Report: UKGE 2025 - Birmingham

The one thing I always forget when I visit UKGE from Belgium is that it’s a 1 hour 45 minute train ride from London to Birmingham. The one thing I never forget is that, once you hit Birmingham train station, the National Exhibition Center (or NEC, in short) is connected to the station itself, which always comes in handy – especially when you’re hauling oversized trolleys stuffed full with tabletop game review copies. It’s very different from the Messen Halle in Essen, where the even bigger Essen Spieltagen usually warrants a car or taxi connection to wherever you’re coming from, and the atmosphere – while bustling – generally feels more agreeable. The plethora of events that are organized here also helps, as do the food courts. Anyway, a gaming convention should always be about the (tabletop) games first and foremost, and UKGE never fails to capture the imagination and amaze, almost always succeeding in going above and beyond to make a lasting impression. This 2025 edition is no different.

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Yes, there is a lot of background noise while walking through the halls, but even the amalgamation of all kinds of sounds doesn’t obscure the impressions that are so emblematic for this kind of convention. In fact, the passionate conversations, the strange symphony of dice rolls, the rustling of cardboard being shuffled, the popping of miniatures being unpacked with surgical precision and exhausted publishers trying to explain ‘just one more mechanic’ for the umpteenth time that day never really drown in the more distorted, chaotic mess of frequencies that bounce off walls, customers, retailers, distributors, booths, playing aids and products.

In Hall 2, we can still clearly distinguish the applause erupting from a crowd after what must be the tense final turn of a tournament game, while a few meters further an indie designer nervously pitches a prototype to three curious strangers armed with stained coffee cups and tattered backpacks. Despite it all, UKGE still feels somewhat personal – more than Essen Spieltagen or F.A.C.T.S., but, admittedly, somewhat less so than Dragonmeet or Gen Con.

The pleasant ambiance combined with the huge selection of exhibitors and events has always been one of the greatest strengths of the convention. Unlike some larger entertainment expos that slowly drift into cold corporate spectacle without the soul and spark that originally ignited them, the UK’s largest tabletop gaming convention still seems to remember its roots – even if it is more of a subconscious thing than the result of conscious and lucid decision-making.

Publishers, creators, cosplayers, retailers, painters, roleplayers and complete newcomers all move through the same halls without much to delineate or separate them. An author might be promoting his work in one booth one moment and work as a spokesman for another company at a different time of the day, while a publisher might visit her next-door neighbors to ask them for a signature as she is a total fan of their work. After all, the tabletop gaming industry is a small big world, and there aren’t many happenings where this truth can be felt and experienced more clearly than at UKGE.

Demos abound, of course, and young as well as old love to sit at a table to learn about that one little indie board game involving Cthulhoid monsters and move on to check out how the new painting pens that were just released a day ago work. The beauty of UKGE lies precisely there: the thrill of discovery and the surprise of finding out about something new – or about something old that has just gotten an amazing new upgrade or expansion.

At best, though, the convention floor can feel somewhat overwhelming at times, especially for newbies who’ve never been here before. At worst, it can lead to frustration as one discovers the section of booths they were most interested in only late in the game, after making a navigational error or getting distracted by the many, many other great products on display. The rectangular Hall 3 is by far the biggest hall, with publishers like Ares and Asmodée, while the square yet still imposing Hall 2 and especially Hall 4 are smaller but still host a great many booths.

Both minor and major league publishers compete for attention through banners, terrain pieces, demo tables and increasingly elaborate booth constructions. Familiar giants stand proudly beside smaller studios hoping to become the next breakout success story. Some booths rely on spectacle, a few even featuring multi-level designs, while blue carpets, LED screens, costumed mascots, all kinds of medieval props, painted terrain pieces and other eye-catchers try to grab attention for long enough to draw people in and trigger them to discover their games.

Regardless, passion abounds, and, happily, roleplaying games in particular seem to thrive this year, after many editions that focused more on board games and miniature battle games. Thanks to problems with successive D&D editions, successful crowdfunding campaigns, and a renewed interest in non-OSR games that feature their own unique rules systems, the hunger for settings and systems that dare to move beyond traditional fantasy comfort zones is definitely on display throughout the convention.

Horror TTRPGs, brand-new science-fiction settings, narrative-first mechanics and experimental hybrid systems attract enormous interest… and so do playing aids like the 2D terrain LokeMats specializes in or the more expensive but visual 3D alternatives like Dwarven Forge – still the indisputable masters in great-looking terrain, even though the new (and cheaper) painted sets from Dungeons & Lasers also look amazing – mainly thanks to a new in-house developed technique that allows the sets to distinguish themselves visually.

Still, the board game side of UKGE 2025 is going as strong as ever. Social deduction titles remain popular, but there is also a noticeable return of heavier strategy games that unapologetically embrace complexity and even dare to switch the gameplay experience mid-game. Economic simulations, warfare systems and deeply asymmetrical experiences draw long queues of players eager to invest several hours into learning intricate rulesets… all while fun party games still get grabbed by enthusiastic impulse buyers and gamers who like their fun without needing to expend 90 percent of their brain power from time to time.

In a very real but quite palpable sense, the market currently seems to cater to both extremes simultaneously very well: either gloriously complicated games that come in hefty boxes some people may not even be able to lift all too well or supremely easy but gorgeous games that can be played out of the box in a matter of minutes.

Miniatures and new war games also succeed in reclaiming some of the spotlight this year. Beautifully painted armies draw admiring crowds and hobby workshops beyond those of Games Workshop and Para Bellum remain packed throughout the convention. 3D printing, painting, sculpting and terrain-building haven’t felt like secondary aspects of tabletop culture for ages now; instead, they have become full artistic disciplines in their own right. Watching veteran painters casually create impossible gradients while newcomers stared in disbelief almost became entertainment by itself.

Of course, UKGE is not merely about products; it’s just as much about the people, with cosplayers also making a mark on the convention – not merely for the effort and quality on display, but also for their sheer diversity. Where in many other places mainstream pop culture tends to dominate, UKGE’s cosplay scene effortlessly embraces niche references with pride.

Obscure RPG characters, minor anime characters, cult board game mascots and cyberpunk archetypes walk beside more recognizable figures from mainstream fantasy film, series, manga and comic franchises. Much more costumes than one might at first expect are professionally constructed masterpieces while others clearly are the result of pure DIY enthusiasm, but both are greeted with respect and often also enthusiasm by the other attendees – and perhaps that is exactly what captures the spirit of UKGE better than anything else.

It is a convention where enthusiasm matters more than prestige. One we would never want to miss and probably you shouldn’t either.

More info: www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk

Text: Dirk Vandereyken

Pictures: UKGE & Paula van Unen