UK Games EXPO 2025

Friday 30^th May. The day Yasmin and I visited the UKGE this year, and what a day it was!

From my recent post, ‘Heading to the EXPO’, I listed several games we were interested in picking up and we didn’t do too badly in coming back with four of those. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this adventure should start at the very beginning, which, for one of us, was a very early start indeed.

Yasmin raised her pretty little head from her pillow at around 5-o’clock Friday morning. Not used to seeing two 5-o’clocks in a day, this came as quite a shock. Still, she made it on to the train at 6:30 and departed Liverpool for Birmingham New Street – she texted me to let me know.

Meanwhile, I rolled out of bed at 6 and was just about to get in the car when I received her text. I hit the motorways and made good time, getting to the NEC at 7:45. This, it would appear, is near the perfect time to arrive. I got a prime parking space – a nice wide one with hatchings down the sides, meaning the next car along was a good couple of feet away, and it was as close to the Halls as possible without booking Express or VIP parking.

Yasmin, after a change at New Street, was due to arrive at 8:50, so I headed to Hall 1 to pick up the tickets. Another reason to arrive early, the queues were short and moving quickly, so pick up took no time at all. I grabbed the lanyards, show programs, and map books on the way out and decided to walk up to the station to meet the train. The actual EXPO didn’t open its doors until 9, so I had time to kill, and whilst it was tempting to walk back to the car and doze for half-an-hour, I wasn’t sure just how far the train station was away, so of I went.

It turned out to be a 5-minute walk through the NEC to Birmingham International train station, so I sat down on a bench and read the show guide. Trains arrived every few minutes and there was a lot of people heading to the EXPO halls, most already wearing tickets which, at a guess, meant they were volunteers or exhibitors.

Yasmin arrived bang on time and we headed back through the NEC towards the car park, as she doesn’t travel light! This time, though, the crowds had assembled before the Hall doors, ready for the grand opening in a few minutes, which meant we had to dodge and slither through small gaps to make our way.

Once her luggage was safely deposited in to the boot of the car, we made our way back again. We take a short cut through the Express car park, meaning we miss the throng of shufflers we inevitably get stuck behind when taking the main drag.

We thought we’d start where we did last year, the Bring and Buy.

The queue was a little longer than when we joined it last year but not by much and we thought we’d be in within half-hour. How wrong we were!

You know what it’s like when you’re committed? You’re thinking of walking away and coming back later but you’ve been in the queue so long now and it would be a waste of that time to leave. That was us, that was!

1 hour 45 minutes we were queuing. Was it worth it? Well, we did grab a small hoard of games, some at outrageously low prices, and so I’d say yes, it was worth it.

By the time we clambered out of the B&B it was lunch time, at least for those of us that had breakfast at some stupid time in the morning, so we once again headed back to the car for our packed lunches, and to fill the boot with our small tower of games. That reminds me. This year they allowed bags into the B&B area for the first time, provided they had no games in them – checks were carried out. This meant I had a trusty IKEA bag handy for carrying our loot.

After lunch we began to make our way around the Halls. It was noticeably bigger this year, both in physical size and the number of people attending. It was super busy and slow going in places where the aisles were narrow. There was a time when the EXPO fell on the first weekend of half-term, meaning that the Friday was a school and work day for most people across the country. Recently, however, taking part on the last weekend when a lot of people are on holiday, the crowds have increased by quite a margin and official figures show 72,000+ attended this year, with 42,000+ uniques – that makes it bigger than GEN Con (71,000), at least for now!

A lot of traders had play/demo areas alongside their stalls this year, which spread thing out more and is probably why the show has took up an extra Hall. I thought this was a great idea, as there were so many games you could sit down and try. Unfortunately for us, though, attending for just one day meant we had little time to do so if we wanted to get around and take a look at everything.

As an aside, here, I should mention the pin collective. A number of exhibitors participated by designing their own pin badge and people could collect and trade these over the weekend. Now, Yasmin collects badges and was looking forward to getting her paws on some of these. I started the ball rolling by pre-ordering the starter set when I booked the tickets (that was nice of me!).

However, getting hold of exhibitor’s pins wasn’t easy. In fact, she didn’t get any. The reason for this was that for many of them you had to take part in a demo at their exhibit. Great for those who were interested in the games being demonstrated, or had the time to sit in on one, or wait for a seat to become available. Some exhibitors were giving them away, all you had to do was ask, however, all the ones we asked for had run out long ago, though they were being re-stoked the following day.

It’s a new venture for the EXPO and I’m sure it will take off and the pins become a little easier to get hold of. Maybe, continue with giving them away free if you do a demo or some sort of task, but also make them available for a small cost – £2 is a usual cost for a pin and we’d be happy to buy them.

Getting back to the halls…

There didn’t seem to be as many tabletop games traders as usual. I mean, those that are selling games or something directly related to the hobby. There were a lot of periphery stalls, however, those selling T-shirts, pictures, cosplay, mugs, trinkets, and so on, all with game related branding on them. I do wonder if some of them actually sell enough to make a profit – games related candle anyone?

Compared to previously, quite a few of the traders’ stalls were enclosed in some way. Some had temporary walling around them, others did so by the way their racking was set up. Whilst I can understand this in terms of making sure nobody walks off with their stock without paying (Doubtful in my opinion, as the gamer community is one of the nicest and honest I’ve ever known), it did concentrate the crowds trying to look at their wares. Zatu, for one, was almost solid with people, many of which were just fighting to make their way out. It made it difficult to see what was on the shelves, arduous to actually grab what you wanted, and near impossible to escape.

Chaos Cards, on the other hand, whilst just as busy, had their stalls arranged in a rectangular fashion with games both on the inner and outer racks, staff parading between them on constant alert to give assistance and take your money. Guess where we spent more of our time!

The hours ticked by amazingly quickly and after a quick break for coffee we were left with a dilemma.

Other than one or two small purchases, we were struggling to find the games on our list. Other things had grabbed out attention but typical of us they were all big box games that cost the price of a small car. Now, I don’t mind breaking the bank for something I know at least a little bit about, but these were totally new to me (I realised just how much I had fallen out of touch with the current ‘hotness’).

There was the new Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era game, which looked amazing and was an IP we were both into, however, it was only available at the Chip Theory Games stall and was knocking over £200. I wasn’t about to pay that knowing next to nothing how it played.

Time was a ticking and we had to make a decision. Continue around the parts we were yet to investigate, return to the B&B, or go back and pick up a few of the games we were interested in that we’d seen on trade stands (Marvel United expansions sprung to mind).

Yasmin loves a bargain and wanted to revisit the B&B – she’s got a nose for sniffing out interesting games from there. It was decided that we should check out the queue. If it was too long, we’d return to investigate the bits we hadn’t seen. As it was, we queued for about 15-minutes and it wasn’t so busy inside and we were able to spend longer hunting through the shelves. Of course, we managed to pick up a few goodies, none of which were on our list, and that was about it for us, as it was approaching 5-o’clock and we had the inevitable Friday Rush hour on the M6 to look forward to.

So, before I get to the games we bought, what conclusions did I draw from this year’s EXPO?

Well, it’s certainly getting bigger, both in floor space and number of attendees. Indeed, this was the first time I’d never managed to get around and look at everything, which was a bit disappointing.

The changes to the format they have made, in terms of a lot of the traders having demo/gaming areas, I thought was a step in the right direction and did help alleviate the concentration of crowds where there used to be traders in quite close proximity to one another.

We liked the idea of the pin collective; it just needs a little development. Maybe something in the program telling how to get each badge or making them available to buy as well. They also need to be produced in greater numbers.

I’ve said this before, ‘One day is not enough’ and this rings especially true as it expands. I would love to take part in some demos – they had Maladum set up but weren’t demoing it at the time we were there – and to talk to some of the people who had games in development and wanted feedback. There’s so much more to it than just going to buy. Alas, that’s all we seemed to use it for.

When it was smaller, I used to chat to people, admire the many painted miniatures on display, and take photo of new and upcoming games (I didn’t take a single picture, as I just don’t like to with all the people around, though Yasmin grabbed a couple (of pictures that is, not people!)).

Something we’ve talked about before is booking a room in one of the local hotels and doing the whole weekend. It’s a nice idea but turns the event into quite an expensive outing. Despite that, I think it is worth considering, as it opens up a lot more for us to do, such as the seminars and the open gaming in the Hilton during the evening, as well as giving us the time to do justice in exploring the halls.

Anyway, to the games…

Let’s start by going over the games I listed in my previous post.

Any Nemesis expansions – Picked up the Void Seeders expansion from the B&B. Brand new still sealed! Adds a new race to go against. One that works on insanity and mind control – should be interesting.

Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth – One of the few games we bought brand new and we managed a couple of games on Saturday – look out for my first thoughts.

Hadrian’s Wall – Didn’t come across this anywhere, alas.

Tapestry – A game we both would have like to get our hands on but we only saw it for sale in one place and it was going for far too much at over £70 – I can get it off the internet for a lot less.

Andromeda’s Edge – Didn’t see it anywhere and then I was standing next to a guy who asked the very nice lady at Chaos Cards if they had it anywhere. After a quick look at their records, she said it may be in their stock pile and turned to go and look, at which point I jumped in and said if they had, please bring two! Indeed, two copies appeared and we were both very happy.

Unmatched Adventures – Another B&B purchase at a great price and it was the Kickstarter version as well (that, it turned out, didn’t include much extra other than foil cards – not that it mattered). We also managed a game or two (the first lasted a few minutes as we were swiftly handed our back-sides!). First thoughts coming soon.

Vampire the Masquerade: Chapters – Didn’t come across this one at all. I was hoping we may find it in the B&B, it has a reputation of not being the easiest of games to get along with, as I’ve mentioned before, and thought it might end up here. Yasmin is chomping at the bit for this because it’s Vampires; a Christmas pressie maybe?

Elden Ring – This was everywhere, or at least the bigger of the three standalone versions was. It was also overpriced compared to current internet prices. I wanted one of the smaller versions, so as to get a feel for the game before spending the big bucks. In the end, we opted out and will give it more thought.

Maladum – I’m constantly drawn to this game and I think if we hadn’t revisited the B&B at the end then I’d have circled back round and picked up a copy, even though I could get it slightly cheaper online. It looks fabulous set up. The terrain is cardboard but looks very well done indeed. I really should pay more attention to how the game actually plays, though, before I get a copy – maybe next year?

So much for a list then, though four out of nine isn’t too bad I suppose.

However, here’s the rest of our haul…

Arcadia quest: Inferno – This caught my eye as we were trawling through the racks of the B&B the second time around. I’ve heard a lot about Arcadia Quest in general, especially on podcasts, but never played it myself. Everything I’ve heard has been very positive and it’s the kind of game we like. Big box Fantasy Dungeon Crawler kind of thing. Gorgeous minis and it came with a plastic container for holding all the tokens – bargain!

Heroes of Land, Sea, and Air – Yasmin spotted this. Yes, another from the B&B, there’s a bit of a theme going on here. She rightly pointed out that we had watched reviews about it a few years ago and really liked the sound of it, however, at the time it was difficult to get hold of. It’s a strategic 4X-style of game, something different for us, bringing to life the heroes that shape the course of the war. The usual races are represented – human, orc, dwarf, and elves – and it features some interesting game play features.

Legendary, A Marvel Deck Building Game – Another spot by Yasmin, again in the B&B. We have the X-files Legendary Encounters version, which plays somewhat different to this, as it is the ‘Encounters’ version of the game. We love Marvel and we love deck-builders, so this should fit us well. It also came with two expansions thrown in – Dark City and Champions – a custom insert, and all the cards are sleeved!

Amun-Re: 20^th Anniversary Edition – Our first adventure in to the B&B resulted in us buying this game. Everywhere we looked there were games about Ancient Egypt. It appeared to be the theme of the day. Of course, Yasmin is studying Egyptology at the moment and took it as a sign. We looked over a few, many I’d never heard of, some I knew weren’t so good, and a couple were three players plus. Then Amun-Re jumped out, at a very good price indeed, and, as I’d heard good things about it we added it to our stash (after a quick look in the box, as it was soooo cheap and sometimes that’s because it’s only part s of the game). Looking forward to playing this one with Yasmin when she’s back for summer hols.

Final Girl – I’ve wanted to play this since it was first kickstarted but was never quite sure how to jump in, as the range of expansions has grown rather large. I saw the core box in the B&B and grabbed it. A little later, whilst we were taking a break, I opened it up and read what I needed to add to play. Just add feature film expansions, so I bought Carnage at the Carnival, which I’m just learning to play now.

Star Trek Expeditions – Knew nothing about this game but I love Star Trek and it was just over a tenner, so worth a punt. It also had an expansion in the box. Apparently, it’s an okay game, down on replayability. But for the price, if I just get a couple of decent games out of it I’ll be happy.

Evolution Another World – Another game going for a price that was too good to turn down, but this one I was a little more familiar with, as I’d wanted to play the original, Evolution, for a long time. I think this one may even get Sue to play, which is a tough call, as she really isn’t a gamer (though does like to play Timelines).

So, that’s the haul for 2025. If you’re wondering why we buy so much there, it’s because it’s pretty much, other than for Christmas, the only time I buy games. There’s a bit of a thrill going to an EXPO and coming back armed with a years supply of games. I save up all year, starting from when we return, and that’s all I spend there. Now I’ve just got to get them played, and that’s another challenge!