UK Games Expo 2024

This was my first time at Expo. I’ve avoided previous years because of the size of the event and the expense, but I had a day off and some overtime money burning a hole in my virtual wallet, so I girded my loins and went for it.

The drive to Birmingham wasn’t too bad, although the directions around the NEC seemed to have changed from those on Apple Maps. I found the designated car park and parked up, checking that I was in the right place for my pre-paid ticket. There seemed to be plenty of people in geeky attire so I followed the crowd and found the main halls.

A sign for the Hilton saying This is The Way

The first surprise was the size of the queue to pick up tickets. I’d assumed that there would be self service scan machines for pre-booked tickets, but it seems everyone was in the same line which snaked through a maze of barriers and back out into the main concourse. It did move pretty quickly though and took about half an hour to get to the actual ticket tables. I was glad that I’d been to the loo after my drive though!

Badge, lanyard and maps acquired I headed for the panel that I wanted to see on The Psychology of the Traitors, which featured three psychology professors and Ivan Brett from series one of the UK Traitors discussing the optimal strategies for social deduction games like Werewolf and Blood on the Clocktower. The conclusion was that in order to win you have to make a good impression, be popular (but not too popular) and be a good liar (or at least be consistent). It also helps to be picked as a Traitor!

Ivan Brett on the Traitors panel

After this I ventured into the main halls and was immediately gobsmacked at the scale of the event. It was huge but at least it didn’t feel too crowded as the stalls were spaced a reasonable distance apart so you could avoid the busy areas. I headed to All Rolled Up first to say hello to Paul and Fil who already seemed a bit croaky but looked like business was brisk. 

One corner of one of the trade halls

Some sort of space marine dude

I pottered around the stalls buying bits and pieces before bumping into gaming pals Kat and Tim just in time for a cup of coffee and a nice sit down. After a chat we headed back into the second hall where my next stop was Bad Squiddo games where I met Annie chatting to Doc Cowie. More money spent, then Doc and I teamed up to trawl the rest of Hall 2 chatting about gaming plans. 

Cute Wall-E animatronic robot

I was on my last legs by this point, and checking my watch realised that I’d done over 10,000 steps just going round the halls, so I headed back to the car park (another trek) passing a pop up Viking encampment and some angry geese before setting off for home in time for Friday night pizzas.

Baby goslings and grumpy parents on a grassy bank

I think I might splurge on the whole weekend next year, so I have the opportunity to play some games and spend a bit more time socializing, although I think I prefer the smaller RPG cons at the Garrison, and of course Owlbear and Grogmeet.