UK Games Expo After-Action Report

A couple of weeks ago, I hied myself off to Birmingham, UK, for the 2013 UK Games Expo. I was there before the show technically started, because our friends at Esdevium borrowed the event to run their annual retailer summit on Friday before the show started on Saturday. Director of Sales (a.k.a. "He Who Keeps Running Out Of Munchkin") Ross Jepson and I gave the assembled folks the run-down of our upcoming releases, including a couple we hadn't told anyone about yet, and handed out large window clings so the stores could let everyone know how much they love Munchkin.

On Saturday, my only remit was to run Munchkin. I had a couple of games of Apocalypse and a couple of games of Pathfinder, and everyone who played told me, in charming accents, how much fun they had. Our Men In Black held court outside the dealer room, running Castellan nonstop and swapping other games in and out as people asked. (And I finally got to meet Phil Masters, which right there made the trip worthwhile.)

Sunday was my day to run my mouth. I was interviewed by Steven Heslewood for his podcast Geek Apocalypse (it's episode 16). Steven has graciously invited me back to do a full podcast just by myself, which means either I did well or Steven is a crazy man. Possibly both.

I was also on two panels Sunday. The first was called, "Meet the Big Boys," and I took up space at a table also occupied by Larry Roznai, President of Mayfair Games; Dominic McDowall, from Cubicle 7; and Mark Wooton, who supervises (and is) the Scotland branch of AEG. It was a fun panel and you can watch it right here.

Immediately after that panel, Paco Garcia-Jaen and I stayed around and talked about Munchkin and SJ Games in general for an hour. I think I managed to terrify some people with my description of the Ogre box. That seminar isn't online yet, but we'll be sure to link to it when it is.

I want to thank everyone at UKGE for having me as part of their convention, and especially the folks at Esdevium who made the suggestion in the first place. I also owe thanks to Ross (of course), MIB Control Birger Krämer and all the UK and German MIBs who came to help out, and all the people who stopped by to say hello, who asked questions at my seminars, and who played games with us. Special thanks go to Jay Little, designer of X-Wing and Star Wars Edge of the Empire, for being a fellow American I could go to when I needed to hear a familiar accent. I regret not getting to sit and talk to some other people I had hoped to meet; schedules did not work out in my favor, some of the time. UK Games Expo had over 3,500 unique visitors this year, and I only expect it to get larger next year. If you're in the UK, or even thinking about maybe being close to there next May, I highly encourage you to attend.