UK Games Expo 2025 Convention Diary – Thursday – The Press Preview
UK Games Expo’s back, and bigger than ever. I attended as the roving reporter for Who Dares Rolls and decided to even go as far as attending the press preview. This is the first time I’ve done it, as normally I’ve got company who aren’t press and have just arrived in town.
This year I was flying solo. No Mike and no Graham, the friend I tend to crash at a Travelodge with and drive in. This time I was alone in the Crowne Plaza, a hotel just along the water from the NEC. It was pricy, but worth it for being so close to the event. The trains were a nightmare, so I took a coach which was late enough that I barely had time to check in my luggage and make sure I wasn’t sweating too badly before heading to the preview.
For those who haven’t attended, this is like a mini-version of the Expo, with several temporary stalls set up for the press and industry folks to run around for a couple of hours, getting any initial scoops. I found it a relief for getting some information prior to the con, so I didn’t have to rush as much. It’s also a mini-version of the Expo in that it’s incredibly packed.
Earthborne Games
It took me a moment to realise I was being pitched a card game by Andrew Navarro, who worked on Arkham Horror Living Card Game and current darling, Earthborne Rangers. I was stopped and asked if I wanted to know about a card game called Hubworld: Aidalon.
Hubworld: Aidalon’s an attempt at bringing back a competitive LCG scene, with players acting as individuals trying to poach agents from each other in a science fiction hub world that used to be a central place of trade. The release model isn’t going to have any core sets, with each set released as a standalone box, able to be used as a ‘drafting cube’ which I’m sure means something to a card game person.
The cards looked nice and there was evidently a good amount of lore Andrew and his assistant could rattle off the dome right away. Something reassuring is that it’s going to follow the same environmental model of production as Earthborne Rangers, showing that they’re committed to the concept rather than simply using it to match the theme.
Speaking of which, Earthborne Rangers’ current campaign is still a couple of months away from fulfilment and there are going to be some announcements after that, but Andrew was keeping quiet about that.
DR Games
Toby Lancaster’s made a series of 2D6 Dungeon solo game books and spin-offs, including the new 2D6 Realm which allow players to make a lair and explore the outdoors. Toby showed off some great illustrations from his community who have played his games.
Towards the end of the year he plans to release 2D6 Void, a solo science fiction RPG set on a failing spaceship which you need to explore and stop before it crashes.
Moaideas Game Design
I like the occasional train game, but the 18XX ones never feel too appealing. With the current edition of Mini Rails, Moaideas have reissued their game in a way which is instantly adorable and does a lot of work to make itself easily readable to people. I’m still not entirely convinced, but I’d be up for giving this a try.
Enchanted Needle
I’ve met Enchanted Needle a couple of times at Dragonmeet and Paradice in Worthing. They were showing off some adorable new designs like a Dice Goblin and a Gelatinous Cupid.
The OP Games
This stall was incredibly busy showing off Tea Witches, one of a few tables which felt laser-targeted at my partner. The board has a Lazy Susan in the Centre and little pots of ingredients which people are collecting for their teas, then serving a queue of customers. Customers who are served well become ‘loyal’ and return the next day for more. It’s by the makers of Flamecraft and looks great.
Outset Media
I’ve had mixed experiences with Feed the Kraken, and one of the main criticisms I have is the size of it for a loyalty game, compared to games like Resistance or Quest. This con, they were showing off a smaller version of the game, Feed the Kraken: Essential Edition. All the plastic is replaced with card and the board is smaller. This will end up retailing for around £35.
They also have an expansion in the works, which will lean towards the deluxe components (e.g. plastic guns), but will be compatible with the essential edition.
Stratagemma Edizioni
The first RPG company I spoke to came from Italy, a country which has produced some really interesting RPGs like Outgunned and Fantasy Quest. Admittedly I’d not heard of Stratagemma Edizioni before, but they had a lot of interesting games.
The stall was showing off Red Borg, a game powered by the Mörk Borg engine, about revolution. I asked how they approached making a game like that without it being a bummer, and was told that they’d lived through a long time of Berlusconi being in charge of their country, and they got through that with humour.
Also using the Mörk Borg engine was Odyssey: Black Tales, a grim Homeric game which even name checks Homer in the credits. They admitted that he got his work in early for them, which was nice, and didn’t ask for any money. They’d had the same experience with Edgar Allen Poe in their previous RPG work.
There were a number of interesting zine-level games such as To Rebehold the Forest, which I could have perused for ages with more time.
Sinister Fish Games
Another popular stall was Sinister Fish. I wanted to look at Yonder, but while waiting for them to be free, got distracted with Honk: A Game of Geese.
Honk uses a pile of cardboard geese with symbols and apparently plays like a child version of Splendour.
Yonder is the first game by the designer of Villagers and Moon which takes up a regular board game box. It’s a fantasy worker placement games about building a settlement. The workers are all different creatures with different abilities, but they all (barring skeletons) need feeding. As everyone builds villages players can put workers on their spaces. This means they’ll need to pay for those workers, but also they’ll get to use them. Just like Moon and Villagers, there’s a lovely style to it all, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the final game is like.
Kaioss Games
It took me a moment to realise Kaioss Games was ‘Chaos Games’, which I’ll blame on the long coach ride. The main game being shown off was the Fable of Mable on the Witch’s Table. Players move a cat around a witch’s table, knocking things off and drawing cards to see what they are. They score positive or negative points, and there are action cards to do things like make the cat refuse to do an action other players’ give it. I think the lack of control of knowing what’s being knocked over and inability to manipulate it are off-putting factors.
There was also Betty Two-Bricks, a game in a box shaped like a brick about historical gangsters which sounded deliciously cruel.
Saashi & Saashi
The new offering from Saashi & Saashi was the Great Evening Banquet, a game which was described as ‘Azul meets Calico’ and there are a few elements which definitely give that vibe, but it’s quite nice on its own.
Players have a selection of dinner tables they’re looking to fill with guests, drafted from carriages. The tables have requirements, as do the rows and columns. These can relate to the type of guest or the background colour/pattern. Or how much wine the table will end up drinking. It looks like a fun set collection game.
Team Custard Kraken
I was pretty cruel when I was going through PR emails and saw “Wiz’n’Bang” in there. It sounded like either a sex act or a cleaning product and I wasn’t going to get round to visiting them, but I ended up chatting with the folks on the stall.
Wiz’n’Bang is a game about grumpy hermit wizards who are trying to build a tower away from everyone, but they all had the same idea. As each player tries to build a seven-level tower, they also take potshots at each other. Apparently tower completion tends to only happen about 20% of the time, with things often ending up as a battle of attrition between wizards.
Despite my dubiousness about the name, it looks like it could be good fun. I’ve got a two-player print & play demo, so I’ll check it out and see how it goes.
Iconiq Games
Iconiq were showing off Tomb Raider: The Crypt of Chronos, which had a Kickstarter campaign starting shortly before the show. It’s a solo board game, despite looking like it was a larger game with a bunch of tiles and miniatures. It looks like it could be good fun, with Lara going through a multi-chapter story, gearing up and facing challenges set on decks of cards based on the location she’s going in. A drawn tomb will show the tile layout, the challenges and the reward.
V8
Spokes was being shown off and looks gorgeous. Annoyingly while it was here, it wasn’t being not being demoed or sold. I’ll have to keep an eye out for its arrival, as it sounds like a brain-burner in a fantastic way.
Wrenegade Studios
I admit I came away from the Wrenegade stand still not entirely sure what the Beyond the Veil RPG’s mechanics actually are. It’s a supernatural investigation game, and that all sounds like something I’m interested in. There’s a scale of skeptic-to-believer which affects how people deal with fear (e.g. skeptics suffering Fear less often as they write things off, but a larger amount when it happens).
There’s a digital prologue which I’ll look at to get a better idea of what it’s like.
Great Nothing Games
The final stand I visited was showing off The War of the Worlds: One More Day. It looks like a really interesting solo card game, set during the classic story. Initially it presents two characters to choose from: a soldier and a journalist. Then you go through six scenarios, trying to survive against tripod and people alike.
War of the Worlds has been on my mind lately as I have a friend who’s launched a Kickstarter for a comic about Thunder Child, one of my best friends is a War of the World fan and 2000 AD’s started a new Scarlet Traces arc. So this got my interest right away. It’s launching later in the year, and I’ve signed up to be notified on its launch.
Closing Thoughts
The preview event was good fun, although being packed into a small space still meant a bit of a shove at times to get through it all. I don’t think I saw everything, and I’ve removed some entries who I had more thorough conversations with later in the con.
Once things ended, I went off to Resort World, which I’ve never been to before in all my years of going to the Expo. I ate at a restaurant alone, which is something I’ve almost never done, while finishing A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Eventually, I sat by the water and looked at the lights, ready for tomorrow.
