Heading to the EXPO

Well, it’s that time of year again. Friday 30^th May, will see me jumping in the car and heading out to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre for the UK Games EXPO. Yasmin, meanwhile, will be boarding a train in Liverpool and racing me down there in an effort to get there first – NO CHANCE!

Things are a little bit different for us this year. Over the last year I’ve hardly played any games at all (not through a lack of wanting!). Yasmin has managed to get a few games in with her friends at Uni, but overall, it’s been a very ‘games light’ time.

Also, other than listening to a few gaming podcasts whilst out walking the dog, I’ve kind of lost touch with what’s going on in the hobby. I have little idea about what new games are out there, what’s in the current BGG top 10, or even what the latest character releases for Marvel: Crisis Protocol are, and that’s a game we were playing a lot of.

So, this year we will be heading into it mostly blind. Enjoy looking at what the latest ‘Hotness’ is, and talk about games as we come across them.

I say, ‘mostly blind’, because I just couldn’t help myself whilst writing this and I did managed to dig out last year’s list of ‘wants’. I did a quick bit of research on these to remind myself what’s what, and narrowed it down to just a few. Only problem doing this was that other things started catching my eye, so I added them to the list and did a little more research… You know where I’m going with this!

Anyway, the list had grew to 50+ games and I thought I’d better stop, reassess, and reduce it down to something more attainable. I did that, and then had to do it again, as I still had nearly thirty games on there.

Anyway, here’s my ‘current’ list of what we’ll be looking out for.

• Any Nemesis expansions or standalones.

We really enjoy Nemesis, though only a handful of games has so far been played, and anything that adds to it is a good thing.

• Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth.

A quick 2-player game that I think Yasmin would enjoy, and as it’s relatively cheap, it won’t matter if we only get it to the table when she drops by from Uni.

• Hadrian’s Wall.

A complex ‘Roll and Write’ without the roll! Not usually a fan of R&W but this looks interesting and I can play it on my own.

• Tapestry.

We’ve been eying this one up for a while now and I can’t really say why we’ve not grabbed it before.

• Andromeda’s Edge.

Heard them talking about this on The Secret Cabal podcast and I think it would be a good fit for the two of us, as there are a lot of mechanisms in there that we like. And it’s another I can play solo.

• Unmatched Adventures.

We’re both big fans of the Unmatched series and so it makes sense to give this one a try. All heroes are compatible with either game and, once again, it can be played solo.

• Vampire the Masquerade: Chapters.

There’s always a game we take a risk on. Last year it was Skyrim (worked out okay) and this is this year’s. A big ‘RPG without a GM’ in a box, and it has Vampires! Not great when it first came out, as it had a lot of rule/story continuity issues. These have largely been addressed with errata and the release of an App that deals with the story issues. Yasmin loves horror, especially vampires, and you can pick this up at a fraction of its original cost, so worth a punt if we see it.

• Elden Ring.

Another video game adaptation after Skyrim last year, and one that would put a smile on Yasmin’s face – she’s hoping it would prove easier than the video game!

• Maladum.

I almost grabbed this last year, as it looks great, but I didn’t know much about the game. Still don’t know a lot about it, but last time they were demoing it and, as there have been more releases this year in the series, I reckon they’ll be doing so again – I aim to find out!

So, there’s our pre-UKGE list and I’m sure we shall come back with something totally different. But, ‘Why do you need all these games when we’re not playing much at the moment?’ I hear you cry.

Come on, if you’re a gamer yourself you know the reason why… don’t you? Don’t You!

For the non-gamers, who for some reason are reading this post, it’s to scratch the itch. Owning a game means you’re halfway to playing it, you just need to find the right moment to savour the experience. Okay, that may not come along for a year or two in some cases, and the collection continues to grow, but you know, deep down, one day, you’ll have played them all! (Possibly… Maybe… Probably not!)

It isn’t all about buying, though. There’s a lot to see and do, starting before you enter the halls with the Living History Village. Here, we find Vikings and, I believe new to this year, Romans, who will be demonstrating weapons by hitting each other with them and re-enacting what life in those times was all about.

Awards will be given, Seminars to take, playtesting to be, er, tested, open gaming, cosplay, tournaments, special guests, giveaways, painting competitions, demos, and, new to this year, the pin collective.

I mention the pin collective because Yasmin collects pin badges and has a pretty good collection already. She’ll be looking to add to that and knowing her will try to collect all on offer at the EXPO. I’ve secretly pre-ordered the pin-collective starter pack to collect when there – let’s see if she reads this!

So, lots to see and do whilst there and we’re very much looking forward to it. The following day, we intend to dedicate to playing games, both what we got whilst there and a few of favourites currently in the collection – it’s promising to be a great weekend, though the Sunday will be spent delivering Yasmin back to Liverpool Uni and returning with a load of her clutter as she prepares to move out for the summer.

Hopefully, I’ll write about our exploits next week. Until then, if anyone else is going to be there, then I wish you a great and fun packed time, and give a shout out in the comments. Also, if anyone has any thoughts about the games on our list or something else you feel we should be looking out for, then again, pop it in the comments, thanks, and till next time…