5 things we learned at UKGE

5 learnings from UKGE

Wow! UKGE is one hell of a conference.

Going in as first time attendees and first time game developers, Tessa and I knew that it was going to be a busy weekend but even so I don’t think we quite realized the scale of what we were walking into. So, after having a couple of days (now weeks!) to recover and reflect, I thought it would be worth sharing some of our thoughts. Let us know if they tally with your takeaways or if there is anything you think we have missed!

Learning 1: The UK tabletop community is something else!

As we have only recently moved to the UK, a lot of things are still very new to us, both within the board game world and beyond. Having wandered agog through the halls of UKGE, we are now in no doubt as to the size, passion, and creativity of the UK tabletop community. The show was not only massive, spanning 6 aircraft hangar sized expo halls, but it also contained a baffling variety of different games, creative endeavors, and businesses. Having been to Philadelphia’s PAX Unplugged, we thought we had some idea what UKGE would be like but this show far surpassed PAX in scale and variety.

What’s more, we were struck by the friendliness and interest of everyone that we interacted with. From our incredibly generous playtesters to every exhibitor we chatted with, it was a pleasure to meet so many people and begin to become more of a part of the tabletop community. In particular, it was awesome to meet the folks from Board Game Protohype and we can’t wait to get involved!

Learning 2: The importance of face-to-face

This learning pertains mostly to our meetings with manufacturers, but extends more broadly to playtesting and other ad hoc conversations we had with other people we met at the fair.

Prior to the event, we knew one of the main priorities was to meet with as many potential manufacturing partners as possible. Garden of Ithaca has some unusual manufacturing requirements - prominently the need for tiles to slot neatly into the playing board - so it is very important to us to find a strong and committed partner to help us bring the game to life to the quality we are looking for. As a result, our in person time with all potential manufacturers was invaluable. Being able to show them our physical prototype (which Tessa has designed and 3-D printed) was incredibly helpful for discussing the different options for mass manufacture and we made a ton of progress narrowing down our options and the trade offs of different material choices. 

Learning 3: There are a lot of awesome games out there

Walking the exhibit halls, it was amazing to see the number and diversity of the games on display. It was inspiring to see that so many others had been in our position as first time creators only a few years ago and now were exhibiting their games - so recently just ideas and print out pieces. Furthermore, and somewhat tangential, I was stunned by the variety of tabletop miniature games. I was an avid Warhammer Fantasy fan when I was younger and have been reengaged with the hobby recently, but had no idea that Warhammer was only the tip of the iceberg - Warmachine, Moonstone, Blood Crusade and so many others were completely new to me. Special shoutout as well to Wanted: Showdown who are developing a Western themed skirmisher. When I saw them on the Exhibitors list, I had to pay a visit.

Learning 4: UKGE is a three day event

When we were making our plans for UKGE early this year, we thought 2 days would surely be enough to meet potential partners, playtest the game, and walk the halls. Boy, were we wrong. The weekend was amazing but we definitely felt rushed the whole time and I wish we could have had more time to do everything we would have liked to do and do it all under a little less time pressure. In particular, we would have loved to spend some time in the playtest zone playing other games in development and would have loved to spend some more time perusing the games being exhibited at the show. Although we got good foot coverage of the halls, we struggled to find the time to deeply engage with all of the games we would have liked to - either by playing demos or chatting more with the creators about their game(s) and their development journey.

Lesson learned - next year we’re in it for the full three days!

Learning 5: Garden of Ithaca has come a long way

Last time we playtested Ithaca at a board game conference it was quite different. It was called Grid Grab: Garden, there were no quests, no horses, no Greek theme at all. In other words while many of the fundamentals remain the same, it was a vastly different and less refined game. It’s so gratifying to look back at that game and compare it to what we have now. It’s also a great testament to the huge value of playtesting. I’ve lost count of the number of great insights we have received from our generous playtesters over the last 6 months and Ithaca would certainly be vastly different (and vastly inferior) if it weren’t for their contributions. Thank you to all the playtesters out there!

We took about 10 pages of notes from our playtesting this weekend, so long may the virtuous process of test and refine continue. Onwards and upwards!