the game before, it looks like an interesting deviation from their normal style.

https://www.burleygames.com/

Catan Studio

The CATAN family seems to get a new version or spin off whenever I visit the UKGE, but this year’s release is a little different. There appears to be a trend over recent years of making big chunky deluxe versions of well-loved games, and CATAN: 3D Edition is one of the best that I’ve seen so far. Every cardboard tile and frame piece has been replaced with a chunky 3D hand painted miniature. The wooden player pieces have been replaced by highly detailed coloured buildings and roads. The set looks incredible and the box is absolutely enormous. I can see this one selling for a small fortune in years to come.

https://www.catanstudio.com
https://www.instagram.com/settlersofcatan/

Dark Frontier Games

I was fortunate enough to get a closer look at a prototype copy of Amass earlier this year and I really like the look of it. Players act as different mining companies competing for resources on a hostile alien planet. Not only must they fight each other off in the pursuit of assets, they also have to deal with alien raiders from the planet itself. The game uses a slightly blocky art style along with an 80s arcade colour palette to really make you feel like you’re in a retro arcade game. Amass will be Kickstarted in the near future so be sure to click the link below to be notified of the launch. I also got a brief chance to see one of their other titles called Outbreak, which has to be the most vibrant post-apocalyptic zombie game I’ve ever seen. Dark Frontier is definitely one to look out for over the next year or so.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dfgames/amass-the-battl...
https://www.instagram.com/darkfrontiergames/

Board Game: Ticket to Ride: Europe – 15th Anniversary

Days of Wonder

I have a pretty large collection of Ticket to Ride games in my collection including the incredibly fancy Ticket to Ride: 10th Anniversary edition, which combines the original base game with its 1910 expansion and replaced the plastic trains for actual train miniatures. I like the look of the 10th Anniversary Edition and it’s great for introducing people to the series, but the North America map is probably my least favourite in the series because it’s too easy to win the game without focussing on tickets due to the large number of five and six routes. Now Days of Wonder have given Ticket to Ride: Europe the same luxury treatment in Ticket to Ride: Europe – 15th Anniversary, which has a new set of train miniatures, oversized board and also contains the Europa 1912 expansion. This allows fans of the series to play a premium edition of a far better game, one which I’ll probably be adding to my collection before they all get snapped up.

https://www.daysofwonder.com/tickettoride/en/europe-annivers...
https://www.instagram.com/daysofwonder/

Devir

I spotted two solo games at the press preview that seemed to be an interesting take on the traditional maze style puzzle. Mazescape: Labýrinthos and Mazescape: Ariadne by Devir each contain a bunch of folded double sided mazes. Players start the game by folding them a certain way and selecting a starting point, then they traverse the maze folding and unfolding the page to reveal different parts of the map as they progress through the game. Each map has a set of levels that require players to collect different icons along the way, and the game can be really quite challenging. I had a little try of the Labyrinthos edition and absolutely loved it. This is a great inexpensive little puzzle game with tons of challenges in each box, it’s probably the most imaginative maze game I’ve ever played.

https://linktr.ee/devirgames
https://www.instagram.com/devirgames/

Dranda Games

At the last (face-to-face) UK Games Expo I got a chance to see an early edition of Solar Storm, a cooperative space survival game in which players are trying to repair a broken spaceship before it gets pulled into the sun’s orbit. I ended up backing it later on Kickstarter and enjoying the game once it arrived. Now Dranda Games return with their new game Solar Sphere, a big sprawling eurogame with a rather innovative dice placement system. The game looks outstanding with some of the best Sci-Fi artwork at this year’s convention. The game will be Kickstarted at some point in September so if you are a fan of Solar Storm, keep an eye on Dranda’s Instagram page for updates.

https://www.instagram.com/drandagames/

Hopwood Games

I’ve been playing with two of Andy Hopwood’s designs recently so I was eager to see what he had in store at this year’s event. Mijnlieff is a superb two player abstract game, especially if you manage to get your hands on the modular board expansion. I managed to get a game of it played too at the Hopwood Games booth. This year Andy was promoting Daring Dustbunnies, this is a card driven race game with a difference. The aim of the game is to attempt to move the fluffball you are secretly supporting to the highest scoring position (closest to the vacuum) when each round ends without being sucked-up. The game appeared to be getting some buzz at the expo and I found out after I left that it had won this year’s Best New Family Game award. I’ve taken a copy home with me so you should see it reviewed on my blog over the coming weeks.

https://www.hopwoodgames.com
https://www.instagram.com/hopwoodgames/

Board Game: Exit: The Game – Advent Calendar: The Mystery of the Ice Cave

KOSMOS

There were some pretty big games at the KOSMOS booth this year. The one that we’re probably the most excited for is Exit: The Game – Advent Calendar: The Mystery of the Ice Cave, I’ve played pretty much every English language Exit game, so the idea of a 24 chapter puzzle to be played daily leading up to Christmas sounds brilliant. We also saw the follow up to last year’s Kennerspiel winner The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, this time the adventure goes under the ocean in The Crew: Mission Deep Sea which appears to add more complexity to the win conditions in each mission. Lastly we saw a roll-and-write spin off to Knizia’s classic in Lost Cities: Roll & Write, which maintains much of the same push-your-luck mechanisms with an interesting dice-driven twist.

https://www.kosmos.de
https://www.instagram.com/kosmos_games/

Libellud

Dixit and Dixit: Odyssey are absolutely two of the best games in my collection to play in a larger group, the latter being one of my only viable 9-12 player games to play at family gatherings. Stella: Dixit Universe is a new game that can be played with your Dixit cards which adds a new twist. Each player observes the 15 Dixit cards and secretly associates these cards with the clue word, marking on their erasable personal slates the cards that they choose. The aim of the game is to try and select the same cards as your opponents, being the only person to select a card can be quite punishing. This one is most certainly going to be added to our collection in the near future, it sounds excellent.

https://www.libellud.com
https://www.instagram.com/libellud/

Board Game: Mini Express: Map Pack 1 – Taiwan & United Kingdom

Moaideas Game Design

Like quite a few of the exhibitors this year, Moaideas Game Design were struck with some misfortune as they couldn’t get their stock over to the expo in time for the convention and could not sell games at their booth this year, but that didn’t stop me from getting a look at their prototype for their new expansion. After having success with Mini Express by Mark Gerrits a new map pack is scheduled for release called Mini Express: Map Pack 1 – Taiwan & United Kingdom. I get a chance to see the UK part of the expansion and took a print-out of the map away with me, click the link below to find out more about the expansion and to find out about their next game Jiangnan: Life of Gentry too.

Jiangnan Landing Page
Map Pack One Landing Page
https://www.instagram.com/moaideasgame/

Queen Games / Chili Island

Queen Games had plenty of games on show at this year's convention alongside their sister company Chili Island, with their first release Color Code. This is a party game in which players associate colours with concepts such as surfing, music and magic. My friends got a chance to play this one and they seemed to enjoy it. I was interested to see their new range of roll-and-write spin offs, because I’d really enjoyed playing Copenhagen: Roll & Write. I saw Escape: Roll & Write and Alhambra: Roll & Write, both of which maintained the theme of their parent game re-imagined into a new genre.

https://new.queen-games.com/en/start/
https://www.instagram.com/real_queengames/

Board Game: A game about WEE WHIMSICAL CREATURES and trying to identify them after someone makes noises.

Stuff By Bez

Although I didn’t get to the Stuff By Bez in time to get one of the 50 copies of A game about WEE WHIMSICAL CREATURES and trying to identify them after someone makes noises., I did get to see the game in action at the press event, and hopefully Bez will do another print run in the future because I loved it. As in previous years there was plenty of activity at the Stuff by Bez booth, and some gorgeous new additions of the “Ell” deck, including one with vibrant bold letters and another with a more organic look, which I believe is being marketed as the deck for Coupell. Annabelle and I have played Coupell in the past, and it’s a great cooperative two player game in which players must work together to make the longest word. If you haven’t got an Ell deck in your collection I would highly recommend getting one, you can play all kinds of games all with the same system of cards, click the links below to find out more.

http://www.stuffbybez.com
https://www.twitch.tv/stuffbybez
https://www.instagram.com/stuffbybez/

Surprised Stare Games Ltd

I have almost every game that Surprised Stare Games Ltd have published so I was eager to visit them at this year’s expo. This year they were exhibiting Lux Aeterna, a solo space survival game by Tony Boydell set either to a time limit or to the Lux Aeterna piece of music itself. Last year saw the follow up to The Cousins' War, with The Ming Voyages and The March of Progress making up parts two and three of the Pocket Campaigns. These were two of my favourites from last year, both combine war game mechanisms with some clever card play to provide an incredible gaming experience. Alan Paull pulled out a prototype for War of the Three Sanchos which will be the fourth part in the series, this time the game accommodates one to three players with every card in the game impacting all three factions. Alan was also kind enough to give me a couple of “1” stickers to make my copy of the Cousins’ War fit with the numbered boxes of the other two games in the series.

http://www.surprisedstaregames.co.uk

Walnut Games

Ukiyo was one of the main games that I was looking out for this year. Players in turn add a card from their hand to a central tableau, which is limited to six symbols in either direction, hoping to achieve the win condition printed on the last card in their hand. We also grabbed a copy of Take The Kingdom, a beautiful card battle game for two to four players in which you are either trying to be the last kingdom standing or the biggest kingdom by the time the last card is played. While we were at the booth we got to look at a prototype for a new game called Zillertal which sees players creating a landscape with overlapping cards. Ian Walton has some great ideas for his designs, he's definitely one to look out for at future conventions.

https://www.walnutgames.co.uk
https://www.walnutgames.co.uk/blog-1

Board Game: Hexapod: The Curious Pastime of Entomology

Wight Hart Games

Another title that I had my eye on this year was Hexapod: The Curious Pastime of Entomology, it’s a theme that I haven’t seen used before and I tend to like small card games with overlapping mechanisms. While I was there I was also drawn in by a card game called Longboat and ended up grabbing a copy of that too, which seems to be a set collection game in which players are building viking longboats to amass loot. We got a first look at a game called Expænd which is due to be Kickstarted later this year. I loved the vivid cyberpunk artwork in this one, it’s certainly one that I’ll be backing when the campaign goes live.

https://wighthartgames.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/wighthartgames/

Self Published Games

There’s always plenty of first time designers self-publishing their designs at the convention, some certainly stood out more than others. D6 Dungeon caught our eye and the four of us ended up playing a game at their booth. Players have a “waffle” in front of them which houses a bunch of dice with different symbols on. Essentially players are trying to create a completely connected dungeon from their perspective of the waffle, as well as collecting enough tools to fight their way through it. The game is for two players, but with two sets you can play with up to four people. We both bought a copy to allow us to play together in the future.

http://www.d6dungeon.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/d6dungeon/

I’m a huge fan of Carrom, so when I saw Carrooka I was instantly drawn in. This is essentially Snooker rules played on a modified circular Carrom board, which is incredibly well produced and even rotates. They’ve had success so far with their design to the point of having a waiting list for new orders. I’d love to add one to my collection in the near future too.

https://carrooka.com
https://www.instagram.com/carrooka/

What Did I Play?

Over the course of the weekend we got a chance to actually play a few games too. I played a full game of Mijnlieff at the Hopwood Games booth with another visitor, who ended up buying a copy shortly afterwards. All four of us played D6 Dungeon and walked away with two copies of the game, and my friends played a round of Color Code while I was chatting to Alan Paull at the Surprised Stare booth. We all took a break from perusing the exhibitors hall for some overpriced food and a game of Dragomino, which was outstanding. After eating we played a five minute game of Ukiyo which was won by Charlotte, then we were joined by fellow BGG blogger Lindsey (BGG user: Linsonix) and her husband John. We chatted about the convention, put the world to rights then played one of their games called Book of the Dead in which players must work together to restore the pages of the Necronomicon under a strict time limit. We beat the game with a minute to spare and made some new friends in the process, hopefully we'll meet again at a future convention.

Lindsey writes the Superfluous Somethings blog, make sure you subscribe if you haven't already: https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/11016

What About The Pandemic?

I certainly wasn’t the only person to be a little apprehensive about attending such a large event in the middle of the pandemic, I have friends who took the decision not to attend this year and I completely understand their reason for doing so. I was impressed with the level of COVID security at the event, but I know that some people have been “pinged” by the COVID app since the event took place. I’d say that roughly three quarters of the attendees were wearing masks, all visitors had to have an NHS COVID pass to attend proving that they had either been fully vaccinated or had received a negative PCR or LFT test just before the event. I’m fully vaccinated but took a test anyway, as we all did, before attending each day. Most of the exhibitors only allowed people to try their games after using alcohol gel on their hands and there were plenty of opportunities to do so dotted around the venue. Only one of my group wasn’t fully vaccinated, however Jordan got a chance to get his second jab at the event with a pop-up vaccination centre located at the event. All things considered I think that the organisers did a great job this year at mitigating the risk of further infections, hopefully by the time next year’s event comes around again life will be a little more back to normal.

My Favourite Prototype - War of the Three Sanchos

The UK Games Expo isn’t just a place to buy and play new games, visitors also get to see prototypes of what is to come in the future. For me the prototype that I was most excited to see was War of the Three Sanchos by David J. Mortimer, soon to be the fourth part of the Pocket Campaign series by Surprised Stare Games. There’s definitely some similarities to The Ming Voyages in that all cards help your opponents also, but this time each card has one primary faction that gets a better action. There’s a new dice combat mechanism which is unlike anything that I’ve played before and it’s brilliant. Alan Paull went through a full round of combat to show me how it plays and I can’t wait to add this one to my collection. I was told that the prototype is pretty much final and that we can expect to see the game hitting Kickstarter in the near future. I’ll make a seperate post about that closer to the time.

My Favourite Game of the Expo - Dragomino

I don’t usually go out of my way to play the winner of the Kinderspiel des Jahres but this year was a little different because it was the next addition to the Kingdomino series. We sat down and played a game of Dragomino and I absolutely fell in love with the game. The tiles look similar to the parent game and there is some correlation with the original drafting mechanism but that's where the similarities end. There are no restrictions to where a tile can be played but for each side that matches colour, players take a coloured token matching the terrain and flip it over. Each terrain has 7 dragons and the rest of the tokens have broken eggs, some terrains have more tokens than others so consequently have a higher chance of finding a dragon, the player with the most dragons at the end of the game wins. It’s simple, short and has the constant excitement of flipping tiles over in the hope of finding another dragon. We all enjoyed playing this one and it was only £16, I’d highly recommend this game for fans of the original.

My Favourite Game by an Independent Publisher - Paupers' Ladder

I’ve grown up playing fantasy themed video games such as Zelda, Final Fantasy and the Elder Scrolls series, then later with role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. So when I first set my eyes on Paupers' Ladder with it’s gorgeous and unique artwork and fantasy theme I was drawn in. After learning about how the game plays I knew that I would have to add this one to my collection. This is essentially a competitive fantasy exploration game with players trying to be the first to achieve three “Virtues” to win the game. There are five different ways to achieve a virtue with players traversing a map, fighting monsters and amassing treasure throughout the game. Much of the gameplay includes traveling to a new location and flipping a card to find out what they encounter. That could be a side quest, treasure, monster or even a dragon. The game looks incredible, it’s one that I can’t wait to get to the table in the near future.

The 2021 UK Games Expo Awards

Best Abstract Game
Judge’s Award: Distrix
People’s Choice: Flash 8

Best Children's Game
Judge’s Award: Micons
People’s Choice: Dragomino

Best Family Game
Judge’s Award: Daring Dustbunnies
People’s Choice: Zombie Teenz Evolution

Best American Style Game
Judge’s Award: Kitara
People’s Choice: Kitara

Best European Style Game
Judge’s Award: Excavation Earth
People’s Choice: Excavation Earth

Best Strategic Board Game
Judge’s Award: Prisma Arena
People’s Choice: Undaunted: North Africa

Best Strategic Card Game
Judge’s Award: Schotten Totten 2
People’s Choice: Imperium: Classics

Best General Card Game
Judge’s Award: Village Green
People’s Choice: Village Green

Best Dice Game
Judge’s Award: Escape the Dark Sector
People’s Choice: Escape the Dark Sector

Best Party Game
Judge’s Award: Inkling
People’s Choice: 50 Clues: The Pendulum of the Dead

Best Expansion
Judge’s Award: Dice Hospital: Community Care
People’s Choice: Stuffed Fables: Oh, Brother!

There are several other awards for categories outside of board gaming, click the link to see the entire list:

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/content/news/award-winners-uk-...

This Year’s Haul

Aqualin - A beautiful little abstract game for two by KOSMOS.
Coral Islands - Two dice games in one box for a fiver, you can’t go wrong with that.
D6 Dungeon - We got a chance to play this and it was fun. Also because our friends bought a copy too, we can combine them and play with four.
Daring Dustbunnies - A card driven race game by Hopwood Games and winner of the best family game at this year’s UKGE awards.
Dragomino - The next addition to the Kingdomino series and our favourite game at the convention.
First Martians: Adventures on the Red Planet - Ignacy Trzewiczek’s kind-of-sequel to the incredibly popular Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, only with a better theme.
Hexapod: The Curious Pastime of Entomology - A tableau building game where players are Entomologists putting together their collection of insects.
Horror in the Library - This is one of fifty pre-launch editions of this light-hearted game, complete with a wonderful sketch by the designer.
Longboat - An interesting set collection card game with some beautiful, vibrant artwork.
MicroMacro: Crime City - This year’s Spiel des Jahres winner, all I know is that it has a huge map inside.
Mini Express Map Pack - Not the expansion itself but a print-out of the new map to try with the base game.
On the Cards - One of the only Surprised Stare Games Ltd titles that I don’t own, plus it was only two quid.
Paupers' Ladder - Probably the game that I wanted most before the convention started. A gorgeous competitive exploration game.
Paupers' Ladder: One Lonely Pauper - A solo expansion that came free with the base game.
Photosynthesis: Under the Moonlight - An expansion to one of our favourite games adding moonlight and woodland creatures.
Take The Kingdom - A card driven battle game by Walnut Games that caught my eye when I visited their booth.
The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls - The card game spin off to one of my all time favourite video games.
Ukiyo - I played this at the convention and I loved it, the whole game is made up of 18 cards.
Viewpoint Reflections - This was £1, I have absolutely no idea what this is.

Thank you for reading, hopefully I’ll see you all at next year’s event

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Tue Aug 3, 2021 3:05 pm

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UK Games Expo 2021 - Preview

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

26 Jul 2021

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

UK Games Expo 2021 - Preview

It’s that time of year again, and this time the biggest UK board game event of the year is going ahead, along with a few changes to make the event more COVID friendly. I’ve been to the convention every year since 2013 and it’s been one of the highlights of my year since I became more committed to the hobby. I was saddened to find out that the 2020 event was cancelled but I completely understood why it couldn’t go ahead.

For those who don’t know, the UK Games Expo is a huge board game convention held once a year at the Birmingham NEC. You can meet your favourite designers and publishers, grab a bargain or three at the bring-and-buy and play some new titles in the open gaming area. I spend most of the year chatting to people online from across the board gaming community and the UK Games Expo gives me a chance to meet those people face to face.

I thought that I would share a few of the things that I’ll be looking out for at the convention. This is by no means an exhaustive list, if you want to find out more click the link below to see a full list of exhibitors:

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

If you intend on attending the event, make sure to read the full COVID guidance, as all adults will need an NHS COVID Pass to enter. Click below to see the full guidelines:

https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/plan/before-the-expo/playwithc...

Bedsit Games 2-344

When we started looking through the exhibitors to this year's expo we found this gorgeous game from Paul Stapleton of Bedsit Games who not only designed the game, but also did the artwork too. A self published title by the name of Paupers' Ladder that sees players undertaking a fantasy adventure along with their trusty bird companions. Bedsit Games will also be demoing their new expansion called Paupers' Ladder: The Moon Towers which adds a huge amount of content to what is already a massive game. I’m looking forward to taking a proper look at Paupers’ Ladder once I get to the convention.

https://www.bedsitgames.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/bedsitgames/

Big Punch Studios 2-919

Sandwich Masters is a fast paced, sandwich themed card game from a couple of years back that sees players combining ingredients while occasionally sneaking in a few bad ingredients to cut costs, hopefully without the health inspectors noticing. They’re back with a new expansion to the game called Sandwich Masters: Bread Roles which adds 10 new oversized roles with individual player powers, and another 260 cards to different parts of the game. The expansion is currently on Kickstarter and is due to finish straight after the expo, so if this sounds like your type of game be sure to click the link below to find out more.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bigpunchstudios/sandwic...
https://www.bigpunchstudios.com
https://www.instagram.com/bigpunchstudios/

Blue Donut Games 2-672

Blue Donut are promoting their new game Horror in the Library which, from looking at the game’s BGG page, was originally shown in prototype form at Essen 2019. This is a horror themed set collection game for up to four players, or up to six with the addition of an expansion. Players are exploring a haunted library made up of a series of randomly placed tiles, which can shift and change as the game progresses. Players compete to collect all the items they need to confront the Horror they have been challenged with by the Mad Professor. Once all components are collected it is a race to the Portal to win the game. You can currently order a limited pre-launch edition of the game to be shipped in August, I get the impression that the game will be launched on Kickstarter at some point in the near future. Either way I’m looking forward to taking a closer look at the game at this year’s expo and maybe playing a round too.

https://www.bdgame.uk/about-the-company/
https://www.instagram.com/bdgameuk/

Coiledspring Games 2-538

Coiled Spring is a UK distributor for some big publishers such as Blue Orange Games, NSV and Schmidt Spiele, so they have loads of great new games this year. As a massive fan of Kingdomino the game that I’ll be looking out for is Dragomino, a follow up that is a little more child friendly and also this year’s Kinderspiel des Jahres winner. If you haven't had a chance to try it yet The Mind is truly one of the most unique card games I've had the pleasure of playing. They’ll also be promoting the expansion to Photosynthesis by the name of Under the Moonlight which adds a new lunar mechanism and some woodland creatures too. Zombie Teenz Evolution is the successor to the incredibly well received Zombie Kidz Evolution, and the two games are compatible with each other. Also they'll be promoting the The Quacks of Quedlinburg: The Alchemists expansion, we have that one in our collection and it's absolutely brilliant.

https://coiledspring.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/coiledspringgames/

Cubiko Games 2-455

Gavin Birnbaum hand makes all of his board games, mostly out of wood and sells them at conventions. We currently have seven in our collection with Cubiko, Carreau and JamSumo regularly making appearances at our games nights. He’s back this year with a new edition of Q.E. including the Digital Reserve Currency expansion which allows the game to be played with up to six players. If you're in the mood for an Olympics tie-in then Gavin has a new title called Velodrome for two-to-four players. There’s a new version of JamSumo which now accommodates up to six players and an early look at a new game called Pass Time. The Cubiko Games booth is always one of my favourites to visit at the UKGE, make sure that you swing by and take a look too.

https://cubiko.webs.com
https://www.instagram.com/cubiko_cat/

Dranda Games 2-417

At the last UKGE in 2019 I got a chance to take a look at an early version of Solar Storm, a cooperative game for up to four players that sees them trying to fix a broken spaceship as it is slowly being pulled in by the Sun’s gravity. I ended up backing the game on Kickstarter and it lived up to my high expectations. Now Dranda Games is back this year with a new game called Solar Sphere and the early pictures look outstanding. This time it is a big sprawling competitive dice placement game with some beautiful artwork. I can’t wait to get a closer look at the game and get a better idea of how it plays.

https://www.drandagames.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/drandagames/

Hopwood Games 2-421

Readers of my blog will know that I’m a big abstract games fan, and one of the best abstracts to enter my collection in recent years is Mijnlieff, which is even better if you can get your hands on the Modular Board expansion. Hopwood Games will be promoting Daring Dustbunnies this year, a card driven race game for two-to-five players with some brilliant artwork. The game is also nominated for the Family Games section of the UKGE awards this year, having played and enjoyed two of Andy Hopwood’s games so far I hope that he takes the award home with him.

https://www.hopwoodgames.com
https://www.instagram.com/hopwoodgames/

Moaideas Game Design 2-411

Moaideas Game Design will be demoing their new expansion to Mini Express by Mark Gerrits, which will include maps for Taiwan and the UK. They’ll be giving away free print-outs of the UK map for people to try at home so if you have a copy of Mini Express, don’t miss your chance to get a free map. There is also a new title called Jiangnan: Life of Gentry which is scheduled for a 2022 release, this is a worker placement & action tile bag building board game about life in Ancient China, that can be played either as a single game or as part of a campaign. The artwork looks beautiful and I like the idea of the game, hopefully I’ll get a chance to see it at the convention. If you want to be notified when the Kickstarters go live click the links below and drop your email addresses on the page.

Jiangnan Landing Page
Map Pack One Landing Page
https://www.instagram.com/moaideasgame/

Stuff By Bez 2-451

Bez aka Bez Shahriari always seems to have something new and interesting to see whenever I’ve met up with them at a convention, and this year is no different. Bez will have a limited number of copies of A game about WEE WHIMSICAL CREATURES and trying to identify them after someone makes noises. for sale, a micro game whose name tells you exactly how the game plays. Bez’s new feature “ELL” deck game this year is Unfinishabell, arguably the most 'hardcore' wordgame out of all the featured ELL deck games so far. you need to work hard to avoid making words and ideally trap your opponent so they can't continue a word without finishing it. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays. The Dice & Ink: A Roll & Write Anthology will be available for the first time at the UKGE which features one of Bez’s games and finally Bez will be teaching people how to play their new “read and write” game named Make a wordsearch. Make sure you swing by to see what they have on offer.

http://www.stuffbybez.com
https://www.instagram.com/stuffbybez/

Surprised Stare Games Ltd 2-202

The Ming Voyages and The March of Progress make up parts two and three of the Pocket Campaigns series, and they're two of the best games to enter my collection last year so I'd highly recommend checking them out. If you missed the Kickstarter campaign for the Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set then don't fear, they'll have some copies for sale alongside Tony Boydell's solo space survival game Lux Aeterna. Alan Paull will be displaying his prototype for a new version of Kingmaker, one that I managed to take a brief look at a few years ago. This year they'll be demoing a prototype for the fourth game in the Pocket Campaigns series called War of the 3 Sanchos by David J. Mortimer, I'd say that it is probably the prototype that I'm most interested in seeing at this year's expo.

http://www.surprisedstaregames.co.uk

Walnut Games 2-350

Walnut Games will be promoting two games this year, both have been made possible by successful Kickstarter campaigns over the last year and both are available to play on Tabletop Simulator if you wish to give them a try. Ukiyo is a fast paced 18 card game for up to four players where cards overlap to create a six-by-six grid of symbols, while trying to complete a set of tasks printed on the cards. Take The Kingdom is a lightweight battle game with a medieval theme for two, three or four players. Ukiyo has a similar style to a few of my favourite games so it's definitely one that I'll be picking up while I'm at the convention.

https://www.walnutgames.co.uk

Thanks for reading. I’ll be at the convention on Thursday evening then all day on Saturday. I’ll be looking for games to write about after the event so if I haven’t mentioned your game already, drop me a message and I’ll be sure to pay you a visit.

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Mon Jul 26, 2021 4:56 pm

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Five Games to Buy at Essen 2019

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

23 Oct 2019

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

Five Games to Buy at Essen 2019

The biggest event in board gaming is back again this weekend and sadly I won’t be there. I had a great time at the event a few years ago (as pictured above) and I’m gutted that I couldn’t get there again this year. Around 1200 game publishers from around the world will be exhibiting their products at the Messe Essen trade fair venue to around 200,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. This year sees a new record of 1500 new games being released, though some of those will have had a few sneak releases at earlier conventions this year. Although I can’t be there this year I thought that I would share with you five games to look out for, though if I had the time I could probably extend this list to 50. I’d buy all five of these games so be sure to look out for them if you’re one of the lucky 200,000.

MegaCity: Oceania - Hub Games (5F112)

We got a chance to see an early version of Megacity at this year’s UK Games Expo and we thought it looked really interesting. The game finds its roots in Jordan Draper's TOKYO JUTAKU, which is a real time dexterity game that sees players stacking geometrical shapes in an effort to meet certain building requirements to score points. Now with co-designer Michael Fox Megacity combines the unique blocks from Draper’s earlier design with a city building eurogame that looks nothing short of sensational. The game is set in the year 2100 just off the Gold Coast in Australia as builders are looking for new ways to solve overpopulation, by building cities (or Megacities) on floating platforms in the sea. This is one of the best looking games at Essen this year with some really original mechanisms and gameplay. I enjoyed playing Michael Fox’s Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr this year, hopefully Megacity will be just as fun to play.

Paranormal Detectives - Lucky Duck Games (4F110)

Lucky Duck Games are back this year with their new title called Paranormal Detectives. Again we had a chance to see an early edition of the game at the UK Games Expo and we liked the idea behind the game. Paranormal Detectives is a deduction party game for two to six players in which one person plays as a ghost and the others as a team of investigators. The ghost has plenty of different ways in which to convey information about their death, while the investigators have two chances to guess how the murder occured. I know that there are a few other games that have the same theme but this one seems as though it has a little more going on mechanically. While you’re visiting Lucky Duck’s booth take some time to check out Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview, it expands upon the base game but adds so much more depth and flavour. Also Jetpack Joyride looks pretty fun too, I’ve seen it pop up on Instagram and it seems to be getting a lot of buzz here on the Geek. I get the feeling that we’re going to be seeing some more great titles from this publisher in the coming years.

Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea - Surprised Stare Games Ltd (4F121)

The third game in Tony Boydell’s Series: Snowdonia Game System family of games sees a full release at this year’s Essen Spiele. The game feels like an advanced version of the original Snowdia, maintaining many of the same mechanisms as the base game while adding extra layers of complexity. The theme of this new release surrounds the Indian tea trade in the 19th century, a theme that flows through all of the game’s gorgeous components and beautiful artwork by Cécile Guinement. If you’re a fan of the original game then this one seems like a no-brainer. I feel like I’ve seen Alubari, or just A Nice Cup of Tea as it was originally titled, at every stage in its development over the last few years so I’m really glad to see the final product go on sale. Tony will also be selling a few copies of the Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set and a new solo space survival game called Lux Aeterna that looks like great fun. It looks like a playable version of Stanley Kubrik’s 2001, it’s definitely a game that I’m going to try and get my hands on after the convention.

1987 Channel Tunnel - Looping Games (5J114)

The theme to this two player game fascinated me when I first came across 1987 and I’m gutted that I missed out on the recent Kiskstarter campaign for the game. Players take the role of Britain and France as they construct the famous Channel Tunnel under the English Channel, and as someone who has used the Eurostar many times I’ve always had an interest in engineering achievement of the enormous tunnel that connects the two countries. This is a worker placement type game where players use stacks of action discs to take their moves, once an action is taken it can’t be used again unless someone wants to use a taller stack of discs so there is a little bit of push-your-luck involved in selecting actions. This is the newest game in the 1900 (Looping Games) series and it looks like great fun. I’ve enjoyed a few of Isra C. and Shei S.’s other designs and this one has really caught my eye, hopefully I’ll be able to find myself a copy after the convention.

Board Game: Terra Mystica: Merchants of the Seas

Terra Mystica: Merchants of the Seas - Feuerland Spiele (4C116)

Okay so my last choice is cheating a little bit because it’s an expansion not a game, but I’m still super excited to add it to my collection. Terra Mystica is an outstanding eurogame with rich layers of mechanisms, twenty factions that all feel very different to play and a variable set up that ensures that the game never becomes stagnant. This new expansion adds new mechanism around shipping and trading, along with different board expansions for the twenty factions included in the base game and the Fire & Ice expansion. Consequently the factions will now feature even more variation as all of the board expansions work slightly differently. Add to this a bunch of extra round / game ending bonus tiles and two new maps to play on and Merchants of the Seas looks to be an essential expansion for any fans of the series.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed my recommendations, if you are attending then please enjoy the weekend. Thank you for reading!

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Wed Oct 23, 2019 12:03 pm

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UK Games Expo 2019 - Convention Report

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

06 Jun 2019

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

UK Games Expo 2019 - Convention Report

Like many British board gamers I spent most of last weekend at at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham for this year’s UK Games Expo. This is the sixth time that I’ve attended the convention and every time it seems to get a little bigger, taking up more space across the NEC site. This year the event took place across Hall’s one, two, three(a) and most of the nearby Hilton Hotel. The weekend is a great chance to meet members of the board game community, to see what is going to be released over the coming months and to buy copious amounts of new (and old) board games.

I had an amazing weekend catching up with old friends and making some new ones along the way. I’ve felt inspired by some of the designers that I’ve met and I have discovered some interesting and novel games. Some games I was anticipating while others were completely new to me. Below is an account of some of the games that I had the fortune to see at the event but it is by no means everything on display there. The only way to really experience the event in full is to turn up, so why not visit the NEC for next year’s Expo. I’ve split the games up into which publisher was displaying them, often these aren’t the original publishers but rather the publishers that handle the UK distribution. If you want to know more about the event then please click on the following link:

www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

Coiledspring Games

Coiledspring and Blue Orange Games had one of the most exciting prototypes this year for Annabelle and I called Kingdomino Duel, a roll and write spin-off of Bruno Cathala's 2016 Spiel des Jahres winner Kingdomino. I had seen an early photo of the game before the expo but now I got a chance to see how the game actually works. It’s a two player game with two different sheets to write on, one for each player and one for the overall game. These are found on either side of each sheet in the game. Four dice are rolled each turn, the first player picks one, the next picks two and the first player gets the one that is left. Then the two dice faces create a domino somewhere on your map signified by colouring in the pattern dictated by the dice. It looks like great fun, I’m super excited to give this one a try. Gamewright also had a dice based follow up of Sushi Go! called Sushi Roll which really did look as good as I imagined. Card drafting has been replaced with cardboard conveyor belts which pass the dice from player to player. We loved the first game in the series and the follow up looks to be well produced and different enough from the original to justify owning both games. Hopefully we’ll add both of these games to our collection in the near future.

www.coiledspring.co.uk

www.blueorangegames.com

www.gamewright.com

Hub Games

I had a good chat with Michael Fox (II), one of the designers involved with the creation of Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr. I was inspired by his philosophy to board game design and his desire to try to create something new. He gave me a run-down of how Holding On came to be and I loved his passion for the game, we have a copy now too so I’m excited to explore the story and experience, be sure to keep an eye on this blog if you want to know what I thought. Another larger game from Hub being previewed at the Expo is MegaCity: Oceania, a chilled out gorgeous looking game which finds its roots in the much less chilled TOKYO JUTAKU and should be released at around September this year. We also saw an innovative little card game called Blank where the rules can change with every played card, and a prototype for a game called Flip Over Frog which looks like a lightweight abstract-family game for two to four players. I really enjoyed Hub games this year, they certainly made a positive impression on us across the weekend.

www.wearehubgames.com

Rogue Artist Creations Ltd.

Every year at the expo we find a charming little game from a local game designer and we end up taking it home with us. Top Hats And Treachery was described by its designer as Downton Abbey meets Gloom, and sees players trying to climb the social ladder in Victorian England. We sat down to a round during the expo and essentially the game has a some set collection, a bit of ‘take that’ and plenty of Blighty themed humour. We enjoyed the game very much, and as well as taking a copy away us we also bagged the ‘Contagion’ expansion which adds diseases to the game and a promo card for Queen Vic and her husband Albert. This was a great little find.

www.Facebook.com/rogueartistcreations

The City of Games

We had no idea that this existed but we stumbled across this charming little game on the Thursday night during the press preview and were instantly drawn to it. Vadoran Gardens looks to be a tile placement game using square cards each with a three-by-three grid of different terrain, along with some great little wooden pieces. The artwork looks different and interesting, and the look of the cards reminds me of one of my favourite drafting games called Honshū. I’ll be keeping an eye out for this novel little game.

www.thecityofkings.com/vadoran-gardens/

Brain Games

Every year at the UK Games expo Brain Games always have a big presence with plenty of games to play at their stand, including the 2017 Kinderspiel des Jahres winner ICECOOL. This year their big release was TEAM3 PINK / TEAM3 GREEN, a ridiculous party game based on the analogy of the three wise monkeys. One player sees a card containing an arrangement of block which they must convey to another player without speaking. That player then describes the design to a third player who can’t see, and must build the design based on the description. The game looks like great fun, Brain Games have a great ever-growing catalogue of family games. The next one on display was Snowman Dice that sees players frantically building a three part snowman with their dice, then they start flicking their dice at the other player’s creations in an effort to destroy their snowmen. A prototype of Iron Forest was on display using the same ‘box in a box’ system as ICECOOL which looked interesting. We also saw two new family games called Pigasus with some hilarious animal crossover artwork and Farm Rescue which has the most amazing Farmer and Wolf miniatures. It’s great to see this publisher going from strength to strength every year at the Expo, I’m always excited to see what they have instore for the convention.

www.publishing.brain-games.com

Rubik’s

I’m a big fan of Rubik’s products and the proud owner of a collection of different sized Rubik’s cubes and various spin offs. This is the first year that I’ve seen Rubik’s showcasing their products at the UK Games Expo and it was great to see. I noticed a leaderboard of times that attendees had completed a 3x3 cube, certainly much faster than my record of 75 seconds.

www.uk.rubiks.com

Paco Ŝako

I’m a big fan of abstract games and my wife has grown up as a Chess fan. Paco Ŝako (Esperanto for peace chess) is a form of chess created to be an expression of peace, friendship and collaboration. The pieces don’t take each other but rather then become couples which can be controlled by either player, the aim of the game being to make a couple with the opposing player’s king piece. The game is really well produced and the pieces look outstanding, they also had some giant pieces at their stand. I’m excited to give this game a try in the near future.

www.pacosako.com

Big Potato Games

Big Potato games have a habit of making the most unusual eye catching packaging for their games, and their year’s releases are no exception. They had a big presence again at this year’s show and did a great job at pulling people in to try their games. 20 Second Showdown is a big group party game that sees players completing tasks in a frantic manner and comes with a patented bizarre looking timer. There’s also a movie themed party game called Blockbuster based on the old video rental shop that gave me so many great memories when I was younger. Big Potato have managed to get into a lot of big retailers over the last few years and seem to be becoming one of the biggest names in party games, it’s always exciting to see their new games.

www.bigpotato.com/gb

Gen42 Games

I’ve been a big fan of Gen42’s abstract games over the last few years, with such titles as Hive, Tatsu and Army of Frogs. This year however there was a prototype for a solo puzzle game called Feed Me which features 40 levels of increasing difficulty. The game got a lot of buzz with plenty of people stopping by the booth to try one of the two prototype copies on display. I own pretty much everything that this publisher has released so I will undoubtedly be adding Feed Me to my collection once it gets a full release.

www.gen42.com

Alley Cat Games

We initially visited the Alley Cat Games booth to get a closer look at Cat Café, however by the time that we arrived the game had sold out and there was a big crowd waiting to play a giant version that the publisher had on display for the expo. The game is very much on my radar but I might have to wait a to get a copy. Instead we had a good look at Chocolate Factory which is available for preorder and is due to reach buyers by around September. Chocolate Factory is a big sprawling eurogame about making chocolate with some interesting mechanisms involving a conveyor belt moving pieces around the factory. I can see this one doing well once it gets its full release, who doesn’t love chocolate?

www.alleycatgames.com

Redwell Games

Another UK game that caught my eye leading up to the Expo was Six Gun Showdown, a quick two player game of shootouts in the Wild West. The game incorporates dice, cards and a ‘QuickDraw’ mechanism that serves to generate tension and guides the players to read their opponent’s actions. When we visited Redwell’s booth in Hall 2 we managed to catch a game in mid flow and it looked like fun. We watched as the two players stood poised like cowboys at noon, finger guns at their hip ready to draw their pistols. The set also comes with six different characters each with their own custom dice, we brought a pre-production copy home with us so we’ll get an opportunity to play the game very soon. The game goes live on Kickstarter on 6/6/19 (at 6pm), quite fitting given the name of the game.

www.redwellgames.com/

www.kickstarter.com/projects/redwellgames/six-gun-showdown/d...

Board Game: Sagrada: The Great Facades – Passion

Floodgate Games

Annabelle and I have enjoyed playing Sagrada a lot over the last year or two, as have many others given its popularity here on the Geek. This year Floodgate Games return with a new expansion for the game called Sagrada: The Great Facades – Passion, which adds new rare glass dice to the game which can act as any colour, more ways to score points relying on symmetry, and some new private objectives based on the use of the rare glass dice. The expansion looks superb, I can’t wait to add it to my base game. We also seen another new title called Bosk with some gorgeous 3D cardboard trees and some wooden coloured leaves. The game looks like it has a medium weight euro feel to it and is due for a full retail release on July 12th.

www.floodgategames.com

Smirk & Laughter Games

Another great looking abstract game that caught my eye this year was SHŌBU, a game consisting of four separate four-by-four boards each containing four stones of each player’s colour. The boards are divided by a rope with players having the ability to manipulate stones on one of two boards on their side of the rope. Players move a stone either one or two spaces on one board then match that move with another of their stones on the opposite color board, pushing an opponent’s stone off the board's edge if possible. The winner is the first player to knock all of the opponents stones from any one of the four boards first. I was excited to see this game and I was really impressed with the quality of the final production. I’m excited to give this one a proper try in the near future.

www.smirkandlaughter.com

Sinister Fish Games

Annabelle had had her eye out for Villagers for a little while after missing out on a recent Kickstarter campaign, and we stumbled across a busy booth in Hall 2 selling the game. This card-drafting engine-building game designed and illustrated by Haakon Gaarder has been getting a lot of buzz lately and I believe that it is the only game at the expo that I had to stand in a queue to buy. We ended up throwing in the Villagers: Kickstarter Expansion Pack containing all the stretch goals and extras, as well as the Villagers Coin Chest which replaces the cardboard coins with a set of wooden ones. Annabelle has been learning the rules to this game since the expo so hopefully it will hit the table very soon.

www.sinisterfish.com

HABA

I love visiting the Haba stand at big events like this as they always have plenty of games on display, people there to show you how their games work and a few giant editions of their games. This year we saw a giant edition of Rhino Hero: Super Battle which had a group of kids enjoying the game, and we got a proper look at Dragon's Breath which won the esteemed Kinderspiel des Jahres last year. There aren’t many companies out there making games with such universal appeal as Haba Games.

www.haba.de/en_GB

Cubiko Games

The marvelous Gavin Birnbaum returns again this year with more handmade wooden games. We currently own five of Gavin’s games so we’re always eager to see what he has on display at the UK Games Expo. Last year we tried an early edition of Paras, and this year the game is back and now includes some gorgeous looking laser cut airplanes; essentially this is a dexterity game with elements of area control and a war theme, it’s simple and very enjoyable to play. We also took a look at another dexterity game called Chopsticks which involved people trying to simultaneously fling as piece of sushi into one and other’s football style goals. Gavin’s designs are simple and charming, and his booth looked busy every time that we walked past. I think that everyone should have at least one Cubiko game in their collection, they’re fun on so many levels.

www.cubiko.webs.com

Gutter Games

My wife and I are partial to the kind of games that can be played after a few sherries, so Gutterhead sounded like great fun before the Expo. Essentially this is a game that is played in teams (of adults) and involves plenty of drawing and some really bad-taste humour. The picture above is my representation of ‘Teabagging’ which was much easier than the previous card that I drew which identified a ‘Golden Shower.’ The game looks like great fun, certainly something that I’d try with my regular gaming group. The next game we looked at was also a group party game but this time a more family friendly title. Egolympics is basically a box full of different objects such cups, balls, chopsticks and dice along with a set of bizarre challenges. In the picture above I’m trying to stack four dice on top of each other while wearing cups over my hands, which I just about managed to do in the time that I was given. Both games were designed by a husband and wife team called Kate and Zak who were great fun to chat to, I’ll be keeping an eye out for their games in the future.

www.gutter-games.com

Surprised Stare Games Ltd

One of the main games that I wanted to look out for at this year’s UK Games Expo was the two player follow up to Snowdonia called Foothills by Tony Boydell and Ben Bateson. I feel like I’ve seen this game at every stage of its development and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the final production, it’s certainly the game that by close friends attending the Expo are looking for this year. I missed getting one of Tony’s first 60 copies that arrived just in time for the Expo, so mine is on it’s way courtesy of Chaos Cards. We also got a chance to look at a prototype for Attention All Shipping which is Tony’s new shipping based eurogame; I’ve enjoyed watching this one develop and become more refined on Tony’s blog and given his track record of making engaging and interesting strategy games I can almost guarantee that this one will be a bit hit.

www.surprisedstaregames.co.uk/

Days of Wonder

Last year saw the release of Ticket to Ride: New York which took all of the mechanisms from Ticket to Ride and shrunk the game into a 10-15 minute experiance for two-to-four players. It was one of the biggest surprises at last year’s convention and quickly became one of my favourites from the series. This year Days of Wonder introduce Ticket to Ride: London which was released on the first day of the expo, this is a similar shortened experience as New York with a more rounded map and a new mechanisms for connecting districts on the game’s board. The artwork is exceptional and the trains have been replaced with little double decker buses. I really hope that this is the direction that the series heads towards, I love the shorter more focussed feel of Ticket to Ride: New York.

www.daysofwonder.com/en/

PSC Games

We visited the PSC Games booth to see their three main releases this year. The next instalment of Richard Borg's Series: Commands & Colors series which is this time set in space. Red Alert: Space Fleet Warfare has a big table presence, some fantastic miniatures and looks like the most visually appealing game in the series. Dávid Turczi was showing off a prototype for his new heavy euro roll-and-write game called Rome & Roll which looks like it'll add something new and exciting to the genre. And finally Martin Wallace attended the event to promote his new game Milito which finds its roots in one of his older titles called Field of Glory: The Card Game. This was probably my favourite game at the booth because it looks like it plays much like many of the two player card games that I enjoy already, and the production looks superb.

www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk

Board&Dice / Strawberry Studio

We didn’t get a good picture of Inuit: The Snow Folk which is a real shame because it’s one of the best looking card games that I’ve come across in recent times, with some amazing artwork by Paulina Wach. The gameplay looks like an interesting take on card drafting and has a fairly simple set of rules, I can see myself looking for a copy sometime soon. Strawberry Studios also shared a booth with Board&Dice and were promoting two new games. The first is Bon Appetit! by Gilad Yarnitzky which is an innovative auction game that comes in a slightly larger box than we’re used to seeing from Strawberry Studio, along with Mount Rushmore by Dennis Kirps which is a party game that can can accommodate up to ten players. It’s great to see Strawberry Studios branching out to larger games, my wife and I own every game that they have published so far but they’ve always been very small and minimal. These two new games have a much bigger table presence.

www.boardanddice.com

www.strawberry.studio

Lucky Duck Games

I’d say that the game that Annabelle and I have enjoyed the most with just the two of us over the last year has been Chronicles of Crime, which is probably the best example of app integration into a board game that I’ve played so far. Essentially this is a cooperative game in which players are trying to solve a mystery, the base game is set in London, the Noir expansion is set in post-war Los Angeles but the second expansion is completely different. Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview is set in the sleepy town of Redview in the 1980s and the murders have been replaced with strange goings on and mysteries, it’s also the most complex game in the series and adds an RPG influenced dice mechanism. The game looks to have a Stranger Things / Goonies / Stephen King style theme and I really can’t wait to play it. We also saw an early version of Paranormal Detectives which looks like great fun with great artwork, this is a deduction party game where one person plays the role of a ghost passing on messages while the others must use deduction to solve a mystery. I’m loving the games that Lucky Duck is putting out at the moment, I can’t wait to see what they come out with next.

www.luckyduckgames.com

Golden Ginty Games Ltd.

I actually stumbled across Canine Kleptomaniacs when flicking through Instagram. IG user k9kleptomaniacs has been posting developing pictures of their game sandwiched between cute pictures of dogs, so we swung by and checked out an early version of their game. Canine Kleptomaniacs is essentially a light card game with set-collection elements and some great artwork. From what I can gather players control a dog hiding their owners possessions around the house for points, the game also has some push-your-luck mechanisms with players getting rewarded for keeping cards in their hands and going for larger sets. The game is due to be Kickstarted in July and I might just have to invest.

www.caninekleptomaniacs.com

Accentuate Games Ltd.

Following the success of FReNeTiC last last year Accentuate Games return with a new title called Rats to Riches designed by Eugene Lim. The game has achieved a really unique and novel look by incorporating the base of the box folded out for form an irregular shaped board. What looks like a game about rats is actually about making money. Players act as a pack of filthy, scheming rats racing to collect $100 first, working their way to a better class of sewer by investing in assets, sabotaging other rats and building their sewer empire. We managed to see the game in action and it looks super fun, I can’t wait to play this one once it gets a full release. They were taking orders to be sent out in late June at the convention so it should be hitting shops in the very near future.

www.accentuategames.com

Board Game: Last Call: The Bartender Game

Wattsalpoag Games

This has been one of my favourite publishers of recent years. I missed out on a copy of Echidna Shuffle last year because they had sold out before I managed to get there, so I was quick to visit this year and bag myself a copy. I now own everything this publisher has ever released and I think that this is the only publisher that I can make that claim about. Pictured above are two of my favourite other games from Wattsalpoag; firstly Claim It! which feel like Can't Stop with area control instead of linear progression, and Last Call: The Bartender Game is a great light-hearted party game about making the perfect cocktail. Kris Gould has such a great approach to game design, and he's a genuinely nice guy, always fun to stop and chat with.

www.wattsalpoag.myshopify.com

Pegasus Spiele

My wife and I have been big fans of games such as Exit, Unlock and Time Stories; so when we heard about Pegasus’ new game series called Undo our interests were piqued. The game starts with a character dying, then players must go back in time and change the course of history in order to prevent their death. We played an example campaign called Undo: Drowned Hopes at their booth and the gameplay feels so fresh, I can’t wait to play the rest of the series. There were three games released at the expo called UNDO: Cherry Blossom Festival, UNDO: Blood in the Gutter and UNDO: Curse from the Past; I plan on playing them all very soon and I anticipate that this series won’t be restricted to just three games. We also had a chance to see a new party game called Nobjects which appears to be a charades variant that sees players giving clues by drawing patterns with their finger, they can’t make clues in any other way and the secret words that get progressively more difficult to convey as players get closer to winning. I can see all of these games being a big hit with my regular gaming group, it’s great to see Pegasus having a bigger presence at this year’s event.

www.pegasus.de/en/news/

MOZI Games

I was drawn in by a preview picture of Horticulture Master before the Expo which looks like it crosses the drafting mechanism of Splendor with the puzzle tetromino fitting-in aspect of Patchwork. Seeing the actual game at the event I noticed the high production value and the robust size of the game, it was much larger than I thought it would be. This is certainly one to keep an eye out for in the future, hopefully it’ll get a decent distribution in the UK market. Mozi had some interesting looking asian games on show, including a card driven game called Let's Drink which comes in a fluffy bunny head. I already own a few small games from this publisher but seeing their larger games made me want to buy a few more.

Stuff By Bez

We love catching up with the always charismatic Bez at conventions who was back with an even bigger booth than last year. I’ve enjoyed their word based game system called Wibbell++ which had a new version this year with a larger more robust box, a splash of colour on the cards and individual rule sheets with illustrations for each of the core games. Bez also had copies of Kitty Cataclysm at the convention which we first tried at last year’s Airecon, we actually received our Kickstarter edition in the post not too long ago from a recent crowdfunding campaign. In addition there was an early copy of Yogi Guru, the follow up to Yogi published by Gigamic with tougher challenges that include the lower half of the body more often. The Stuff by Bez booth looked like a party the whole time that I attended the Expo, it’s great to see so many people enjoying Bez’s amusing and charming games.

www.stuffbybez.com/

White Peak

This robust eye-catching game is an early version of White Peak, which sees players fighting it out to make it to the top of the mountain first. Everyone has equipment to help them along the way or to hinder the progress of their opponents; they must also avoid the Yeti, he is ferocious, he is angry, and he will throw everybody off if he can get close enough. The publisher also had some giant 3D printed versions of the game’s characters which looked excellent. The game is due to be kickstarted at around September of this year and I know that we will certainly be keeping our eye out for this game when the campaign goes live.

www.whitepeakboardgame.com/

Call-to-Mind

Although this is probably the most unorthodox game included in this blog post it holds a special place for Annabelle and I. Call-to-Mind was designed as a way to get people experiencing Dementia to engage in an activity, to start conversations, to stimulate memories and to have fun along the way. In the real world I’m a Registered Mental Health Nurse and I’ve previously worked in Dementia care. I believe that it is the cruelest mental illness that I’ve worked with and to have a board game to alleviate the associate suffering and despair is such a great achievement. In addition the game itself is bold and bright, simple and well produced. The cards have a linen finish which is always a nice touch, especially if you work in a care setting where the game is likely going to be used by lots of people. I’ve been talking to a lot of the other Nurses and Occupational Therapists in my line of work who all seem keen in the idea of the game. If this sounds like it would be of interest to you then please click the following link to find out more.

www.call-to-mind.com

Board Game: Penguin Brawl: Heroes of Pentarctica

Team Custard Kraken

We spotted Penguin Brawl: Heroes of Pentarctica before the Expo and were keen to take a look at it properly at the event after seeing the hilarious artwork. The game appears to be a light hearted Magic: The Gathering style card game that can accommodate up to eight players. On each turn players draw cards from two different piles, either the Penguin deck or the Action deck, and must try to reduce the other player’s life total to Zero. Occasionally a curse card will turn up and affect all of the players at the table, sometimes requiring them to work together before facing each other once more. We brought a copy of the game home with us along with a light party card game called Find the Pickle which looks really quite funny. I’m looking forward to giving both of these games a try with my regular gaming group.

www.teamcustardkraken.shop

Dranda Games

Solar Storm is a cooperative game with an interesting premise. Players are residing on a ship with a broken energy core caused by a solar flare, they must work together to get the ship functioning again and survive the Solar Storm or they’ll perish in the burning abyss. The game can be played solo and contains the most fascinating artwork. The game will be Kickstarted later in the year at around September so if this sounds like your kind of game then be sure to check it out.

www.drandagames.co.uk

BARPIG

We met the very entertaining designers of BARPIG who told us that their game started out as a set of ridiculous challenges and puns written on a napkin in a bar, and later evolved into a pig themed party game for three-to-seven players that is definitely not a drinking game. They return this year with a follow up called BARPIG: After Hours which can be added as an expansion to the original game or can be played as a separate experience. After Hours introduced rival characters for all of those introduced in the first game and a Kickstarter for the game went live on the first day of the convention. With the right group (and the right tipple) I can see this game being great fun, I’ve brought a copy home with me so keep an eye out on my blog for a play in the near future.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/barpig/barpig-after-hours?ref=b...

www.barpig.eu/what-is-barpig/

Czech Games Edition

CGE are back again this year with a prototype for a new word based party game that really caught my eye. Letter Jam is a cooperative game designed by Ondra Skoupý that involves hidden information, with players trying to create words with the cards in front of them each containing one letter. Each card has a QR code printed on it so players have the option of having an app set the initial position of the game up for you. We watched a few people play the game and it looked like great fun, although very different from Codenames it had much the same level of humour and deduction. Letter Jam looked like great fun, like the kind of game that could appeal to non-gamers just as much as heavy strategy gamers. I’m interested to see what impact it has once it gets a full release.

www.czechgames.com

Bandai

I grew up watching mangas and reading animes such as Dragonball Z and Naruto, so when I walked past the stand for Bandai and saw both series in board game form I was more than intrigued. Naruto Boruto Card Game uses an innovative new turn and resource system where the cost of each card shifts a counter in the middle of the board towards the opponent giving them resources, meaning that playing a powerful card might allow your opponent to play two or three mediocre cards in return. The game looks fantastic using the artwork, characters and events from the Naruto anime series. Next up was the Dragon Ball Super Card Game which was nominated for best collectable card game at last year’s Origins convention. I love the Dragon Ball saga but I haven’t had a chance to play this game yet. I’ve brought a couple of booster packs home with me so hopefully I can learn the game and give it a try.

www.bandai.com/cards/

The Happy Puzzle Company

We stumbled across this game at the press event and ended up playing a few rounds with the game’s designer. The Genius Square is a speed puzzle game with a variable set up that plays in just a couple of minutes. The game starts with seven dice being rolled highlighting seven spaces that must be blocked at the start of the round, then players must race to fill the remaining spaces with a matching set of coloured tetrominoes. There was an extra large edition for people to play at the convention and we both enjoyed the game, it reminded me of a less frustrating version of Rubik's Race.

www.happypuzzle.co.uk

Peculiarity

This was another game that caught our eye before the convention had the most hilarious theme and artwork. Sumo Gnomes is exactly what it sounds like, a quick two player game about Gnomes having a Sumo Wrestle on a tree stump arena. They had a giant version on display at the expo that looked amazing, but I’d be happy to play the smaller game. I saw how the game flows and it’s a great design, very simple and clean mechanisms. I’m excited to follow this one until it’s Kickstarter later this year.

http://www.peculiarity.co.uk/

Clever Unicorn Games

We had a chance to catch up with Clever Unicorn Games about their upcoming card game called Weird Alchemy which has the most amazing artwork. We got a chance to play a pre-production copy of the game and found it to be very enjoyable, light-hearted and easy to learn. We took a copy home with us too so you should be seeing it very soon on our blog. We also had a look at One of their other titles called Fractured Galaxy, a 4X epic space game for two-to-five players that sees the playing area slowly grow from a deck of square tiles depicting different scenes in space. This wasn’t my usual taste in gaming but I like the fact that the game looked much simpler than other 4X style games that I’ve played in the past.

www.facebook.com/cleverunicorngames/

Board Game: TIME Stories Revolution: The Hadal Project

Space Cowboys

T.I.M.E Stories has been one of the most talked about, innovative games of the last few years and is my regular gaming group’s favourite game to play. The game has provided us with some of the most exciting game sessions of recent times and each play has left us wanting more. T.I.M.E Stories: Madame is the tenth and final scenario in what will now be considered to be the ‘White Cycle,’ with each expansion requiring players to own the large White base game to play. Space Cowboys had a prototype for the new start of the new ‘Blue Cycle’ also known as TIME Stories Revolution. There will no longer be a need to own a base game with each title having a self contained story to play, this means that they aren’t restricted to the mechanisms in the base game and will be letting go of the original game’s dice. The first two games in this new cycle will be Submerged Atlantis (fan expansion for T.I.M.E Stories) which is the first game to have a fully futuristic Sci-Fi theme, and TIME Stories Revolution: A Midsummer Night which appears to have a more fantasy theme, and possibly a Shakespeare reference? There was also shown a third prototype for a title called TIME Stories: Experience, which is an optional extra used to tie the whole Blue Cycle together into one storyline, including characters that play a part in all of the new stories. Experience isn’t a game in itself but is rather a way to enhance the new series, though you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. The Hadal Project will be released along with Experience in time for this year’s Essen Spiel in October.

www.spacecowboys.fr/our-board-games

Board Game: Catan Histories: Rise of the Inkas

Board Game: Catan: Traveler – Compact Edition

Catan Studio

CATAN is one of the most iconic board games in the industry and 24 years after its initial release it is still going strong with a whole host of different spin-offs, expansions and re-releases. This year’s release is the next in their ‘Histories’ line by the name of Catan Histories: Rise of the Inkas designed by the now father-and-son team of Klaus Teuber and Benjamin Teuber. The game has the most fascinating components and a very different set of rules and win conditions; settlements may end up being reclaimed by nature over time and eventually may be built over by another player. Also this new edition of Catan has a longer, narrower board with jungle on one side and the sea on the other. In addition we caught a glimpse of a new compact version of the original Catan game called Catan: Traveler – Compact Edition which shrinks the whole thing down so that it fits into a tiny folding board. It’s great if you’re a fan of the original game and you want a portable edition.

www.catan.com

Ridley's Games

Annabelle and I spotted two oddly shaped games by Ridley’s the other day in John Lewis but couldn’t figure out much about the games, so we were eager to take a closer look at this year’s convention. The first is Avocado Smash!, a card based Snap variant presented in a rather realistic avocado shaped box. Also the follow up game Peach Snaps which, yes you guessed it, comes in a tasty looking peach and is a different variant on the Snap though slightly more frantic. Both games look like great simple family games with excellent production quality. While we were at the stand we also caught another one of their new games called Selfish: Space Edition which sees players trying to survive by any means necessary, even if that means stealing your opponents oxygen. The game has plenty of funny Sci-Fi references and excellent artwork, I’d love to give it a try in the near future.

www.ridleysgames.co.uk

Wren Games

I read about Wren Games before the convention and a few of their releases looked to be my kind of games, so I was glad to get a closer look at the press preview on the Thursday night. The first was Assembly along with two expansions called Assembly: Glitches and the upcoming Assembly: Re-Sequence & Override; essentially this can be played solo or as a cooperative puzzle style card game. The theme is that a virus has spread on a luxury spacecraft and you with a natural immunity to the disease must find a vaccine before the infection spreads to earth. The gameplay reminds me a of one of the best solo games out there called Onirim which can only be a good thing. We also saw their new game that is currently live on Kickstarter called Sensor Ghosts, which looks to be of a similar style to Assembly but with different mechanisms. Both look like great fun and can be purchased by following the Kickstarter link below, so if this sounds like your kind of game why not take a look at the crowdfunding campaign.

www.wrengames.wordpress.com

www.kickstarter.com/projects/wrengames/sensor-ghosts-and-ass...

Jumbo

Jumbo had some interesting titles on display this year including a new Reiner Knizia game called Forbidden City, a gorgeous tile laying game for two-to-four players that seems to be fairly light weight which is usually the best kind of Knizia game in my experience. We also saw a new edition of Stratego which is one of the original games that got me into the hobby. It’s still very fun to play even if it was designed in 1946, though I would say that Knizia’s Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation did a good job of replacing the game once people have gotten into the hobby. We also stumbled across How to Rob a Bank which looks like a great family-weight one-versus-all game in which one person controls the bank and the guards while all of the other players play as thieves, scheming together and using programming mechanisms to take as much money in the heist as possible. The game looks eye catching and very fun and appears to use the base of the box to enhance the playing area, I’d be up for trying this one in the near future.

www.jumbo.eu/en/

Steve Jackson Games

Like many people here on the Geek my journey into the board gaming hobby included some Steve Jackson Games early on, including Car Wars which will return with its sixth edition later this year. But that wasn’t my the reason for wanting to visit their booth this year. Deadly Doodles is as far as I can gather the first dungeon-crawl roll-and-write crossover, and seeing the game up close I got a good look at the production quality which was excellent. We got a chance to see how the game works and it looks to be at an easily accessible level, while at the same time having enough weight to satisfy hobby gamers. I can see this game being quite a success given the popularity of the genre at the moment, hopefully it will get a decent UK distribution.

www.sjgames.com/

Board Game: 1066, Tears to Many Mothers: The Battle of Hastings

Hall or Nothing Productions

I don’t think that I’ve ever come across a game that has taken as much background research and dedication as 1066, Tears to Many Mothers: The Battle of Hastings which is a card driven game for one or two players about the Battle of Hastings. The game has a Magic: The Gathering feel to it but is self contained in one box rather than collectable. Tristan Hall talked to us about the fact that every character and action in the game is based on a real person or documented event from history, he described reading through the Doomsday Book making notes and changing his game design along the way. In addition the game has excellent artwork and looks like it plays really well, this is another one that I can’t wait to try. He told us that his next game will be 1565: St. Elmo's Pay – The Great Siege of Malta and seems to have just as much passion and enthusiasm embedded into its design. I didn’t know about this publisher before the convention but they’re certainly on my radar now, I’m looking forward to seeing what they come out with next.

www.hallornothingproductions.co.uk

Fantasy Flight Games

My favourite new game last year wasRichard Garfield’s KeyForge: Call of the Archons, which introduced a new model of distribution as well as an outstanding, original two player card game. I’ve bought a load of decks and have introduced the game to my most of my close friends. So naturally when I found out that a follow up set called KeyForge: Age of Ascension containing mostly new cards and some from the first set too I was more than interested, add to that the release date being brought forward to coincide with the UK Games Expo I simply couldn’t weight to get my hands on a copy of the game. Many people missed out on the original starter set for KeyForge due to demand far out-weighing supply, Age of Ascension has a new two-player starter set that comes with all of the tokens that you need along with two decks to play with. I brought some home with me and even managed to find one of the new legacy cards in one deck. This certainly won’t be the last time that I buy cards from the new KeyForge set.

www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/index/

Folded Space

Not a game this time but rather a gaming accessory. Folded Space make great looking game inserts at a refreshingly low price which then need to be assembled after arriving ‘flat-packed’ in the post. We wrote about the 7 Wonders: Folded Space Insert and the Viticulture Essential Edition: Folded Space Insert in this blog post a little while back and not only are they a great way to fit all of your expansions in one box, they’re also useful in keeping tokens tidy when playing big sprawling eurogames. I’m excited to add a few more to my collection, especially one of their upcoming inserts for Altiplano which has so many pieces in the box that it’s pretty much full. I’d highly recommend trying them out if you’re looking into adding inserts to your favourite games.

www.foldedspace.net

The 2019 Haul

Altiplano - We’ve had our eye on this game for a little while but it always seems to have a high price point. Reiner Stockhausen’s follow up to the incredibly popular Orléans is again a bag building game with an elaborate meaty set of rules.
Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea – Hookah Promo Card - This promo card originally featured in the Brettspiel Adventskalender and has managed to predate the release of the Alubari base game, which is due for release later this year.
BARPIG / BARPIG: After Hours (pre-production) - Barpig is a silly party game game with plenty of pig puns. It claims not to be a drinking game but I’m pretty sure that plays best with a drink or two. We also got a pre-production copy of Barpig: Afterhours which can be played as a stand alone game or as an expansion.
The Castles of Burgundy: 9th Expansion – The Team Game - Another expansion found in the Brettspiel Adventskalender, this time a set of alternative player boards for The Castles of Burgundy which are pushed together in pairs to form a team board.
Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview - Welcome to Redview is the second expansion for Chronicles of Crime which sees players taking the role of members of the Redview Mystery Gang, a group of kids living in a seemingly sleepy US town. Players solve enigmas rather than investigate murders, so the game is much more family friendly.
The Cousins' War: Battle of Tewkesbury Promo Card - A promo card with a bunch of symbols on it to add to my copy of The Cousins' War.
Dragon Ball Super Card Game - I came home with a bunch of boosters for this collectable card game. What can I say? I love Dragon Ball Z.
Echidna Shuffle - I missed out on this gorgeous looking game last year so I made sure to grab one this year before it was too late.
Exit: The Game – The Catacombs of Horror - We’ve played every game in the series so far, and this one is a little different containing two chapters, a larger box and a candle?
Farm Rescue - Another great looking family game from Brain Games, one that can also be played as a solo game.
Find the Pickle - A silly party game from Team Custard Kraken along with some promo cards, one that looks suspiciously like Pickle Rick.
Forbidden City - A family weight tile laying game from Reiner Knizia, probably one of the best looking games that we’re bringing home this year.
Fruit Ninja: Combo Party - A party game with a bit of speed and plenty of humour based on the original iPhone game. Looks like great fun.
Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr - One of the most innovative and interesting games that I’ve encountered in recent years. I really can’t wait to try this one.
Kang - A beautiful abstract game from Blue Orange games with a Kangaroo theme found in the bring-and-buy this year.
KeyForge: Age of Ascension - I love KeyForge, more of the same please. Now with a realistic chance of finding a starter set.
Mondo - I wanted this interesting game when it was first released and I was fortunate enough to find a copy at this year’s bring-and-buy for pretty cheap.
Nobjects - A new party game about drawing invisible pictures with your fingers. It sounds odd but I love the premise and I can’t wait to play it.
Penguin Brawl: Heroes of Pentarctica - A Magic Style card game for up to eight player with a great theme, artwork and some promo cards thrown in for good measure.
Pigasus - Another fun looking family weight game from Brain games, this time with funny half-and-half animals and a squeaky pig. It looks like great simple fun.
Six Gun Showdown (pre-production) - A fantastic looking cowboy shootout game for two players with some great cards and dice, as well as some asymmetric player powers and six different characters to play with.
Snowdonia: Share and Share Alike / 18XX Train - Not one, not two but five of these beautiful promo cards for the rather fantastic Snowdonia. Thank you as always Tony.
Ticket to Ride: London - The second small box compact version in the series, this time with a better city. New York is followed by London with some new mechanisms and some excellent artwork.
Top Hats And Treachery - We sat down to a game and ended up taking one home with us. Simple light hearted fun. Plus we have a bunch of promo cards to add to our set.
UNDO: Cherry Blossom Festival - Our first but probably not our last Undo title from Pegasus’ innovative new series. Can’t wait to try this.
Villagers - Not including the bring-and-buy this is the only game that I had to queue up for. We bought the base game along with the Kickstarter expansion and a chest of wooden coins.
Weird Alchemy (pre-production) - An interesting looking card game with some outstanding artwork for up to six players. I’m looking forward to giving this one a try.

Our Favourites from 2019

Best game of the Show - Ticket to Ride: London

Annabelle’s Favourite - Villagers

Allen’s Favourite - Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr

Best Expansion - Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview

Most Anticipated Game - Submerged Atlantis (fan expansion for T.I.M.E Stories)

We had such an amazing time at this year’s expo. Thank you to everyone who gave us the time to go through their games, to everyone inventing new games and to everyone who made the event possible. I get so much enjoyment from writing my blog and chatting to members of the gaming community, so thank you for reading. Hopefully I’ve convinced you to attend next year’s convention.

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Fri Jun 7, 2019 1:12 am

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UK Games Expo 2019 - Preview Part Two

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

28 May 2019

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

Read my blog

UK Games Expo 2019 - Preview Part Two

This is a follow up post to my original UK Games Expo Preview Post. I spoke about a ton of games being displayed at this year’s convention and because of the sheer amount of games appearing in 2019 I forgot to mention a few, or I made an error or two along the way. So I thought that I would add a ‘Part Two’ rather than start pulling apart the original post. Again there are many more games at the Expo than I plan to talk about in my blog, I’m simply talking about the ones that appeal to me most. If your game is not listed in either post then please drop me a message here on the Geek and I’ll be happy to swing by and take a look at your game over the course of the weekend. If you wish to know more about the event then please click the following link:

www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

Without further ado here are the games that I forgot to discuss on the last post, or the games that I wish to say a little more about.

Golden Ginty Games Ltd. 1-521

Canine Kleptomaniacs - I’ve been following this guys on Instagram. They tend to post a combination of pictures of their developing game and pictures of their gorgeous dogs. This promises to be a light hearted, all-ages card game that mixes set collection, trading and take-that gameplay with pooch related silliness and skullduggery. The game looks like great fun with plenty of dog puns and cute illustrations.They’ll have a prototype at the event that I’m looking forward to trying, hopefully we’ll see a full game in the near future too.

Black Box Adventures 1-693

Itchy Monkey - Itchy Monkey is a great looking game with an unusual premise. Players control Phthiraptera also known as the common louse or head lice living amongst the monkeys in the jungle. The aim is to infest as many monkeys as possible with several different paths to victory. The art style is really eye-catching and the gameplay looks like great, it also has an expansion called Itchy Monkey: Licence to Kill which introduces new species of lice and a new gamemode where players control the monkeys trying to rid themselves of their unwanted lice.

Coiledspring Games 1-960

Kingdomino Duel - Since posting my original post on Monday where I had almost no information about Kingdomino Duel Coiled Spring have put out a press release about this roll-and-write spin off from Kingdomino. Above is a copied and pasted image from the press release. I know that there will only be a prototype at the convention but this is one of the main games that I’m looking forward to seeing at the expo.

Gen42 Games 1-1027

VektoRace - VektoRace is a racing car simulation based on a vector movement concept called "Octagon System". The game requires only a flat surface to be played so you won't find a game board inside. The pieces to this game look outstanding, plus I’m yet to play a Gen 42 game that I haven’t loved. They will also be showing off the Feed Me prototype, which is a single player puzzle game with 40 levels of increasing difficulty. It’s great to see Gen 42 branching out into new avenues, I own pretty much everything that they have ever released so I’m always happy to see them releasing new games.

One Free Elephant 2-310

Microbrew - I mentioned in my original post that Microbrew comes in a tiny mint tin. It turns out that the mint tin version was released for a competition in 2017, and that there will be a new edition for 2019 at the convention. I’m excited to see what has changed between the two editions, the premise for the game looks right up my street.

Czech Games Edition 2-418

Letter Jam - Letter Jam is a new two-to-six player cooperative word game designed by Ondra Skoupý with some really novel ideas. Each card has a QR code printed on it so the game relies on the involvement of a mobile phone app to set the initial card positions. This one has that minimal but engrossing look that CGE have accomplished so much with their recent releases, hopefully this one will be as fun as it looks. Letter Jam is due for release this summer.

Sanctum - The next game from CGE is a much larger and more elaborate game. Sanctum is an epic adventure game for two-to-four players that's inspired by the hack and slash genre of video games converted into a modern board game. This is a big box game containing cards, dice and miniatures and is set for release this Autumn. I’m not 100% sure whether this is going to feature at this year’s Expo, but I hoped that it does make an appearance.

Paco Ŝako 2-491

Paco Ŝako - Fans of my blog will know that I’m a big fan of abstract games and this one looks like great fun. Paco Ŝako is Esperanto for peace chess and has to be the most interesting Chess variant that I’ve come across. Instead of taking each other off the board the black and white pieces will instead merge into one space, there to be controlled by either player and described as a union. Unions can change over the course of the game and the winner is the first player to create a union with the opposing king. It sounds like a great idea and the pieces look amazing, I can’t wait to try this one.

Medusa Games 2-665

Magnificent Flying Machines - The final game on the list is designed by the UK Games Expo’s very own co-organiser Richard Denning along with Matthew Comben. This game takes inspiration from the great air races of around 1908 to 1913 which took place in the pioneering era of air travel. The game accommodates up to four players and has an outstanding production as well as some gorgeous artwork. Medusa have a habit of making eye catching, will produced games, and Magnificent Flying Machines looks like it is no exception.

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Wed May 29, 2019 12:14 am

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UK Games Expo 2019 - Preview

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

26 May 2019

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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UK Games Expo 2019 - Preview

The UK Games Expo is the largest board game convention in my home country and it’s set to be bigger than ever this year. It takes place at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham with some additional events at the nearby Hilton Hotel. This will be my Sixth year at the expo and I’ve loved every event so far, it’s a great place to learn about new games, to meet your favourite board game designers and publishers, and to meet members of the board gaming community. There are board gaming seminars from prominent members of the board game community this year too, please click the link below if you want to learn more about the event.

www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

I present to you my preview list for the 2019 Expo. I should point out that many more games than the ones mentioned below will be presented at this year’s event, I’ve simply discussed the ones that interested me the most. I’ve included the location number next to each game to help you find the games that you want to see. When you arrive at the event you should receive a programme on arrival containing a map that will explain how the location numbers work. The order of the games below is that the booths closest to the entrance are listed first. Also if you want to catch up at the event then please drop me a message and let me know, I’ll be there for the majority of the weekend.

Update: Some games we’re missed from the original list or needed updating, so I made a Part Two to this post. Please click the following link if you want to know more:

Part Two

MOZI Games 1-174

Horticulture Master - I’ve seen some great looking games from this Taiwanese publisher recently but Horticulture Master looks like the best game that they will have on display this year. It looks to be somewhere between Splendor and Patchwork as players will be managing resources and buying tetrominoes in an effort to fill their player board. They have plenty of other interesting looking games too so be sure to take a look at their booth this year.

Peculiarity 1-214

Sumo Gnomes - There’s something about the idea of a Sumo Gnome that appeals to me. The Gnomes fight on a Tree Stump Arena Using custom dice to move, push, spin and trick their way around the stump, looking for that crucial advantage they'll need to push their opponent off and claim victory. There will be a limited pre-release run at the expo with plans for a full Kickstarter campaign to follow later in the year.

Gutter Games 1-240

Gutterhead - Gutterhead is a party game for 4-16 players that combines drawing with black humour. Quite often games that allow players to draw tend to descend into offensive illustrations with my friends and family, but Gutterhead actively encourages players to do so. It has the everyone-submits-an-answer feel of Cards Against Humanity without the overly prescriptive fixed set of answers. I like the sound of it, hopefully it’ll be fun to play.

PSC Games 1-252

Rome & Roll - I couldn’t find a proper image for this game because it is still very much in prototype. Rome and Roll by Nick Shaw and Dávid Turczi is a heavy roll-and-write game with asymmetric player powers and plenty of player interaction. It sounds fantastic, I’m really looking forward to seeing this one at the Expo.

Milito - Milito is a card driven, diceless wargame by Martin Wallace that sees players managing a hand of cards each representing a different army unit, and playing them across a battle line along the centre of the table. This two player only game is similar to one of Wallace’s earlier games called Field of Glory: The Card Game.

Board Game: Red Alert: Space Fleet Warfare

Red Alert: Space Fleet Warfare - This huge miniatures game is the next title in the Series: Commands & Colors series by Richard Borg. This two to six player game is set in space and comes with a ton of plastic miniatures. Fans of the series will note some similarities in the way the board is set out and the way in which actions are taken. I hope that PSC have a copy out on display, the pictures that I’ve seen so far look marvelous.

Dranda Games 1-297

Solar Storm - I love the theme to this game. You are crew members are on board a ship that has had its energy core taken out by solar flares. Even worse, the ship is caught in the sun’s gravitational pull which is causing even more damage. Players must repair the ship if they want to survive. This is a cooperative card driven game with excellent artwork due to be Kickstarted in September.

Team Custard Kraken 1-377

Penguin Brawl: Heroes of Pentarctica - As soon as I saw the amazing artwork and the humour with this game I was drawn in. Team Custard Kraken, who are made up of two blokes and a dream, describe the game as a fast paced action card game about penguins, deception and the thrill of glorious battle! The looks like great fun, I’m excited to give this one a try; plus penguins are always a good selling point.

Big Potato Games 1-382

20 Second Showdown - Big Potato are back with some more light hearted party games. The first sees five to twenty players split into teams and complete a series of ridiculous challenges against the clock. Once you have done a challenge you flip the timer over and read aloud the next challenge for the opposite team. It looks like it might be great fun, maybe more so after a few sherries.

Blockbuster - Nope, not the old game show with Bob Holness but something even more nostalgic. Does anyone remember Blockbuster video? This super simple movie themed party game sees players trying to be the first to collect a movie from all eight genres by completing a set of challenges. To add to the game’s charm the whole thing is presented in an old plastic VHS case, Big Potato have a habit of making excellent boxes for their games.

Rogue Artist Creations Ltd. 1-458

Top Hats And Treachery - This card game for two to six players is a tongue-in-cheek storytelling game about climbing the social ladder in Victorian times. The game has a rich theme, some great illustrations and plenty of humour. The publisher also states that they have a free print-and-play expansion with another 400 cards, and some Top Hat cookies and dressing up selfies at their booth to help draw the crowds in.

Board&Dice 1-506

Inuit: The Snow Folk - I’ve enjoyed plenty of other titles by Board&Dice in the past, so when I saw the gorgeous presentation of Inuit: the Snow Folk I was immediately interested. This is a card game for two to four players which involves card drafting and hand management. It reimplements Natives with a new theme and some beautiful artwork by Paulina Wach. This is one of the main games that I would like to try at this year’s expo, it looks tremendous.

Strawberry Studio 1-506

Mount Rushmore - Mount Rushmore is a fast paced party game for up to ten players. It describes itself as a mind-bending game of keen eye and swift reflexes. Can you spot two identical versions of Mount Rushmore? Can you be the first to correctly point to it? It looks like a great family weight game and like many others from the publisher it contains artwork by the superbly talented Magdalena Markowska.

Board Game: Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky

Renegade Game Studios 1-514

Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky - I had the pleasure of trying Lanterns: The Harvest Festival for the first time recently and loved the game. Now the series is back as a roll-and-write game that comes with a set of polyominoes containing similar artwork and design to the original game. This looks like it adds something new to the genre with a large pad, plenty of components in the box and some novel mechanisms. I’m quite looking forward to seeing this one in more detail at the expo.

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White Peak - This was one of the first games that caught our eye this year after stumbling across it on Instagram. Players are racing to get to the top of the mountain first while finding ways to impede others from doing so. The game combines grid movement, a modular board, some dice rolling, card management, and of course some gorgeous miniatures. I love the 3D board and the theme, the game is set to be Kickstarted soon so keep an eye out for it.

WizKids (I) 1-523

Bumúntú - Bumúntú is a lightweight strategy game based on the culture and folklore of the Bakongo tribes. The game has that part abstract part eurogame flavour that I’m quite fond of, it’s a bit of a sweet spot for me in game design. Bumúntú looks amazing with it’s modular board, excellent artwork and large player screens; I’m excited to see the real thing at the Expo.

Cubiko Games 1-557

Paras - Cubiko is always one of my favourite publishers to visit at the Expo. I had the pleasure of trying an early copy of Paras at last years convention and loved playing it. The game combines area control and war with dexterity and plenty of light hearted humour. Gavin is always happy to show you how to play his games so be sure to swing by and take a look. This game is now live on Kickstarter at the following link:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/570650480/paras?ref=bggforums

Chopsticks - We saw people playing this game last year and it looked like great fun. Player compete to launch a piece of sushi into their opponents goal using a chopstick. Each round starts with both players touching either side of the piece of sushi with their chopsticks, and each round looks like it uses a different shaped piece of sushi also. Gavin’s games are approachable, fun and they’re often quite silly. I think that everyone should have at least one Cubiko game in their collection.

Accentuate Games Ltd. 1-578

Rats to Riches - Following from the success of FReNeTiC at last year’s expo Accentuate return this year with Rats to Riches, a financial game about scheming rats. I like the fact that they’ve used the base of the box folds out into an irregular shaped board, it gives the game a pretty unique look. Their games have been pretty creative so far so I’m looking forward to seeing how this one actually plays.

2Tomatoes Games 1-592

New Corp Order - New Corp Order was successfully Kickstarted last year and is being presented by 2tomatoes games at this year’s convention. The game has some gorgeous artwork by Heiko Günther and a great futuristic late-stage-capitalism feel to it. This is a euro style game for up to four players and will also accommodate solo play, which is always a good selling point for me.

Vae Victis - 2tomatoes will also being displaying their new game Vae Victus. I don’t know too much about the game at this stage, only that it is a semi-cooperative titles for up to six players with a push-your-luck element to it. The game also has a solo mode and I’m sure we’ll learn more once the Kickstarter campaign goes live later this year.

Board Game: Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview

Lucky Duck Games 1-628

Chronicles of Crime: Welcome to Redview - My wife and I have had a great time playing Chronicles of Crime this year. The game hits so many sweet spots and works really well with two players. Welcome to Redview is a family friendly expansion. This means that there are no murders, instead strange things are happening in a small town in Maine USA in the 80s. It sounds like a playable Stephen King novel and I can’t wait to try it.

Jetpack Joyride - I have fond memories of playing Jetpack Joyride as a mobile phone game, now Lucky Duck have now remade the franchise as a board game. Described as a real-time competitive puzzle game for one to four players early pictures of the game look true to the original app. I’ve already heard good things about this game, hopefully I’ll get a chance to give it a go this year.

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BARPIG: After Hours - Following their 2017 release the Barpig team are back with a new sequel which doubles up as an expansion. This is a game with plenty of alcohol related puns set in a high fantasy world, it looks like a fun game and it accommodates up to seven players. A Kickstarter campaign is due to commence on 31/5/19 which is the first day of the UK Games Expo, hopefully they will successfully get their funding.

Catan Studio 1-702

Catan Histories: Rise of the Inkas - The next instalment of the CATAN series will be on display at this year’s expo. This time the board is longer and narrower than the original, with jungle on one side and the sea on the other. Nature can reclaim settlements already built and the game comes with some gorgeously detailed pieces rather than the usual minimalistic eurogame shapes. If you’re a fan of the series and want to try something new then make sure you take a look at Rise of the Inkas.

Jumbo 1-783

Forbidden City - I’m a big fan of Reiner Knizia, especially his more family weighted games so this one caught my eye straight away. The game is a rethemed reimplented version of Mise: Kolonizace with some amazing artwork and components. It is essentially a tile laying game for two to four players with some innovative Knizia style scoring. This is one to look out for if you’re a Knizia fan.

Steve Jackson Games 1-864

Deadly Doodles - Deadly Doodles provides an unusual combination of mechanisms and appears to be quite original. It’s a draw-and-draw game meaning that players turn over a card and draw the appropriate instruction on their individual score sheet; but the score sheet depicts a dungeon in which you will be plundering for treasure, fighting monsters and maybe defeat the dragon at the end. It looks like it would be great light hearted fun, plus it can accommodate a solo game too.

Atlas Games 1-864

Godsforge - This interesting card and dice game for two to four players sees them roll, re-roll, group, and combine dice to cast spells and summon creations. Players always attack to the left preventing king-making and ensuring a balanced game. The game received plenty of praise at the 2019 GAMA trade show and looks like great fun to play, it seems pretty lightweight and accessible so it should do will at this year’s show.

Repos Production 1-864

Just One - I saw an early copy of this game at last year’s UK Games Expo, now the game returns after being released fully and after being nominated for this year’s Spiel des Jahres. Just One is a cooperative party game in which you play together to discover as many mystery words as possible. Players must find the best clues to help their teammates, however every clue must be unique otherwise they will be cancelled. This one looks like the kind of game that I enjoy playing with my regular gaming group, I’m excited to give it a try this year.

Wise Wizard Games 1-864

Sorcerer - I’ve been a big fan of some of the other games that White Wizard have put out but their games are often quite compact. Sorcerer looks like a much grander game with a big table presence. The game is card driven and has some excellent artwork, it looks like a weighty experience with plenty of strategic depth. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to play it at this year’s Expo.

Wattsalpoag Games 1-928

Echidna Shuffle - The game’s designer Kris Gould brought some copies of Echidna Shuffle last year’s convention but sold out on the first day. I love Kris’ designs so I was a bit gutted to miss out on this title last year. Over the previous year this gorgeous little game has won a Major Fun award and is nominated for best family game at this year’s Origins convention. You Should take a look at WATTSALPOAG’s stand, they often do some great deals for their games at conventions.

Alley Cat Games 1-936

Cat Café - I’m quite fond of a good cat theming in a game and this game exploits my love for the theme very well. Players must entice cats by literally drawing toys for the cats to play with. Place the toys in the most favourable way possible and you win by attracting the most cats. What could be better than that? Alley cat games will have a pre-release run of around 150 copies so be sure to get a copy promptly if you want one.

Brain Games 1-940

TEAM3 PINK / TEAM3 GREEN - Brain Games always have a big release for the UK Games Expo and 2019 is no exception. Team3 is played in teams of three, one player can’t speak and is the only one who gets to see the blueprint card, the middle player must interpret the clues from the player who can’t speak to a third player who can’t see, who will then go on to build a structure based on their instructions blindly. This three wise monkeys themed game comes in Green and Pink editions, each comes with its own set of blueprints and a mini expansion. It’s one of the main titles that I wish to play this year.

Pigasus - The next release from Brain games is a hilarious little card game called Pigasus. Every card has two mismatched animal halves, the game is fast paced as players look for two matching halves across two cards. The illustrations by Reinis Pētersons really make this game, I can’t wait to give it a try and to see it properly at the event.

Coiledspring Games 1-960

Kingdomino Duel - I can’t find any information about this game other than the image above. Also it doesn’t have a BGG profile yet. Looking at the image the game appears to be a roll-and-write variant based on the little sign in front of the prototype. If the game is half as good as the original then it will be worth a play. There will be a prototype at the show for attendees to take a look at, hopefully the release will be in the near future.

Sushi Roll - This is a dice based sequel to Sushi Go! using all of the same characters and theming. I loved the original game so Sushi Roll caught my interest straight away. The game comes with a bunch of custom dice containing the sushi characters and they look amazing. This is one of the main titles that I’m looking out for this year, hopefully the game will live up its predecessor.

Hall or Nothing Productions 1-1016

1066, Tears to Many Mothers: The Battle of Hastings - This has to be one of the best looking card games that I’ve come across in recent times. Described as a non-collectable Magic: the Gathering style tactical card game players will take the role of either the Normans or Saxons at the battle of hastings, and to add to the richness of the theme all cards are based on real people or events from the time. 1066 has since been nominated for a Golden Geek and an Origins award so this is definitely a game to look out for.

Days of Wonder 1-1102

Ticket to Ride: London - Following the success of Ticket to Ride: New York at last year’s Expo Days of Wonder are back with another compact shortened edition of the franchise. The game plays in around 15 minutes but still provides the same enjoyment and strategic experience as the larger titles and has some new mechanisms thrown in for good measure. This is a must-buy for any fans of the series, including me.

Stuff By Bez 1-T3

Wibbell++ - The amazing Bez is back this year with a deluxe edition of Wibbell++ with a fancier box, better explained rules, a splash of colour, and a few minor updates. This is a game system rather than a single game with each card containing two letters, a number and a pattern. Most of the games have a party feel to them but there really is something for everyone in this box.

Kitty Cataclysm - The last time that Annabelle and I caught up with Bez they were getting as many people as possible to draw pictures of cats to celebrate this game. We ended up Kickstarting Kitty Cataclysm shortly afterwards. This is a pretty light hearted cat themed card game with plenty of great puns thrown in for good measure.

Yogi Guru - The follow up to Yogi which is a reimplementation of In a Bind. The game idea is that players take turns to take a card from a deck with an instruction such as ‘card touching left ear’ or ‘upper teeth showing,’ and they must maintain the instructions while taking more and more cards from the deck. Yogi Guru adds more challenging experience and will generally force more contortion, plus the new cards look fantastic.

Bez will also be doing the following talks:

12 noon Friday is 'Making a Gaming Sytem'
www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/game.php?id=PUB5194

11am Saturday is 'BG Design 101'
www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/game.php?id=PUB5193

Surprised Stare Games Ltd 1-T5

Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea - Alubari is a follow up to one of my all time favourite eurogames called Snowdonia. The game’s theme revolves around the tea trade in india and features some amazing artwork. I love how the box cover uses tea leaves to represent the steam coming from a train. In addition Matagot will be publishing the game so I’m expecting the production to be off the charts. The game will be available for people to play at this year’s expo but the release won’t be until later in the year in time for Essen.

Attention All Shipping - Fan’s of Tony Boydell’s blog will have watched the development of Attention All Shipping over recent months, this is a game about fishing in the treacherous seas surrounding the UK and Ireland. The game will be in prototype form along with Fweeep! and Off the Rails, there’s always something new to try at the Surprised Stare stand so they’re often a good publisher to spend time with when visiting the convention.

Foothills - Another game in the Snowdonia Universe, this time for two players only made with codesigner Ben Bateson (be sure to check out Ben's Blog, and Tony's Blog for that matter). I’ve seen Foothills at various stages of its development, now the game has been picked up Lookout Games and features artwork by the marvellous Klemens Franz. Hopefully Tony will have some copies for sale, if he does I’ll certainly want to buy a copy for my collection.

Holy Grail Games 1-T11

Museum - It was Museum’s superb presentation that first caught my attention. The game features over 300 illustrations by Vincent Dutrait along with some excellent miniatures, boards and booklets. Following its successful Kickstarter campaign last year the game is now available for general release so be sure to swing by and take a look.

Pegasus Spiele 2-204

Series: Undo (Pegasus Spiele) - There will be three games to start with in the Undo series named UNDO: Cherry Blossom Festival, UNDO: Blood in the Gutter and UNDO: Curse from the Past. In each installment of this innovative new game series players will experience a unique story, starting at the tragic death of the protagonist of the story. Players will travel through the history of that person and try to change the past in order to create a new future and prevent the death from ever happening. Each decision can influence the outcome of the the story. But not every change will make things better for the protagonist. This does sound quite brilliant, I’ve enjoyed so many like this over the last few years so I can’t wait to give it a play.

Nobjects - Another Pegasus game that caught my eye this year was an interesting little party game for three to six players. I’ve played plenty of games over the years that involve a player drawing and others guessing but never one that involves drawing with your finger. I can see this one being pretty funny with the right group of people (and the right beverage in your glass). It’s always a pleasure to see Pegasus’ games at the expo, they’re often one of the best publishers at demonstrating their games..

Board Game: Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr

Hub Games 2-211

Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr - I love it when designers break boundaries around theming in their designs. Holding On is a co-operative game where players work as nursing staff tasked with providing care for the terminally ill. They must work together to provide Billy with appropriate care, responding to medical emergencies while gaining his trust and piecing together his troubled past. The game is played over a series of episodes and as a Registered Nurse myself it sounds like my kind of game.

MegaCity: Oceania - The next title from Hub Games is MegaCity: Oceana, also designed by Michael Fox this time along with Jordan Draper. Inspired by and using the block designs from Jordan’s 2018 release TOKYO JUTAKU Megacity combines dexterity with city building in a light Eurogame style. The early prototype pictures look great, the game will be on display but won’t be released until later in the year for Gen Con.

One Free Elephant 2-310

Microbrew - This isn’t necessarily a new game but it is one that piqued my interest. This tiny little game with cute components and artwork sees two players fight it out to brew the best beer. The game has a surprising amount of depth and fits into a small metal tin. The game had a successful Kickstarter campaign like many others on this list, hopefully it will do well at the expo too.

East Street Games 2-320

Mob Sitters - Mob Sitters is a party game for three to eight players where you play as a greedy babysitter working for various mobster bosses. Players will complete tasks for their bosses or maybe steal items from their homes, hoping not to get ‘dobbed in’ and end up going to prison, or even getting ‘disposed of’ by the bosses. It seems like a pretty unusual theme, certainly one that hasn’t been used before. Hopefully it’ll be fun to play too.

Robot Royale - The second title by East Street Games is a two to four players described as a card based strategy game. Robot Royale sees players maneuvering their robot around a four by four grid of tiles, hunting down enemy units and destroying them. This had a successful Kickstarter campaign last year and the components look great, I’m looking forward to getting a closer look at the game at this year’s expo.

Floodgate Games 2-336

Bosk - Following the excellent production of Sagrada Floodgate are back with an even better looking game. Bosk is a medium weight eurogame with a tree theme and a great overall presentation. I don’t know too much about the gameplay at this stage but it’s certainly an eye catching title. Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to play it at the expo and find out whether it’s not just a case of style over substance.

DigiSprite 2-346

Doomsday Bots - Following a successful Kickstarter campaign this game will be available at the Digispire stand for £24 this year. It is a two to four player card drafting dungeon running game with a Steampunk post-apocalyptic theme. I love the artwork in this game, it has a rich theme without being too serious. It seems like it has a good balance of many of the flavours that I enjoy.

Adventure Mart - Adventure Mart is due to commence it’s Kickstarter campaign on 28/05/19 (just in time for the UK Games Expo). This is a deckbuilding game for two to four players about running a grocery shop in a high fantasy world. Another great theme with some excellent artwork. I wish them the best of luck in reaching their funding goal.

itten 2-348

Moon Base - We’ve had a great time playing some of Itten’s games recently and Moon Base looks like great fun too. This is a two player game that appears to combine abstract strategy, area control and dexterity with a great presentation and theme. Itten have a habit of making unusual but engaging fun games, I’m hoping that Moon Base will be no exception.

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Call-to-Mind - As a Mental Health Nurse with previous experience working with Dementia this game really caught my attention. This is described as the world’s first board for people with dementia which is a big achievement. Call-to-Mind was designed as a result of an Occupational Therapist feeling being upset that people with dementia were ignored and abandoned. She realised that by playing a game the patients would feel less threatened and would happily open up and talk about themselves. They have an inspirational story and I’m excited to meet them at the convention. They don’t have a page here on BGG so please follow the link below if you want to learn more.

www.call-to-mind.com/the-story/

Ridley's Games 2-392

Avocado Smash! - I have to say selling your game in an avocado shaped box is one way to set your game apart and get some attention. Avocado Smash is a kind of Snap variant with some great artwork and a simple set of rules. I actually watched a group of people playing this game recently at a board game cafe and it looked like frantic fun.

Peach Snaps - Peach Snaps is the next fruit shaped snap variant in an ever growing series. I’m excited to play both of these games, I haven’t had a chance to play any of them so far. I feel that with all of these fruit and vegetable shaped boxes for games I’m going to have to incorporate a fruit bowl in my gaming shelves.

Smirk & Dagger Games 2-408

SHŌBU - I love a good abstract game, especially those with a sleek minimal design and some kind of novel gameplay. Shobu is played across four small boards split into two pairs, players make a move on one board then match the move on another, only the second move can knock enemy stones off the board. The game can be won on any of the four boards by knocking the fourth stone off. This looks like great fun and sounds pretty unique, which is not an easy thing to achieveme when designing an abstract strategy game.

Clever Unicorn Games 2-425

Weird Alchemy - Information about this game is limited so far. I know that the game is card driven, accommodates three to six players and is described as a fast paced highly competitive game. It was the artwork by Juan Moore that first caught my eye, it looks like light hearted fun and I look forward to seeing the final product at this year’s convention.

Grand Gamers Guild 2-457

Shikoku - Shikoku is a beautiful little game for three to eight players with an unconventional premise. Everyone plays the role of pilgrims who are going up the 33 steps while singing mantras until they reach the pagoda. However, the "Middle Path" seeks moderation not the extremes. The aim is to finish either second or second to last using card drafting and hand management.

The Artemis Project - The second game from the Grand Gamers Guild looks equally as visually appealing. The Artemis Project is about colonists exploring the oceans deep beneath the surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. The game is a dice placement and engine building game that has you fighting the planet as well as the other colonists. It’s a great theme, hopefully the gameplay is great too.

Redwell Games 2-610

Six Gun Showdown - This is a super quick 5-10 minute card and dice game that captures the essence of a cowboy shootout. The game is set to be Kickstarted on 06/06/19 shortly after the expo. With the game being such a quick experience you may want to swing by and try the game for yourself.

Wren Games 2-624

Assembly - This game sounds like it would be right up my street. Described as a quick, two player cooperative or solo, puzzle card game that fits in your pocket, and sporting a Sci-Fi theme it sounds like great fun. This one has been out for a little while but the publisher will also be displaying Assembly: Glitches and Assembly: Resequence and Override this year which I’m guessing are new expansions for the base game.

Sensor Ghosts - Thank you to Wren Games for releasing images of this game ahead of its projected release in 2020. The game looks to have some similarities to Assembly and looks fantastic. The game is a cooperative moving maze and hidden information puzzle for one to two players, hopefully I’ll get a chance to play it at this year’s expo.

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30 Comments

Mon May 27, 2019 3:23 am

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UK Games Expo 2018 - Convention Report

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

06 Jun 2018

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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UK Games Expo 2018 - Convention Report

Last weekend saw the return of the UK Games Expo, which is the largest board game convention in the UK. This year it was bigger than ever, expanding to two halls at the Birmingham NEC as well as the nearby Hilton hotel. Annabelle and I attended for the press event, which this year had a day all to itself on Thursday, then we were joined by our friend Charlotte to attend the convention on Saturday. I will try to cover as many of the games that we managed to have a look at over the course of the weekend, though some of them are yet to be listed on the BGG catalogue (I’ve written such games in bold). I’ve enjoyed every UKGE that I’ve been to so far, and this year was no exception. It was great to catch up with some of my favourite designers, and people from the board game community; anyway here is most of what we came across over the course of the weekend. I’ve mixed together the games that we saw at the press event and games that we saw at the convention itself.

The first person that I wanted to see at the UK Games Expo was Gavin Birnbaum of Cubiko Games. He designs the most interesting games often with an emphasis on dexterity, and hand makes all of them out of chunky wood. One of his games called Carreau has probably been the game that I have played most over the last year or so. I was eager to see what Gavin had at his stand this year, I knew that I had seen a prototype the previous year of a game called Wrecking Cube. We ended up playing a round of that which was very fun, and we bought one of the five copies that Gavin had made for the convention. We also tried one of his new prototypes called Paras, which was an unusual little dexterity war game and very enjoyable to play. I think that I know what I want to pick up from Gavin Next year now.

I'm a big fan of this publisher so it was great to see them at the convention. Oink Games is a Japanese publisher that releases bizarre games in tiny boxes. I grabbed Deep Sea Adventure off them a couple of years back at the Essen Spiele and loved it. It’s amazing how much game there is in these tiny boxes. This year they were promoting Troika and Startups from the same designer Jun Sasaki. Both games looked equally unusual, but I'm sure that they played well.

Kris Gould of Wattsalpoag Games returned to the convention with his new game Echidna Shuffle, which was actually being released on the first day of UKGE. Echidna Shuffle is a charming pick up and deliver game with some beautiful chunky plastic components. Unfortunately the game sold out so quickly that I didn't manage to grab myself a copy. Room 17 Games had their new game which is about to be Kickstarted this summer called Miremarsh. I'm usually a little put off by miniatures, but the way in which the game played intrigued me, with all players controlling a set of expendable goblins and trying to pass a series of tests to with the game. The presentation looked outstanding, Room 17 did a great job with both the artwork and the miniatures which are all unique in the game.

It's always nice to see what HABA are releasing next. They have a habit of designing excellent children's games that adults can enjoy equally. This year we took a look at a sequel to Rhino Hero called Rhino Hero: Super Battle, which is much bigger than the original game and harder because you have to hand little monkeys off the sides of the cards. Another game that we liked the look of was Castle Climbing Frog, in which players must use two strings to traverse a ball into the correct lot on the board, occasionally two players will have to take a string each and balance the control of the frog between themselves. It's great to see that HABA are still making beautiful creative games, one day when I have children I’m going to fill my house with their products.

One of my favourite Game publishers is Pegasus Spiele from Germany, who returned to the convention with some excellent games on offer. First up was the Istanbul: Big Box which contains the base game, along with Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh and Istanbul: Letters & Seals. We ended up seeing the Big Box all over the convention at different shops so I think that it was pretty popular amongst attendees. They also had a spin off dice game that was promoted as more of a family-weight game than the original called Istanbul: The Dice Game. This one looked really interesting, retaining much of the symbolism and mechanisms from the base game.

Pegasus also had Reiner Knizia's new title Axio, which appears to be related to his classic abstract game Ingenious; That one is a must buy for me. They also had a new speedy card game called Nimble with some gorgeous artwork. And finally the hilariously titled Memoarrr!, a memory game with some interesting mechanisms and gameplay; this is one that I would like to try at some point in the future, controversially I still enjoy a good game of Memory.

Board Game: Cha-Cha Chihuahua: The Game of Dancing Doggies

We looked at two of Gamewright's titles that were being demoed at the Coiledspring Games booth. Annabelle was drawn in by the little dog miniatures in Cha-Cha Chihuahua: The Game of Dancing Doggies, a great looking colourful family game in which players are trying to attract as many Chihuahuas as possible to their dance floor. They also had Tiki Topple, which is actually 10 years old now but I hadn't seen the game before; I quite liked the theme and the colourful components.

Devir had some of their new titles on display at the press event on Thursday. It's not a publisher that I am usually familiar with but their games seemed to be quite eye-catching. We first looked at 1,2,3! Now you see me..., a little card game with plenty of animeeples in, then we took a look Dungeon Raiders which had some great artwork. Neither game was particularly new, but they were both new to me and both looked interesting enough to at least try out.

CMON Global Limited is a publisher that I often shy away from, because miniatures are not something that I tend to crave in my board games; however the two games that they were promoting at this year's UK Games Expo looked amazing. Dragon Castle takes mechanisms from the solitaire game that people play with Mahjong tiles and turns it into a competitive set collection game. I could see myself really enjoying this one with my family. They were also displaying Way of the Panda which has some excellent miniatures but from a gameplay point of view probably isn't for me. Then again I said that about Blood Rage and I was dead wrong.

It felt like we had to queue forever to get into the Bring and Buy, but it was worth it. We found some great games but I'll list those a little later in this post. We sat down and chilled out for a while, and tried some of the simpler games that we had bought. I grabbed a copy of Tri 3D which looked better than it actually played, but I'd be willing to try it again with two players instead of three. Annabelle and Charlotte had a few games of our newly acquired copy of Pylos. I used some of this time to catch up with Ryan Hough and to look at his Unpublished Prototype. I've been chatting with Ryan for over a year now through Facebook but this was the first time that I had met him in person. He is the admin for a great community on Facebook called Abstract Nation. His Prototype had some gorgeous looking 3D printed pieces, and a clean minimal rule set. Essentially each players pieces can stack into each other, which determines how many spaces they can move, plus the game has two win conditions. I'd love to play this at some point in the future, it certainly piqued my interest.

Every year the UK Games Expo hosts tournaments for one game or another. This year it appeared that the main games being played were Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game and Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game, both from Fantasy Flight Games. I admire the commitment that people have to these games but tournament play really isn't something that I've ever wanted to participate in myself. The same goes for all the LARPing and Cosplay stuff too dotted around the convention.

Board Game: Quartermaster General: The Cold War

Dice Hospital caught my eye. I like the hospital theme partly because I work in one, and partly thanks to the old PC game Theme Hospital. Dice Hospital is a gorgeous looking worker placement game with some great artwork; I'd love to add this one to my collection one day. We were drawn in by the artwork for a little card game called Gobblin' Goblins, the first game for a new publisher called Toon Hammer. The game seems like a nice family weight set collection game,one that I wouldn't mind trying at some point. A little while ago I played a great card driven war game called Quartermaster General, which I felt handled asymmetry really well. This year I came across a new version called Quartermaster General: The Cold War, which covers what I feel is the most interesting war, if you can call it that. The game looks fantastic, I'd love to give that one a try.

Since the last time that we attended the convention, Annabelle and I managed to get our hands on a copy of Beasts of Balance, and excellent iPad driven stacking game with some bizarre components. This year we got a chance to see some of the new creatures in the Beasts of Balance: Battle Cards expansion, which also adds a bunch of cards to the game. The publisher Sensible Object also had their second game on display called When in Rome, which is an Amazon Alexa driven trivia game. It would appear that they are going to stick to technology integration with their titles, which is great. I'm interested to see what they experiment with next.

This year Brain Games expanded upon their ICECOOL range, first with ICECOOL2 which can either be played as a stand-alone game or combined with the first Ice Cool to make a larger more diverse game; and secondly Pyramid of Pengqueen which is a kind of one versus many maze game with some interesting magnet based mechanisms. I was fortunate enough to try the latter game and it was great fun, I hope that they continue to publish games under this franchise, who doesn’t love penguins? Another title that Brain Games were promoting this year is Pikoko by Adam Porter, a trick taking game in which you can only see your opponents cards. This one really caught my eye and became the first new game that I played at this year’s expo, it was one of the most unusual card games that I’ve played but one that I'm sure will be making many appearances at my games nights this year. It was a very enjoyable experience.

It wouldn't be the UK Games Expo without the amazing Bez, who is always a joy to be around. I recently backed their Kickstarter for Kitty Cataclysm, which I had the privilege of playing at this year's Airecon in Yorkshire. Bez had a new game to show me this time called +, which was a beautifully simple speedy card game. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Reiner Knizia had designed a new party game called Clickbait, and in true Big Potato Games Games fashion, it comes in a great looking but awkwardly shaped package. I can see this one being pretty fun to play once it hits the market, I know that I would like a copy.

Last year we seen a new collectable card game by the name of Lightseekers with some interesting mechanisms and integration with augmented reality when played with the digital version of the game as the cards could be scanned with a smartphone. This year the game returned with a Warhammer theming under the name of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Champions. There is certainly a lot of lore to draw from in the Warhammer universe so this can only be a good thing.Charlotte and I got sucked into playing a game called Pixit from H. P. Gibson & Sons. Players use a set of identical dice to build the pixelated images on the games cards. I didn't look at the games rules but it seemed like there must be some kind of speed element. Space Cowboys had a prototype for a game called Orbis which I feel is likely to be a big hit when it gets released. It's one of those super simple eurogames with plenty of options for strategy, and an element of tableau building which I enjoy. I'll have to keep my eye out for this one in the near future.

We spotted a gorgeous looking party game at the Asmodee stand by the name of TAGS. The game is a silly fast paced word game and looks like it accommodates team play really well. It's nice to see a publisher putting so much effort into the presentation of a party game for a change. YAY Games games were back again this year. They managed to win 'best abstract game' last year with Ominoes, and this year they returned with another game from the series called Ominoes Hieroglyphics, which uses some of the same symbols but plays more as a tile laying game. I loved the original game so I would be willing to try the new one.

There's a publisher that my wife and I really like called Strawberry Studio, who make small simple card driven games. Last year we picked up a copy of Strawberry Ninja, a great co-op or solo game; this year we wanted to get their new game called Scare It!. We were fortunate enough to have a demo of the game and it was great fun to play. I'm looking forward to seeing what these guys do next. At this year's Airecon, our favourite game of the convention was Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition), an interesting card driven game set in the lake district. When we visited the Ragnar Brothers we were given a Backpacks and Blisters tea towel containing the games board as it's design, great stuff! Annabelle wanted some kind of nautical game due to her pirate roots, so we also picked up a copy of Niña & Pinta which deals also with parallel universes, somehow. I can't wait to give this one a try.

At the press preview Coiledspring Games had some great games on display. We were first drawn in by SOS Dino, a cooperative family game with some great dinosaur miniatures. Players must work together to save four dinosaurs from four active volcanoes. They also had expansions for one of my favourite releases of the last few years, Kingdomino. The first can be played as a stand alone game called Queendomino, which has been described as a gamer's version of the original game adding more complexity; and they had the new expansion Kingdomino: Age of Giants which adds some big chunky giants to the game. I didn't get a chance to see how the second expansion works but I'm pretty sure that I will end up adding it to my collection eventually, I adore the base game.

Repos Production had some interesting stuff on display this year. I'm a big 7 Wonders fan, so it was great to see the new large expansion with some little plastic boats called 7 Wonders: Armada. They're hoping to have this one available for Essen this year so keep an eye out. There were a few new family party games with Concept Kids: Animals and a prototype for Just One. They had a party game that revolves around dreams called When I Dream that looked like great fun, they had it set up on a bunch of beds in the main hall, very creative.

I came across a charming self published game called Hidden Hoard, which really looks great considering the fact there isn’t a big publisher behind it. The game is a fairly simple family weight game in which players battle it out to deduct what the hidden location is for that round. In addition the game’s board is huge and covered with all kinds of cryptic codes and symbols. There is actually a set of coordinates to figure out on the game’s board itself and a prize of £10,000 for the first person to solve it. What a great way to draw attention to your new game. KOSMOS had two new Series: Exit: The Game games at the UKGE this year which was a pleasant surprise. I have played every game from the series so far (that has been released in English) and wasn't expecting the new wave of games to be released until the end of June. The first is Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure, the second and more difficult of the two is Exit: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express. I was also fortunate enough to get my hands on the promo game Exit: The Game – The Secret of the Premiere, which was given away at conventions at around the time of the original release a few years ago.

The Haul

Anyone who has been to a board game convention will know that it’s one of the best places to add new games to your collection. You can buy directly from publishers, from vendors or from the bring and buy section. Here’s what the three of us walked away with:

Samarkand: Routes to Riches - An odd looking strategy game that uses camel meeple.
World Monuments - An abstract-ish building game with chunky wooden pieces.
Quads - An older game from my favourite designer Kris Burm.
Pyramid of Pengqueen - A one versus many treasure hunt game with a magnetic board.
Hidden Hoard - A family game that doubles up as an actual treasure hunt for £10,000.
Pikoko - An excellent trick taking game with a clever twist.
Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure - One of the newer Exit games, apparently a fairly easy one to complete.
Exit: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express - Another new Exit game, this time a much more difficult one.
Exit: The Game – The Secret of the Premiere - This was actually a promo to celebrate the release of the original Exit games.
Orc-lympics - Another title from Brain Games, this one is a drafting card game.
Nimble - A speedy card game with some excellent artwork.
Sticky Chameleons - A family game that uses weird sticky tongues. Sounds gross. Niña & Pinta - A nautical game from the Ragnar Brothers for my wife.
Scare It! - The newest game from Strawberry Studio, very enjoyable to play.
Central Market - A colourful and simple looking card game.
Tri 3D - A multi-tiered abstract game that cost £1.75, can’t argue with that price.
Sandcastles - A light and simple card game with a great theme.
Lightseekers - An intro deck for a CCG. Looks like it hase some interesting mechanisms.
Wrecking cube - One of five prototypes for a new game designed by the amazing Gavin Birnbaum.
Loony Quest - I tried this one at Essen a few years ago, it’s a great little game.
TRIUMPH - An old fantastically ugly looking abstract.
Quarto - A classic abstract game, I’ve been after a copy of this for years.
Pylos - Another classic abstract. I’ve only ever played a giant version of this game.
7 Wonders CN Tower Promo - An alternative artwork card for Palace, containing the Canadian National Tower.
7 Wonders Duel: Stonehenge - I was given eight of these in a pack from Repos Production, some of which I’ll be giving away here on my blog.
When I Dream: Bonus Cards - Some more juicy promo cards.

… and this is what our good friend Charlotte picked up from the convention:

Magic Maze - After playing the game, this was not what I expected it to be. Very enjoyable co-op party game.
Istanbul - One of my all time favourite eurogames.
Istanbul: Letters & Seals - The second main expansion, one that I do not own.
Ominoes - This is a game that I enjoyed at this year’s Airecon.
Backpacks and Blisters Promo Dishcloth - You didn’t misread that, Charlotte was given a dishcloth with the design from the game’s board.
Exit: The Game – The Forgotten Island - Charlotte found an unplayed copy of the game in the bring and buy, great find!
Exit: The Game – The Sunken Treasure - Like us Charlotte bought one of the newer Exit games.
7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon - The expansion to the greatest game ever made.
Carcassonne catapault Carcassonne: Expansion 7 – The Catapult - Probably the silliest expansion for Carcassonne.

Our favourite game from UK Games Expo - Pikoko

Congratulations to Pikoko by Adam Porter. This great little trick taking game is fun to play, feels original and looks phenomenal on the table. Players can only see the cards in other player’s hands, and gamble on how many ‘tricks’ they believe each player will win on a given round, include themselves. The game has a good degree of psychology and behaviour involved, and won ‘best new card game’ at UKGE this year; well deserved in my opinion. Thank you for reading!

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Wed Jun 6, 2018 4:07 pm

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AireCon 2018 - Convention Report

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

12 Mar 2018

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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AireCon 2018

On Saturday, my wife and I drove up to the Harrogate convention centre along with our good friend Charlotte to attend AireCon 2018. This is a three day board game convention with support from CGE, Travelling Man (a chain of FLGS across the north of England) and the UK Games Expo. The event is a little smaller than the UK Games Expo, and has more of an emphasis on not just exhibitors but sitting down and playing games courtesy of the extensive Travelling Man library. There was also a large bring and buy section, a family gaming zone and an area for RPG gamers. We found the atmosphere of the event to be very friendly and welcoming, with lots of people buying and playing games. It was a fun weekend, here’s a little bit of what we got up to while we were at the convention.

Board Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle

The Exhibitors

The first stand that we came across was Asmodee, who had several games out for people to try. One of their representatives told me about Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, which is a cooperative deckbuilding game in which players play through seven different campaigns, each related to a different book from the Harry Potter series. It looked quite interesting, reminding me a little bit of Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game, and the presentation of the game looks superb. I used to play a lot of deckbuilding games but I haven’t picked one up in a while, maybe this will engage me in the genre again. Next up they had the newest game from the Game: Civilization series called Civilization: A New Dawn. It’s not the kind of board game that I would typically play, though I have enjoyed the PC series in the past, but they’ve done a great job of making the game look more appealing. Asmodee also had Azul on display which I was hoping to try, but the demo copy got a lot of attention and I didn’t get a chance to try it. I think that I’ll just end up grabbing that one at some point, it’s definitely my kind of game.

Board Game: The Great Fire of London 1666

At last year’s UK Games Expo I missed out on the chance to try Ominoes from YAY Games, which ended up winning the award for best abstract game at the convention. This time I tried the game along with Charlotte and two other people from the expo and ended up buying a copy. It was a close game, but Charlotte pulled off a good combo to win the game eventually. Ominoes is a dice driven abstract game with some area control and a bit of luck too, I think that it could be played well with less experienced gamers because the luck element could balance out the skill differences. The next game we ended up looking at is not a new game, but one that draws me in every time that I see it; The Great Fire of London 1666 is a big sprawling eurogame from Richard Denning, who is also of the the director and organiser of the UK Games Expo. It has an enormous board and hundreds of pieces, I’ve liked the look of this one for a while and I’m pretty sure that I’ll add it to my collection eventually.

Board Game: Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition)

Over the years I’ve tried a few games from Ragnar Brothers and have enjoyed a lot of their designs. This year they were promoting Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition), which is a re-design of a game originally designed in 1993. The theme of this game really drew me in, which is rambling in England’s Lake District and admiring the beauty of the region. It sounded pretty abstract but it has some really interesting card driven mechanisms and some amazing artwork of the various sights of the Lake District; it’s a part of the country that both my wife and I have a strong connection to. Charlotte ended up picking up a copy of the game and was eager to give it a play. We also got a chance to see a prototype of their new Roman themed game by the name of Quantum Romanum which looked interesting too, hopefully we will see a more completed version at this year’s UK Games Expo. Next up I had another chance to see Softwar from Ben Green, a neon abstract game that uses dice as pawns. I originally looked at this game at last years UK Games Expo, and the design has come along since then; you should see this appearing on Kickstarter later this year. I’m interested in this game so I’ll let you all know when the crowdfunding campaign begins.

Next we ran into Bez Shahriari, aka Bez, at her table. She was inviting as many people as possible to come and draw a cat on a piece of card to stick on the wall, and by the end of the convention the wall was completely covered in cats. This was in aid of Bez’s new game design called Kitty Cataclysm, which we were fortunate to all sit down and play. The game was an enjoyable hand management game with a strong social element and no shortage of cat puns, we all loved it. I bagged a few high scoring cards early in the game and ended up winning fairly comfortably. The game is currently available to back on Kickstarter so please click the link below if you are interested. Bez was also promoting her word game system by the name of Wibbell++, as well as Yogi which is a reimplementation of In a Bind published by Gigamic. We had a great time at your table Bez, looking forward to seeing you again at the UK Games Expo later this year.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bybez/kitty-cataclysm-chaos-car...

Czech Games Edition were demoing a few of their titles, including a prototype for a new edition of Vlaada Chvátil’s drawing and guessing party game Pictomania. I didn’t get a chance to try the new version but I have seen the old one play and it’s a hilarious game. You have to simultaneously draw a picture and guess what other people are drawing, and the game rewards players that take their actions quickly. After the huge success of Codenames I’m eager to try some more of Chvatil’s party games. I also had a chance to try a new abstract game due to be Kickstarted called Thieves, a two player game that sees players coordinating four pawns in an effort to take a coin from the centre of the board and maneuver it to their side of the board to win the game. What made this game interesting is that the game’s movement reminded me of Backgammon, in that players roll two dice out of a little cup each turn, the difference being that the two dice had colours on each face showing the direction by which pieces can be moved that turn. I played a game with one of the people representing the game and ended up winning after a fairly long round.

And finally we had a look at Room 17 Games’s stand and being drawn in by an interesting looking dexterity game. Flicky Spaceships plays exactly as you would imagine it to, flick your little plastic spaceship then collect whatever resource you land on. The resources are then spent upgrading your spaceship and gaining points. The game is active on Kickstarter, so if you’re interested click the link below for more details. We also took a brief look at Museum Rush which is a card driven museum heist game with some great artwork, this one will be Kickstarted a little later this year. The last of the exhibitors that we looked at was Four Elements, which looks kind of like a colourful Carrom variant. Each player plays as a different element and must build a wall out of their pieces to protect their ‘Lord.’ Players then take turns to flick a disk at each other’s pieces in an effort to knock the ‘Lord’ off the table. The game seemed pretty simple and fun, I don’t know if I’d play it over Carrom but I liked it nonetheless. It might be a good way to engage younger players towards games like Carrom.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/room17games/flicky-spaceships?r...

The Open Gaming Area

After checking out the exhibitors we were eager to sit down and play a few games. Travelling Man had brought a fairly extensive catalogue of games to play, so we started off with a game of Colt Express. This one got a lot of buzz a few years ago, winning the Spiel Des Jahres in 2015. The game has an interesting programmed movement mechanism where players play a series of action cards, some face up and some face down, and have them resolve in order. Sometimes a player can unexpectedly move you from a space early on in a round and mess up the actions that you have chosen to take. Annabelle and Charlotte took great pleasure in shooting the crap out of me and punching me from one cart to another, and Annabelle ended up winning the game by a country mile. I liked the game, but I think that it might be at it’s best with five or six players to add a greater degree of interaction between players.

I’ve seen quite a lot of people playing Celestia here on the Geek, and we were fortunate enough to buy a copy on sale from one of the vendors. Celestia is essentially a push your luck game in which players gamble on the likelihood of other players passing a series of challenges. Like with Colt Express, the game is probably better with bigger numbers but we enjoyed it anyway, so much that Charlotte ended up going and buying a copy for herself. We played two games, the first one I won and the second Charlotte won. Annabelle was intrigued by the people on the next table playing a round of Tsuro, so I got a copy from the Travelling Man library and taught the others how to play. This is a game that I have never owned, but have ended up playing a few times over the years. Players have tiles that extend the lines on the board and must use those lines to maneuver their piece around without falling off the side; while trying to make the other players either move off the side of the board or move into each other. Charlotte was the first to be eliminated and it was pretty close between Annabelle and I, but in the end I was forced to fall off the side of the board and lose the game.

After The Convention

It was getting late, so we headed back to Charlotte’s house for a curry, a few drinks and a few more games. I was eager to play my new copy of Tumblin-Dice Medium after wanting the game for quite a while now. The second hand copy had a bunch of extra dice, including D10s and D20s in each player colour. We ended up playing three games and all won a single round. The game was as fun as I thought it would be, I’m so glad that I managed to find a copy. Next up we played a quick round of Battle Sheep, which wasn’t a new game, but one that I’m enjoying quite a lot at the moment. I got quite lucky early in the game, splitting my pieces fairly evenly around the board, and managed to split my whole stack into single spaces. Annabelle was shortly behind me and Charlotte behind her, after having a small stack blocked off early in the game.

Next up was an abstract game called Callisto which is an improved version of an earlier game called Callisto: The Game. The main change is that the playing area can be modified depending on the number of people playing the game, and that each player has less pieces to play. This is essentially a polyominoes game with an area control element, the game is a bit kinder than others in this genre. I managed to play all of my pieces to win the game. I love this new edition of the game, definitely one that I will be adding to my collection at this year’s UK Games Expo. The last game of the evening turned out to be the best that we had played all night, Annabelle was having a post-curry sleep so Charlotte and I decided to play a two player game of Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition). The game sees players trying to scale the various peaks and sights of beauty across England’s Lake District, by playing cards and equipment, and being careful when to eat your chocolate. The game was easy to learn and flowed really well. I ended up taking advantage of the various bus routes to score big and won the game narrowly.

The Haul

Anyone who has been to a board game convention will know that it’s one of the best places to add new games to your collection. You can buy directly from publishers, from vendors or from the bring and buy section. Here’s what the three of us walked away with.

Celestia and Celestia: A Little Help - An interesting little push-your-luck game, along with an expansion that adds a little more interaction.
Cockroach Salad - Another party game from the makers of Cockroach Poker.
Codinca - An abstract code building game that I first played at last year’s UK Games Expo.
Evolution: The Beginning - A simpler game from the Evolution series of games.
Fleet - My wife loves boats, so any game with a boat in tends to catch her eye.
Highland Clans - An odd little eurogame set in Scotland.
Jin Li - I don’t really know what this is, but it’s from nestorgames and it was only a fiver from the bring and buy.
Kreus - A cooperative card game with great artwork from CMON.
Mammut - We we’re both sold on the woolly mammoth meeple in the box.
Meeple Circus - A great looking meeple stacking game by Matagot.
Ominoes - A dice based abstract game that I tried at the convention.
Polarity - A magnet based dexterity game that I’ve wanted for a while.
Robber Knights - An odd looking tile laying game, this one looks pretty interesting.
Those Pesky Garden Gnomes - I have no idea, I think that we bought it because it had a silly name.
Tumblin-Dice Medium - Annabelle spotted this in the bring and buy, I've wanted a copy for ages.

And this is what Charlotte picked up from the convention.

3 Wishes - A small card game from Strawberry Studio.
Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition) - Rambling in the Lake District simulator from the Ragnar Brothers.
Callisto - An improved version of Reiner Knizia’s superb abstract game.
Celestia - Purchased shortly after playing our copy.
Design Town - A remade version of Flip City which includes expansions.
Dream Islands - An unusual island hopping game with cool looking meeple.
Hanabi - The small cooperative card game that won the Spiel Des Jahres a few years ago.
ICECOOL - One of my favourite dexterity games.
Kingdomino - The most recent winner of the Spiel Des Jahres.

Our Favourite Game From AireCon 2018 - Backpacks & Blisters (Second Edition)

Our favourite game of the weekend has to be the new edition of Backpacks and Blisters. The Lake District has a special place for all three of us, and the game has a great balance of strategy and simplicity. I feel like any group could play it and get the same amount of enjoyment, just a shame that I didn’t buy a copy myself. I’ll leave you with a picture of the Geek Refresh Station from the expo toilettes, if only everyone going to the bring and buy had found this! Thanks for reading.

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Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:33 pm

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Airecon Board Game Convention on 9th, 10th and 11th March 2018

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

05 Mar 2018

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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Aire Con 2018

This year, in addition to the UK Games Expo I will also be attending a convention over in Yorkshire for the first time. This will be the first board game convention that I’ve been to up in the north, see the map below for the rough location. The convention will have exhibitors from around the world, a Bring and Buy section, a library of games to access (courtesy of the fantastic Travelling Man board game shop) and loads of other stuff.

Times and dates:
Friday 9th March - 13:00 - 23:00
Saturday 10th March 10:00 - 23:00
Sunday 11th March 10:00 - 20:00

Tickets are available here:
airecon.uk/tickets/

Location of the convention:
Harrogate Convention Centre - Hall Q

Let me know if you plan on heading up there, maybe we can catch up and play a few games. I’ll be posting more about the event over the course of the weekend.

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Mon Mar 5, 2018 1:28 pm

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What to look out for at Essen this year

Posted by Allen O'Connor

Conventions

20 Oct 2017

Allen OConnor

(van00uber)

United Kingdom

Glass Bead Board Games

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While many of you will be galavanting around Germany next week at the world most amazing board game convention, I’ll be marrying my Annabelle and flying to Tuscany for my honeymoon. It’s a great weekend and it’s a shame that I won’t be able to be there. Instead I’ll leave you with the following recommendations for the event. My taste isn’t particularly mainstream at times, so would urge you to take a look at the BGG page for Essen; these are just the games and publishers that I would make an effort to see if I was at the convention next week.

Queendomino. This year, Kingdomino has been one of my most played and most enjoyed games. It’s been very popular here on BGG, and has managed to win the prestigious Spiel des Jahres. Queendomino can be played as a stand alone game, building on the mechanisms of the original title and adding a little more depth; or you can combine it with the original to make a bigger game or accommodate more players.
Blue Orange (EU) - Hall 3: M107

Nusfjord and Indian Summer. Two new big box Uwe Rosenberg games at this year’s Essen. Nusfjord actually looks a lot like Glass Road, which is my favourite Rosenberg game; and Indian Summer is a follow up to Cottage Garden, intended to eventually be his ‘Puzzle Trilogy.’ I’ve never played a big box Rosenberg game that I haven’t liked, so very much looking forward to playing these two.
Lookout Games - Hall 1: F133 / Edition Spielwiese - Hall 1: D122

Gaia Project. I’m a massive fan of Terra Mystica, and I remember seeing a prototype of a space based version of the game back in 2015 at Essen. We were calling it Interstellar Mystica back then which is a far better name I think. I can’t wait to see what they do with the franchise, I like the space theme and I can’t get enough of Terra Mystica so this one seems like a no brainer to me.
Feuerland Spiele - Hall 3: D100

The Expanse Board Game. I love the Expanse book series, at the time of writing I have almost finished book 6: Babylon’s Ashes. It’s an epic space opera that is planned to be nine books long with a cyberpunk dystopian feel to it. I haven’t seen much of the TV series, but the lore and theme of the books would make an excellent setting for a game; plus the game is designed by Geoff Engelstein, so that is a good sign too. The BGG page says that it plays a little bit like Twilight Struggle so I’m interested to see how this one will turn out.
WizKids (I) - Hall 6: G100

nestorgames. This is one of my favourite publishers for abstract games. Néstor Romeral Andrés will be attending the event, and although he will not have a booth, he will be demoing some of his Nestorgames at the following times and locations:

Friday 11:00-12:00 at HenMar games - Hall 8: B120 to demo Ni-Ju
Friday 12:00-13:00 at Clemens Gerhards - Hall 3: G106 to demo LOT
Friday 17:00 and beyond at White Goblin Games - Hall 3: O106 to demo Sugar Gliders and Hong

Wibbell++. I’ve had a lot of fun with the Wibbell++ deck recently. Designed by Bez Shahriari, Wibbell++ is a deck of 48 cards each containing two letters, a pattern and a number. You can play a bunch of different games with this deck, with more getting added over time, Read more about it by clicking here. You may also want to try one of her earlier designs, Yogi, previously released as In a Bind, which is another great party game.
Stuff By Bez - Hall 6: I102

Snowdonia: The Siege of Petersburg / The Channel Tunnel 1881. I am always happy to hear about more campaigns for Snowdonia, they add so much to what is already a great game. This new set adds two campaigns from two designers, the first is ‘The Siege of Petersburg’ from Alan Paull and the second is ‘The Channel Tunnel 1881’ from David Brain. Visitors should also be able to see where Tony Boydell is up to with Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea.
Surprised Stare Games Ltd - Hall 7: G121

InBetween. After seeing Board&Dice put out two excellent card games this year in Pocket Mars and the SUPERHOT: The Card Game, I was interested to see what they were going to put out next. InBetween looks like it has a theme similar to the Netflix series Stranger Things, and some interesting mechanisms. This is a fairly small two player card game, one that I am quite eager to play after Essen.
Board&Dice - Hall 2: B106

Meeple Circus. I’m one of these people who tends to stack their meeple during a game, making little towers and seeing how high I can get them. Now Matagot have made a game out of it, and everytime I see a picture of this game pop up on social media I can’t help but love the presentation of the game. This is another must buy for me this year.
Matagot - Hall 3: E102

Doodle Rush. I’ve enjoyed the last two games that I have played from
Brain Games, called ICECOOL and King Frog. They both fall into the category of children’s games that work just as well with adults. Hopefully this new title of theirs will be fun to play too.
Brain Games - Hall 1: F139

Green Box of Games. This is not a game as such but more of a game system. The box comes with a load of different components, and the rules to play 16 different games. Players are encouraged to go online to find more games, or to make designs of their own. I love stuff like this, and the components look like they are high quality. I’m going to track down a copy after Essen and do a bit of experimenting I think.
(Self-Published) - Hall 7: G115

Axio. This appears to be an evolution of Reiner Knizia’s masterpiece Ingenious. This game uses squares instead of hexagons and has these unusual pyramid pieces. I don’t know too much about the game’s rules yet but it is a Knizia game, so I have high hopes for it.
Pegasus Spiele - Hall 3: M110

Cubiko Games. Gavin Birnbaum handmakes beautiful wooden games and sells them at Essen and the Uk Games Expo. I would urge you to take a look at his designs, he has some great titles at the moment. This year he will be promoting two of his more recent games, Q.E. and Carreau. The picture above is one of his prototypes from this year’s UK Games Expo.
Cubiko Games - Hall 7: G121

That's a Question!. This is a new party game from Vlaada Chvátil, who has transitioned from making large complex games to smaller party games in his recent designs. I’ve enjoyed the different iterations of Codenames, and I had a chance to see an early edition of That’s a Question at the UK Games Expo this year. I looks like it has a lot of potential.
Czech Games Edition - Hall 1: F145

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Fri Oct 20, 2017 2:10 pm

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Airecon Board Game Convention on 9th, 10th and 11th March 2018

What to look out for at Essen this year

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