If you’ve no idea what the UKGE is, you can read about past events in my write-ups for 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. It’s the biggest games convention in the UK and the third biggest in the world I’m reliably informed that actually there other shows across France and other countries that are plenty bigger too. I need to do some more research! It means that despite the show taking place in three massive halls, it gets busy. Really busy. But that’s a part of the charm.

I’ve said it a lot of times before but it bears repeating. There’s something special about being surrounded by thousands of like-minded people. It gives you a buzz that stays with you for days. If ever you feel your love for the hobby getting stale, head to a convention. It’s like drinking an elixir of gaming rejuvenation.

Ringing the changes

For the most part, every UKGE is the same, but when you’ve been a few times you start to notice small changes. The Shop and Drop, for example, is usually my first port of call. It’s a stand where you can rent a storage box for the day to pick up and drop off anything you’re carrying so you don’t have to lug it around all day. However, when I went to the point in Hall 3 first thing but it wasn’t even setup ready to go. Not a great start, but later while I was wandering the halls I realised that there was another Shop and Drop in Hall 1 too. This was great to see and helped keep the crowds more manageable.

There were some notable absentees from the exhibitors this year. Publishers such as Queen Games and Games Workshop had big stands in the past, but neither was there. Instead, though, there seemed to be more independent publishers than I remember in the past. More gaming-adjacent stalls selling dice, 3D-printed dragons, journals, clothing, bags, and even replica weapons. I spoke to two vendors who were selling cosplay masks and weapons who had never been to the UKGE before but saw enough business to want to come back again.

Ticketing and the Bring and Buy were different too. Collecting tickets seemed quicker and easier than in the past. Especially as a member of the press, I got ushered straight to the front which felt cheeky, but welcome after five hours in the car. I heard stories from some people who had to queue for the best part of an hour on Saturday morning, but if you turn up on the busiest day of the show, you’ve got to expect to queue.

The Bring and Buy saw a big change which limited the number of items any one person could list, fix minimum prices, and prevent price changes during the show. Some people said there seemed to be fewer games in there, but those who added games to the sale experienced a much smaller queue thanks to people not being able to abuse the system by bringing literally hundreds of games in to sell.

On the whole things are improving little-by-little, year-on-year, and it’s a good thing too, because it’s only getting bigger. 39,306 individual people attended, making for 65,281 total visitors over the weekend. That’s incredible.

My time at the show

After picking Paul from Gaming Rules! up on the way, I got to my hotel in time for a quick shower before heading over to the halls. A quick curry at Wetherspoons and a pint of Leffe later and it was off to the press preview. It seemed like there were more stalls than usual and it was a great chance to say hello to people I didn’t know and to catch up with those I do. From there it was over to open gaming to meet up with my extended board game family and play some games.

Friday was another whirlwind of people, stands, and meetings. The buzz around the halls was electric all day and all night. Even though there was barely space to sit and play in Open Gaming until later in the evening, it was great. I was especially pleased as Stefan from Feuerland Spiele came across from Germany for the show and brought a prototype of the new Uwe Rosenberg game, Black Forest, with him. Part Glass Road, part Nusfjord, part something new, it’s a great game with a ton of things to think about. I’m already looking forward to playing it again, and very grateful to Stefan and Paul for the chance to play.

Over the course of the day, I racked up 18,000 steps, and didn’t my feet just know it! It was worth it though. Despite feeling exhausted I couldn’t get to sleep for love nor money that night as my brain tried to process the sensory overload from the previous 14 hours.

Saturday is usually my final day at the expo, and this year was the same. There’s only so much I can take when it’s busy, and Saturday was even busier than Friday, which was already crazy. In some parts of the halls, you could barely move at times, which leads to some frustration for some visitors. People grow tired and impatient, and a few people I know who were demonstrating for various publishers told me about some rude visitors they had. Those people are greatly in the minority, thankfully, and on the whole, the atmosphere is brilliant. There were lots of people with various mobility problems, or pushing prams, and people were considerate enough to help them get from point A to point B.

By mid-afternoon, I was done. Another 17,000 steps on the soles of my feet, a dehydration headache (despite constantly drinking water) and arms and shoulders complaining due to carrying far too many boxes, I made my way back to my car. Four-and-a-half hours later with another 260 miles on my poor car’s odometer, I was home and unwinding. Happy, enthused, and desperate to play more games already.

Thank you

Adding a quick edit here: I can’t believe I forgot to mention Flavien and the crew from Hachette Boardgames UK. He’s the most unmissable person at these shows. Je suis désolé Flav.

I won’t come close to thanking everyone who made my weekend what it was, but I’ll try. Thanks to Paul for the company in the car and the invite to play Black Forest. To Mark, Jill, Clare, Hilmar, Mak, John, Peter, Ben and the rest of the Gaming Rules! crew who chatted and played games with me. To JP, Davey, Tambo, Becky, Kerley, Adrian, Rob (seriously, how many of you are there…?) and whoever else I’ve forgotten from the Whose Turn is it Anyway podcast team for laughs and the invite to a dirty hot dog. To Iain and Oliver of Brainwaves and Rich from their Discord server for the company at breakfast and on the walk to and from the halls. To Tim Clare, whose writing exercises I was doing earlier this year, for playing games with me, introducing me to new ones, and being great company. To Chris, Chris, Jess, Gavin, Devon, Dorka, Ola, Dave, Mark, Sophie, and the countless other publishers and designers who talked to me about everything from their games to the state of American politics. The games are cool, but the people make UKGE what it is.

And of course, a massive thank you to everyone who helped organise and run the expo, the volunteers on the stalls, and the NEC staff for keeping things running.

See you all next year!

The post UK Games Expo 2024 Convention Report appeared first on Punchboard.

Heading to Harrogate in March should mean trees coming into leaf, with crocuses and daffodils adding colour like an embroidered carpet throughout the town. Not this year though. It was all white. There was snow – lots of snow. Still, the intrepid tabletop community weren’t about to let something as trivial as sub-zero temperatures, dangerous travelling conditions, or the risk of slipping over stop them. (For the record, I slipped and fell just once, which is a win in my books).

Harrogate Convention Centre was teeming with people, and despite the huge numbers of people, it didn’t feel crowded. That was thanks to the Airecon crew who rented much bigger areas of the centre to run the convention this year. Even then, it still felt pretty full on Saturday, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it grow again in 2024, if money and Mark’s (the founder of Airecon) stress levels allow.

Come and play

Airecon is a play-focused convention, which means it caters to the likes of you and me: people who want to meet up with like-minded people and play games. It’s in contrast to something like UK Games Expo (you can read my previous reports for UKGE here and here) or Essen Spiel, which have open gaming areas but are set up for vendors first and foremost. Last year’s Airecon (which I wrote about here) had a retail and publisher presence, but it was pretty small. This year the exhibition space was much bigger and felt more like one of the halls at UKGE. 

The purists among you might want to turn their nose up at the growth of places to spend your money, but I’m actually in favour of it, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the additional income from exhibitors means Airecon can afford to occupy as much of the building as it did, and allows it to cater to increased numbers of attendees. Secondly, and maybe most importantly from an attendee’s point of view, the exhibitors were in a completely separate hall from the rest of the convention. If you wanted to you could spend the whole weekend at Airecon and not step foot inside the exhibition hall once. If it continues to grow, I hope the convention keeps this feeling of separation, because it helps Airecon to feel like it has in the past. It’s that spirit and feeling of a gathering of people who just want to play games which makes Airecon what it is.

Airecon isn’t just about playing or buying games. They also run a ton of events. I didn’t attend many, but I did take part in the board game pub quiz again, which was great. Despite having had quite a few drinks between us, our team – Full Fact Hunts (sorry Mark!) – came 4th out of 30+ teams, which was great. Mark runs a great quiz, and we had an absolute hoot. I watched some of the giant Just One game which seemed to be getting a lot of laughs, not to mention the Jolly Boat show, the charity raffle, the Park Run, beer tasting, or the morning meetup for coffee and breakfast. It’s fair to say there’s plenty to be doing at any given moment.

Personal highlights

I had a great time at the convention. On Thursday evening after heading out for a beer and pizza with Iain from The Giant Brain, I nipped over to the hall to collect my pass, only to bump into a certain Mr Rodney Smith, who many of you may know as the face of Watch It Played on YouTube. I went back to the bar with him and Matthew Jude from the same channel (among other things), where we had a couple of beers, waxed lyrical about what makes a good wargame rulebook, and shared our mutual admiration of The Players Aid (go and check them out, Grant and Alexander are great).

It kept snowing overnight, which meant my genius idea backfired on me. I took a large, rolling suitcase with me to transport my games, thinking the rollers would help me. Clever, right? Not so. The snow was so deep that the rollers never touched the tarmac, and I used my case as a makeshift snowplough as I trudged through the streets, dragging it behind me.

You’re welcome, residents of Harrogate.

Once in the halls, I met up with my extended, adopted family of people from the Gaming Rules! Slack server, who I tend to spend time with at every convention. I pretty much just played games all day, which was amazing. I played (and won at!) The Great Wall, which was very good, Yokohama, Ominoes, No Thanks, Scout, Gorilla Marketing, and Can’t Stop.

Saturday was when I took some time out to go and speak to people in the exhibitors’ hall, which was really good. I met a load of new people, including, but not limited to – Andrew from Yay Games, Tristan from Hall or Nothing, Tim from Critical Kit Ltd, and Tony from Meeple Design. Along with them, I managed to bump into old friends too: Tom from Trolls & Rerolls, Laurie from SDR, Paul from Patriot Games, Flavien from Hachette Boardgames UK, and Nicky at Kosmos Games,  I could have spent much longer talking to more people in that hall, but that’s the sort of thing I prefer to do at UK Games Expo. Airecon is for playing games for me.

For the rest of that day I played a few games, including Atiwa, Cuba Libre, and frustratingly a game I can’t tell you much about! I booked in a few months ago for a demo of a new game by David Turczi (Tawantinsuyu) and Simone Luciani (Barrage). I’m not allowed to show you photos of it, I’m not allowed to tell you what it’s called – it’s all very hush-hush.  What I can tell you is that it feels like someone made a game using 60% Brass, 20% Barrage, and 20% Concordia. I can tell you it won’t get crowdfunded. I can tell you it’s coming from a big publisher. I can tell you you should be able to pick it up at Essen this year. I’m very excited to play it again, and I can believe it might already be my game of the year.

Thank yous & final thoughts

There are so many people I want to thank, I’m bound to miss some of them. With that in mind, THANK YOU to:

Mark, Ben, and everyone who set up and ran Airecon, from the organisers to the stewards and everyone in between. From the planning to the execution, without each and every one of you, we wouldn’t have the Airecon we all love.

Rodney, Matthew, and Paula from Watch it Played for taking the time out of their crazy schedules to share a drink and a laugh with me.

Dina from Dina Said So, who not only pushes new indie studios my way, but also brought me Moomin fudge from Finland. MOOMIN FUDGE!

Iain from The Giant Brain, who I’ve known for ages, but met for the first time. We had fun playing games and setting the world to rights over Norwegian breakfasts. Gavin and Sara-Jayne were very welcome additions to our games too, so thank you all.

Last, and in no possible way least, thank you to Mak, Jill, Mark, Bob, Neil, the other Bob, and everyone else from my Gaming Rules! Slack extended family. You guys make conventions for me, and there’s no other group I’d rather play games and drink beer with.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating – if you’re on the fence about going to a convention, or you’re nervous about going, Airecon is a fantastic place to start. There’s no denying that it is very busy, and from the outside, it can seem intimidating. However, in all my years of attending events in different places, for different hobbies, there is nothing that compares to the friendliness you’ll find at an event like Airecon. No matter which demographic you fall into, you’ll be made to feel welcome, and I’ll wager you a bratwurst from the food trucks that you leave with more friends than you arrived with. Even for someone like me who lives a long way away, the 16 hours on trains and 800 miles of travel to get there and back is more than worth it.

See you all next year.

The post Airecon 2023 Convention Report appeared first on Punchboard.

My convention experience so far (for board games at least) has been the behemoth that is the UK Games Expo, and the smaller, friendlier GridCon. People had told me that AireCon sits somewhere between the two, so I was keen to find out what it was like. I also knew plenty of designers, publishers, and online friends who were going to be attending, which helped swing the decision to go.

I loaded the car with games, more games, and some other things which are apparently necessary, like clothes and toiletries. After eight hours in the car, and a disastrous stop at Bridgwater service station (where I managed to fall, take the skin off my palms, crack a rib, and hurt my shoulder), I was ‘up North’. Before we get to the convention, I want to take a moment to mention how beautiful Harrogate is. Make sure you plan in some time to take a walk around the town.

“I suffer from anxiety. Is AireCon for me?”

Plenty of people were – understandably – anxious about attending, what would be for many, their first big convention. Lockdown drew a lot of new players into the hobby, and turning up to a strange show, with thousands of strangers in attendance, is a daunting prospect. I wasn’t too worried, but I had the benefit of previous experience, and knowing a few people who would be there.

I think the first thing that really struck me about AireCon, and this includes the build-up, as well as the event itself, is how welcoming it is. Emails before the big day outlined what was expected, where people can go, and what help and support was on-hand. It was all evident from the moment we walked in. Friendly staff and volunteers were at the door, welcoming attendees, disabled access was everywhere, including priority tables in the open gaming areas.

The long conservatory was flooded with natural light, and some quieter space to play games, while still being close enough to feel the buzz from the main hall. If all of that sounds like it’s still too much, AireCon did two especially nice things. Firstly, upstairs they have quiet gaming areas, which can be a welcome reprieve from the noise downstairs. Secondly, and best of all, is the Roll Through It area. There’s a friendly team of volunteers who take the time to make sure you feel welcome, and will even play some games with you if you don’t feel ready to face strangers yet.

Games, games, games

I went with the intention of playing lots of games, and I wasn’t disappointed. I met up with some people I know from the Gaming Rules! community, and we camped out on some tables for the entire weekend. I’ve had to go back through my photos to remember which games I played, and I think it was: Dinosaur Island: Rawr and Write, Watergate, A War of Whispers, Echidna Shuffle, Almadi, Libertalia x 2, Brian Boru, Snowdonia, and Anomia. There are some great titles in there, and reviews of at least two of them on the way.

Along with playing, I spent a lot of time walking and talking. Rodney and his crew from Watch It Played made the long trip across the Atlantic to come to the show, and I managed to grab both he and Paula from Things Get Dicey for a chat and photo ops. Both were very humble and only too happy to stay and talk. It was just another thing which helped make the event feel comfortable and inviting.

I also got to meet some people I’ve been interacting with over the last two years, which was fantastic. I bumped into Lawrie from SDR Studios (I previewed Earth Rising for them last year), Joe and Maddie of Cogito Ergo Meeple (Solar 175 preview here), the ever-present Bez, Flavien and Cyprien of Hachette UK and FunnyFox respectively (distributors and publishers of Almadi), Will from PSC Games, Ellie Dix of The Dark Imp, and the guys behind The Detective Society.

That’s before even mentioning the legends I played with all weekend. Scott, Mark, Jill, Peter, Bob and the rest of the Gaming Rules! crew, thank you. A big hello also to Craig of Meeples of the North Kingdom, who I first met up with last year at UKGE, and played games with again this time around.

Final thoughts

If your idea of a good convention is one where the emphasis is on playing games, AireCon is fantastic. Everyone, from staff to other attendees, was so friendly and welcoming. If you’re worried about coming along on your own, don’t be, there are always plenty of people happy to invite someone new to their table. The sales stands were good, and I love that the vast majority of the space in the halls is given to people, and the games they play, not just businesses looking to make a buck.

The catering – by way of a variety of food trucks – was great, and it was never too difficult to get a drink or a snack. The games library was well-stocked, and free! Okay, there’s a £10 deposit, but you get that back. Upstairs, the bring and buy was fantastic, and I’ll admit I grabbed a couple of bargains I hadn’t intended to. With so much of the weekend’s proceedings going towards charity, including a cut of the bring and buy sales, I can justify my new-to-me games to myself.

I’m equal parts surprised and delighted that the AireCon crew have managed to expand so much in such a short space of time, but without losing the feeling of friendliness that pervades the weekend. Everyone there is just happy to be with likeminded people who just want to take a day or two out from the stresses and worries of life, and enjoy something approaching normal, after a torrid couple of years.

I had an amazing time, and I’ll be back. If you’re on the fence about coming, or nervous of attending, I urge you have a look at their beginner’s guide, and to come along. If you live closer than I do, then definitely go and check it out. It’s a celebration of all that is wonderful about out hobby, and the people who share it.

See you next year, AireCon!

The post AireCon 2022 Convention Report appeared first on Punchboard.

Safety first

Before I get into the games, I wanted to address the biggest question most people had about the event – how safe did it feel? In short, I felt very safe for the vast majority of the time. You had to present low-risk evidence to even get into the building, and I’m happy to say that over 99% of the people I saw were wearing face coverings while on the main show floor.

The demo areas were big and open for the most part, and it was a smart decision to put the big, sponsored demo areas in the middle of the floor, with stands around them. It stopped those areas feeling crowded at all. The only time you had to get close to others was around the more popular vendors, but at least that was personal choice.

The food and drink area had plenty of space, and the open gaming area was excellent. Long tables with nice mats from Game Toppers were set-up with gaps of at least two meters between them. Overall, I think the whole experience was about as safe as it could have been, and I’d be happy to do it again.

Thursday

I drove up on Thursday afternoon and got myself checked-in at the hotel, before heading down to collect my tickets and press pass. As always with the NEC, there’s a lot of walking involved, but it was good to stretch my legs after a long time in the car. Thursday evening was the press preview, which was a relatively small event for the publishers and distributors to get to talk to the media.

It was great to talk to people I’d spoken to online during the last year, including the guys at Dranda Games, who were showing off their follow-up to Solar Storm, Solar Sphere. From what I saw of the game, it’s gone straight onto my wishlist. I caught up with Paul Stapleton from Bedsit Games, and I’m really looking forward to trying Pauper’s Ladder and the new Moon Towers expansion.

I bumped into Bez of Stuff by Bez and had a nice chat with her, as well as trying out “A game about WEE WHIMSICAL CREATURES and trying to identify them after someone makes noises“, which was good fun. Escape Plan Games were showing off Hit The Silk and Stop the Train, both of which really tickled my fancy, social deduction and a lot of player interaction.

I had a good chat with James Naylor of Naylor Games, ahead of the launch of both Magnate: The First City, and the newly-announced (I think this is right…) Board Game: The Board Game Card Game. It looks like a great game of designing and making board games, played as a poker-style card game, with tongue firmly in cheek. Finally, I stumbled back to the hotel for a well-earned sleep.

Friday

The first day proper, and plenty of people milling around. Despite telling myself I’d pace myself with my spending money, I spotted Firestorm Cards had a stand right inside the door. I know they carry Eagle Gryphon Games stock, so asked if they had any with them, half-hoping they’d say no. Long story short, within ten minutes of the doors opening I’d bought On Mars…

On the show floor I stopped at Hatchette Games stand and tried out two really good new games. Trek 12 is a roll and write with some really clever choices to make, from Bruno Cathala, and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for a copy. The game that impressed me most was one called Oltréé, designed in part by Antoine Bauza. It’s a really clever, co-op, narrative-driven game based on a French RPG.

Later in the day I played a really nice abstract game called Deckchairs on the Titanic by Silver Birch Games. It’s a cut-throat quick little game (although I played on the massive, over-sized version) of trying to get your deckchairs to certain spots, while your rivals try to do the same. It’s one I think will make a great gateway game, and one to look out for.

Open gaming

On Friday evening I headed to the open gaming area and met up with a few folks I know from a Facebook group. We spent the rest of the night playing five hours of games, including a really tight game of Leder Games’ Fort, and an epic game of Tapestry with the Plans & Ploys expansion, from Stonemaier Games.

I really loved the open gaming area. We had so much space, and everywhere you looked there were groups of people enjoying every type of game you can think of. There was a lovely, if slightly subdued, atmosphere. It was perfect like that. Nobody was so nonchalant as to just pretend there’s no pandemic, but there was still a nice feeling of more normal, if not actually normal yet.

The feeling of being in such a big place, surrounded by people who share your hobby and passion, is absolutely fantastic.

Saturday

I already knew Saturday would be my shortest, and final day. After checking-out and saying goodbye to my hotel room (it’s a tradition now, I have no idea why), I headed down to spend the last of my cash, pick up a present for my son – Japanese snacks and a mug full of random dice – and to play another game.

I arranged to meet up with Ellie from The Dark Imp (I reviewed a load of their games not-so-long ago) to have an in-person catch-up and a game of Architects of the West Kingdom (review here). After a last lap of the hall and a few goodbyes to new friends, I headed to my car for the long drive home.

Summary

The 2021 UK Games Expo was great. Cautious where necessary, smaller than usual, but after the last 18 months, it was the perfect way to start getting back to something normal. The organisers put together a fantastic event, the exhibitors were enthusiastic and friendly, and the attendees obeyed the rules.

I’d like to say a special thank you to the horde of volunteers who help out on the demo tables, as they give up their time for free to help people play new games, and don’t have the luxury of just wandering around and enjoying the day.

I’ll be back next year for certain, I’ve already booked my hotel, and I’m really looking forward to it. Thanks for a great weekend, UK Games Expo team.

My Expo in numbers

10.5 – hours spent driving the 520 total miles

45,000 – steps taken over the three days

21.5 – miles walked

5 – games bought

2 – hotel breakfasts destroyed

The post UK Games Expo 2021 Round-up appeared first on Punchboard.