UKGE - What I did in Birmingham

As some of you know, I went to UK Gaming Expo at the end of May. This is a summary of my time there.

Getting There

My plans, broadly worked as expected. I found myself in the NEC at around 8:20 am on Friday 29th May. At this time of the day, the queue to get my 3 day pass was light, and I was even able to find a Starbucks that was quiet. I found a seat outside in the sun, and sipped on my coffee while planning my day.

Plan A

The show is big. Like, really big. 60,000 square feet big. I knew in advance that I was planning on spending a fairly large sum of money this weekend. I'd been saving up, and I had a few specific vendors to check. I wanted to try to get all my shopping done on Friday so I could spend the rest of the weekend actually playing games. I had pre-ordered some swag from the organisers, so I queued for about 20 mins after 9am to get my tote bag and desk mat. I then started shopping...

Hall 4, Friday at 9am

Plans B through F

Nothing really 'went wrong' with my plan, it's just that the show is really big. I tried to be methodical, but as I worked my way from hall 4 to Hall 2, via 3 and 3A, I got lost. Just a little, but still.

The problem is the signage. Several of the exhibitors have displays above their stands so you can find them easily. These also act as handy navigation aids. I was smarter this year, and didn't make the mistake of meeting people "At Asmodee" as they again had 3-4 locations throughout the halls. No, this year, I got easily distracted...

Cult of the Lamb coming to Kickstarter soon

I'd set off to go down a specific street to find 3-4 specific exhibitors, but as I came out of another, I'd see a sign and think that was next. So, as I left Roll & Play, I spot the Chaosium stand and I assume that's where I was heading for.

Plan R

The 'R' stands for relax and enjoy yourself. I decided to grab some food, meet up with Niall, Fiona and Morgan, and play some games. This was ace, and honestly the company was the highlight of the weekend (thanks you three!).

Losing Dead of Winter

Saturday was meant to be more of a relaxed affair, but I still went out and impulse bought a ton of things. I was at another seminar in the morning (Humour in RPGS), and followed up that with some purchases of products talked about during it. We did however play a lot more games, and we played Dead of Winter until I had to headed for another seminar.

When you Demo a Marvel game and you're only one that is NOT Spiderman

Easy Like Sunday Morning

There were replacement buses on Sunday, meaning a later start. This did not make much difference. We shipped most of our stuff home in the morning, and resumed Dead of Winter, failing to win again. I think abandoned any sense of order and spent a bunch of money last minute on things I probably need.

As the show closed, the four of us shared a drink while reflecting on the weekend.

Next year, I am planning on driving down instead of flying to offer more flexibility on what I buy, and where I stay.

Are you coming too?