UK GAMES EXPO 2024

The wrap: was UKGE 2024 worth it? The answer: Yes.

The scenes from Hall 1 on Friday and possibly the world’s tastiest Glizzy 🌭

First Impressions

This year’s UK Games Expo, hosted in the Birmingham NEC was very interesting. I’ve been going annually since 2018 and this year I decided to do the Friday and Saturday.

However, as well as staying overnight to play some D&D (hosted at the Hilton function rooms) I had decided to go with friends whom I play Dungeons & Dragons with. For three of them, it was their first time, and certainly not their last.

The first thing upon arrival that I noticed was how incredibly well managed the queue was, we virtually walked in to collect our passes. The staff were friendly and helpful as ever. As we left the pass collection queue (which took less than 10mins) I was handed the programme and was reminded by the nostalgic beauty which adorned the cover art – that this year marks Dungeons & Dragons 50th anniversary.

The programme featuring 50 years of D&D

But you wouldn’t think that when arriving and walking around. This year’s event felt as if the same body existed but lacked part of the soul that previous years had.

‘What do you mean, lacking soul?‘ I hear you ask. Well, upon entering Hall 1, we noticed that there wasn’t any grand statue or main focal point that made you want to gawk with absolute awe, whereas in comparison to 2023’s event, Games Workshop were at the entrance featuring a life-size statue of a Space Marine Terminator. Just outside of Hall 1 was a little photo op you could take with the statue of the iconic dragon that is UKGE’s mascot, it was something but you could (and we did) easily walk past it without notice.

Who would win: a Space Marine Terminator or a small dragon?

So that’s what I meant. The event had the usual suspects, some of my favourites being Tritex Games, Wayland Games, ZATU (I keep forgetting to pick up their plush every year) and a plethora of small craft stalls that are too many in name to mention. However, there were small glimmers of fresh souls I saw, and one that captivated me was a lovely stall right by the stairs in Hall 2 called Lantern Man Gaming.

What Captivated Me?

I saw a friend of mine, who was jolly from all the drinking, standing at this stand with a giant grin on his face. This was the grin of a captivated, intrigued man. Thing is, this friend is genuinely hard to captive and intrigue, and even with a few beers knocked back in him, he actually becomes a man of iron will, and thus I decided to see what the fuss was about. If he was this interested, what could it be that they are trying to market?

‘What was the fuss about?‘ I again hear you say. It was about a deck of actual playing cards that doubled up as individual magic items that one could use in D&D. I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the incredible artwork, so I encourage you to check out Lantern Man Gaming who are on DriveThruRPG.

The whole team contributed something genuine to the small amount of unique items they had for sale from one shot adventures to useful gaming crafty work, there was something there for everyone. As I was browsing their stand, something else caught my eye. A few neatly drawn, thin paper books in the corner of the stand that looked like one shot modules. I spoke to one of the chaps who gave me the TL;DR on each one and I truly enjoyed each aspect as he described the adventure synopsis to me.

I picked up a couple of decent adventure one shots from them, as I wanted a physical copy, the artwork is great and after a brief chat, I realised that Lantern Man Gaming had something truly unique in a market that is saturated by the same content you see regurgitated far too often in fantasy RPGs and difficult to filter through. You know what I mean, dice are a good example, and one shots are few and far between.

I highly encourage you to check them out and maybe even try and catch them at other events, next year I hope to have the second part of the one shots they currently have in production, which will be a great addition to entertain my friends with.

Speaking of dice earlier, I asked my friends as we sat down at the Sky Bar to put their hand UP if they DIDN’T buy dice. Out of the 6 of us, 0 hands went up. Some truly beautiful dice that none of us needed, and though I’m burnt out on dice and truly don’t need anymore, I bought a couple of sets just in case. We all did. It’s an abusive relationship of aesthetic chance we all get sucked into and if you play multiple gaming systems then you’ll be browsing around looking at different dice, trying to justify why you need that set (which you don’t) and you’ll end up finishing your perusing with a new set of dice. I should know. I’m on my 4th dice bag.

Anyway, enough of the dice. Back to the expo itself. I bumped into the regular vendors and they all had a lovely time at the expo. The 3D printing giant, MyMiniFactory, was there showcasing the Stratasys J55 inkjet style resin printer; to cut a long story short, this beast prints resin minis in full colour (that look painted) and washes and cures them.

This absolute unit was truly a beast to behold. It has inspired me a lot to look into more of the engineering techniques of up-and-coming 3D printers and what they can offer humanity.

Late Night Dungeons & Dragons

Once we’d settled on Friday, night time wanted to wrap her graceful arms around us but struggled as the UK summer was in full swing. For most of us, the drive had been long and the excitement of the show was slowly creeping on the veterans among the group. We were waiting until around 8pm before we had to go to the Hilton to gather our minis, dice, and wits and meet new people before playing an introduction module for D&D: Living Arcanis.

Whilst waiting outside, the sun was shining and music was blaring in a makeshift outdoor venue within the front car park of the Hilton. It was filled with people, all of whom were also waiting for their late night gaming to begin. The area itself had multiple food stands and a brewery selling fresh ales and ciders. I hopped straight into the hotdog stand, Fat Snags, and got myself a hotdog, whilst my friends in the beer stand came over with an amber ale. The hotdog was made there and then, the two dudes boiled and grilled it in full view before you were given your choice of hotdog toppings. Because onions suck, I had chives with the fireside hot sauce and a chipotle style dressing. There was no messing about with this stand and no compromise on quality either. I don’t know how they did it but they did, and so with that, I can excitedly say this hotdog, along with the amber ale, good times, and sunshine really hit the spot. 10/10 Fat Snags.

Inside, the venue was huge, there were function rooms filled with hundreds of tables. We found a large room where we were playing and we were quickly met by the DM and two of his friends. I knew immediately these were old school D&D veterans, you just get that vibe when you’ve been playing tabletop games as long as I have. His demeanor, the punctual approach with all of the equipment he brought with him, everything. The two friends he was with, Lee and Nicola, stood by as if they were all a level 20 party of adventurers. The DM, Dan, was lovely. We played the game, had fun, and truly made new friends that night.

I discovered from Dan that the Living brand is a setting that was created by someone they have known for a very long time. You can find this too on DriveThruRPG and as we discovered from the adventure, the four hours we played were fleshed out well enough that I left the event with an understanding of the setting – and – similar to Adventurers League, we were awarded with a signed official Living Arcanis log certificate, awarding xp and items to all who participated to bring along with your character should you play another module again within the Living setting.

I don’t want to spoil the adventure for those who want to play it, but I can assure you that it was fun. With new spells and lore to flesh out the setting, one can expect to find the same delights one would find with Kobold Press‘ books, and so with that, I leave you with a picture of my graceful Human Cleric, Frieren, blasting Ratfolk with her claws and staff.

Vibes & Verdicts

By Saturday, the expo was in full swing. The crowd was massive and the games were on. Hall 3 had a bunch of tabletop events ranging from card games to people streaming solo miniature games. We decided, after some more browsing, to casually test some new card games my housemate had acquired whilst my eyes watered from the £7.50 pint of ale being served at the venue bar. Speaking of venue bar, the food this year in the food court was amazing, there was a Greek stall selling chicken wraps and in the opposite corner there was a bakery selling freshly made sausage rolls, pastry and coffees. Sorry I didn’t get a picture, I ate it all, rather quickly. Definitely a step up from last year.

Anyway, the games we all bought were chock-full of fun and, though the feel of UKGE 2024 was different to previous years, I’m sure it’s a welcome one and not at all a negative experience. Just a different one. I know this because I asked the newbies with us what they thought and they truly enjoyed it, from the Official UKGE Treasure Hunt (which had some cool badges to be collected), Catan badge swap to the miniature painting and games night.

For me, this year symbolised that as I’ve grown older, the event has appealed to me for different reasons. I didn’t leave UKGE 2024 with bags of board games and a grin like all the previous years, but instead left with a couple of dice and some happy friends, as well as new ones which I’m eager to go gaming with in the future.

I guess it’s true what they say, it’s not about the journey, it’s about the friendships you make along the way.

And with that, I will be going to UKGE 2025 where I’ll focus on some games, get in another game of D&D and hopefully guzzle another glizzy from Fat Snags. Peace! ✌️

– Rabs, The Saucerer

Article originally published: 02/06/2024