UK Games Expo 2025 (Saturday Review)

Dates: 30 May to 1 June 2025

Location: NEC Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Organizer: UK Games Expo

The first time I covered this massive board game event was back in 2018. It was well-established at the Birmingham NEC by then, sprawling across halls 1, 2, 3 and 3A. During the COVID pandemic in 2021 and 2022, I skipped the show, but since 2023, I have attended again every year. So, technically speaking, this is my 6th UK Games Expo.

Facts and Figures

I never know where to start when covering exhibitions or conventions, and I always worry about missing something or forgetting to mention some of the people and publishers I saw. So let me start by apologising in advance if your name doesn’t appear here, but feel free to add yourself in the comments below.

I think the easiest thing to talk about is the change in halls for 2025. While UK Games Expo had firmly established itself in halls 1, 2, 3 and 3A over the last few years, as well as occupying some of the rooms within the Birmingham NEC and even more rooms in the nearby Hilton Hotel, the show had to change the halls.

Early on, we were told that hall 1 would be unavailable, as it was booked by another event that overlapped with UK Games Expo, but as the show approached, it became clear that hall 1 would be available after all. So hall 1 was turned into a giant ticketing space and the area for the bring-and-buy sale. That was interesting to see and I wonder what the plans are for UK Games Expo‘s 20th anniversary next year. Maybe the exhibition will be back in hall 1, either in addition to the other halls, or without hall 4. We will have to wait and see.

The over 780 exhibitors comfortably filled halls 2, 3 and 3A which together created an exhibition space that was about 2,000 sqm larger than Gen Con‘s, setting a new record for UK Games Expo. Over the three days, there were also over 42,000 unique show visitors, or if you count everyone’s daily visit separately, the total attendance was over 72,000, which is a 10% increase over last year. It certainly felt very packed on Friday and Saturday, and even Sunday was busy.

New Hall Layout

Personally, I loved how the three exhibition halls flowed into each other. I had no problem finding my way around using the stand numbers printed on the aisle floor or by looking at the giant hall numbers beside each entrance. However, I heard that long-time attendees felt disoriented and missed the physical distinction they used to have between halls 1 and 2 in the form of the steps. Some exhibitors also felt that their location was a dead space and that they didn’t have much footfall.

The only niggle I had was that the open gaming tables in hall 4 were right at the end, which made it quite a trek at the end of the day to find somewhere to sit and play games with friends. That didn’t stop me from doing exactly that every night, including Thursday night. I always prefer the open gaming tables in the halls over those in the Hilton, because while the latter are more comfortable and the hotel has a bar, it’s always so packed that you never find a space unless you go during the day. By the time I’m done for the day and have had dinner, it’s all full in the hotel, while the open gaming tables in the halls always have plenty of space.

Speaking of food and drink, it was the same as every year before. Some of the food stalls in the halls or outside the Hilton are nice, but everywhere is very expensive. It’s no surprise, given that UK Games Expo is held at the NEC. You’re basically paying London prices, as I like to say. It is what it is.

My Attendance

I must say, I had a really good time at UK Games Expo. It’s always hard work, I lose my voice and feel shattered at the end of every day, but at the same time, I get really energized by being among so many lovely board gaming people, catching up with friends and speaking with publishers. Once it’s all over, I immediately miss it.

As I have done for the last two years, I was demoing again for Asmodee. It’s really the only way for me to be able to afford to attend the show. Otherwise, it would be too expensive to do every year. Mind you, I really love demoing and seeing people enjoy playing a game I showed them, so it’s an added bonus.

Like last year, I demoed on Friday and Saturday only. That allowed me to attend the show preview on Thursday night and have the whole of Sunday to walk around as press. I think that’s a good balance between having enough time to do everything I need and want to do, while also getting my attendance mostly paid for.

On Thursday night, I was able to catch up with a lot of indie publishers, such as Atikin Games who was showing off Malus Hortus, Dissent Games who had Busy Buses and Lose in the Library on their stand, Naylor Games with the upcoming Snowdonia: Grand Tour which looks amazing, Bright Eye Games, Crimson Keep which I recently reviewed, Unfringed who were sporting crazy hats and had their latest game Fetching Feathers on show, Minerva Tabletop whose amazing Swatch and Crumbs! card games I have previously reviewed, and APE Games.

Afterwards, I was also lucky to bump into the always wonderfully amazing Bez from Stuff By Bez. It’s always a joy to see her.

Pressing Hands

After demoing to over 100 people on Friday and Saturday and playing games each evening with friends, I made my rounds of UK Games Expo as press on Sunday.

My first stop was Play With Us Design who gave me a review copy of their latest game Club of Cthulhu, which looks really fun. I always love getting games from non-English-speaking publishers. So I have high hopes for this game from a Taiwanese company and given their previous game, Suolaween, I’m sure it’ll be great.

I also met with Red Raven Games who demoed their latest game Six Sojourns. It looks amazing and is a sort of longer version of Eight-Minute Empires. The artwork by Ryan Laukat is super charming again, and the component quality is going to be amazing. Afterwards, the publisher was very kind to give me a review copy of Isle of Night. I feel very honoured because I missed it when it first came out. So I’m really pleased that I finally have a copy of this exploration card game.

Next to Red Raven Games was Smirk & Dagger Games, whose catalogue of games is so very varied. I love The Night Cage as much as I love Boop, but both are completely different games. I spotted This Game is Killer: Alien on Board and was really chuffed to be given a review copy of this party game set in the Alien universe. Well, the publisher doesn’t have the IP for this huge sci-fi horror franchise, but that’s basically what the game is. It comes with a neoprene mat and a few cards. It sounds like a lot of fun and chaos, as all players desperately want to survive while trying to kill the alien intruder on board. I can’t wait to play this soon.

Publishers

I also saw Mighty Boards whose games always go the extra mile. Whether it’s component quality or a practical insert, their games are always a pleasure and feel very luxurious. I was given an overview of two upcoming games. One will be announced closer to Essen Spiel, and the other is Red North, a really interesting bidding game.

Czech Games Edition showed me their 10th anniversary edition of Codenames, which comes with an insert and other new bits, as well as new expansions to Galaxy Trucker and SETI. I have never played Galaxy Trucker, because of the real-time element, but the expansion offers a turn-based mode, which is interesting. Hopefully, I can review this game and fill a gap in my board game playlist. However, Whispwood looked most exciting for me, so I’m keeping an eye out for that.

Osprey Games also had a couple of new games to show me. I was really excited by the successor to General Orders, which introduces naval battles and adds a new focus on troop movements, both mechanisms that should add another level to this already amazing two-player hand management game. They were also showing me Ayar, which is the next game after Sankoré and features an interesting scoring mechanism. So my interest is certainly piqued.

Then I went on a little side quest to meet up with Captain Games, a Belgian publisher, at one of the open gaming tables. They showed me and gave me a review copy of Duck & Cover, which is really cute and a quick, fun card game for all the family. Afterwards, they showed me an upcoming dungeon-crawling family game that can be played competitively as well as cooperatively. It looks really exciting, and if possible, they will send me a review copy.

More Publishers

Later, I got a demo of Isla from Ocean City Games, a roll-and-write game with a few differences. Unlike so many other games in the genre, it really feels like you’re exploring an island and discovering treasures, while making sure you don’t get exhausted and have to skip a go. Hopefully, I can review it at some point.

Catching up with Paper Fort Games was also great. I love Cosmoctopus, whose second edition and expansion were on show at their stand, alongside Terraria, which is a board game version of the hugely popular phone app game. It looks very exciting, so if I can cover it on the blog, I will.

I ended Sunday by visiting the Roc Nest Games stand and getting a demo of their upcoming Smallfolk, which looks just as gorgeous as Chroma Archana and offers set collection, action selection and resource management in a package that makes for really interesting gameplay. If I am able to get a review copy of this game, I will definitely cover it on the blog.

I could go on for a lot longer and tell you about the games I bought, those I played, how I ruined my voice during the show preview on Thursday, because I had forgotten to take water, how tired my legs were every day and everything else, but I think I’ll leave it here.

Instead, let me finish by thanking everyone I spoke with, apologising to everyone I missed, giving Ian Wang a quick shoutout, showing my appreciation to those who played games with me or sat and chatted, like Matt Thrower, Jason from Meeple Minded, as well as Tom, of course. You made my UK Games Expo attendance very special.

Thank you all and see you next year…

Useful Links

• UK Games Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/
• Asmodee: https://www.asmodee.co.uk/
• Atikin Games: https://atikingames.com/
• Malus Hortus review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/04/05/malus-hortus-saturday-review/
• Dissent Games: https://dissentgames.com/
• Naylor Games: https://naylorgames.com/
• Bright Eye Games: https://www.brighteyegames.com/
• Crimson Keep: https://www.crimsonkeep.co.uk/
• Crimson Keep review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/05/31/crimson-keep-saturday-review/
• Unfringed: https://unfringed.co/
• Minerva Tabletop: https://www.minervatabletop.co.uk/
• Swatch review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/08/01/swatch-saturday-review/
• Crumbs! review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/08/05/crumbs-the-sandwich-filler-game-saturday-review/
• APE Games: https://www.apegames.com/
• Stuff by Bez: https://www.stuffbybez.com/
• Play With Us Design: https://pwud.ga/
• Suolaween review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2022/10/29/soulaween-saturday-review/
• Red Raven Games: https://www.redravengames.com/
• Eight-Minutes Empires: Legends review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/12/07/eight-minute-empire-legends-saturday-review/
• Smirk & Dagger Games: https://www.smirkanddagger.com/
• Mighty Boards: https://www.mighty-boards.com/
• Czech Games Edition: https://www.czechgames.com/
• Osprey Games: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/osprey-games/
• General Orders review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/02/17/general-orders-world-war-ii-saturday-review/
• Captain Games: https://captain.games/en
• Ocean City Games: https://oceancitygames.co.uk/
• Paper Fort Games: https://www.paperfortgames.com/
• Cosmoctopus review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/03/02/cosmoctopus-saturday-review/
• Roc Nest Games: https://rocnest.uk/
• Meeple Minded: https://www.facebook.com/MeepleMindedMedia/

Transparency Facts

I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way. Please also read my Ethics Statement for more information.

• I was given a press pass for the whole show.
• I have done paid work for Asmodee and Bright Eye Games, and James Naylor from Naylor Games is a supporter of the blog.

Audio Version

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Music: “diminished”, “breaking” and “all day” provided by mobygratis.

Playlist

These are the songs I listened to while I was writing this review: