AD/disclaimer: UKGE have given us press passes that cover entry for the event. This has not affected our opinion.

It’s almost time for he UK Games Expo, the UK’s biggest board game convention!

Going to a board game convention for the first time, or even as a returning visitor, can be a daunting experience: so much to see, so much to do, yet so little time. So we thought we’d put together a UKGE Q&A based on question our Instagram followers wanted to know before they go to UKGE. We’ve attended the UK Games Expo for many years now (since 2017!), so we’ve picked up some tips and tricks along the way.

What is the UK Games Expo? Is it just about buying games?

As mentioned above, UKGE is the largest UK board game convention, and the 3rd largest in the world. It’s taking place at National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham at the end of May (Friday 30 May – Sunday 1 June), and it will be the UKGE’s 19th year! 

It’s 3 whole days of playing, demoing and buying board games, board game accessories, and other nerdy stuff . Not only that, but there’s tons of live entertainment, seminars and competitions to enjoy. It has something for everyone, from casual gamers to serious competitors, adults and families, hobbyists and board game designers alike. It’s a super fun weekend and truly one of the highlights of our year.

Some of the things you can expect at a glance:

• Trade halls full of board game retailers, publishers and designers showing off their games – many of which you can demo as well as buy!

• Lots of other board game adjacent stands, including smaller independent sellers – of art prints, books, candles, t-shirts, crafted toys  – pretty much anything you can think of! And of course dice, always lots of dice!

• Activities especially focussed on games for families and children in the Family Zone (like the Let’s Play zone and Children’s Zone)

• The Playtest Zone where you can test new games that are in early stages of development.

• Open Gaming – a good chunk of the halls are tables set up for you to play your own games, or games rented from the library. Open gaming stays open well into the night, long after the trade halls close.

• Bring & Buy – where you can buy and sell second-hand games.

• The Living History Village (outside the main entrance) – different reenactors showing what life as Vikings and Romans were like, including various demonstrations across the weekend – all free!

• Live entertainment – shows to amuse all! We recommend the Dark Room.

• Publisher-Designer seminars and networking events.

• Various tournaments – from trading card games like Lorcana, to board games like Azul and Carcassonne, and more!

• New for 2025, the Pin Collective Swap Zone – an opportunity to collect and trade special pins.

Which is the best day to go?

 Each day at UKGE has a slightly different vibe that you may want to consider:

• Fridays: it’s Day 1 of UKGE so there’s an air of excitement and anticipation to get into those halls and get some demos started. It’s also the day to get some shopping done at the retailers – any hot ticket items are likely to sell out as the show progresses so get those purchases in quick. Friday is a busy day,but not the busiest over the weekend. 

• Saturday: Saturdays are the busiest day. Expect more waiting for demos, and crowds at retailers. If you’re only attending on Saturday I recommend aiming for the demos as early as possibly and prioritising the games you really don’t want to miss out on – it’s probably worth queuing up to get those demos in. If you’re going over multiple days, we find Saturday is a good day to explore beyond the trade halls and look at some of the wider features the UKGE has to offer, like open gaming, the library, live shows, or the Living History Village.

• Sunday: Sunday has a slightly more relaxed feel, there are less crowds and people are beginning to wind down after a busy weekend. It’s a good day to get demos in as the trade halls are quieter but some of the show favourites might be sold out at the retailers. It also feels like the demo-ers are a bit more relaxed as they aren’t as rushed off their feet or brain frazzled from the busier days.

When choosing which days to go, you’ll also need to consider if there’s any particular events or competitions that you want to attend, as these don’t always repeat over the weekend.

At the end of the day, the best day to go to UKGE is the day that you can actually get there. We’ve had a great time attending for 1, 2 and the whole 3 days – it’s never been a bad experience! No day is a bad day, and every day is worth attending.

How does demoing work?

In the trade halls several exhibitors have tables set up with their games on for you to try – this is called a demo! A demo can be a full game, but it’s often an abridged version designed to show you what the game has to offer. There’s no pressure to buy a game if you demo it – we’ve never experienced the demonstrators or publishers trying to do a hard sell.

If you spot a demo you’re interested in and the table is empty, usually you can just sit down and jump in. But normally the demo tables are busy, especially if the game is popular, so you may have to wait for another group to finish the demo first.

Over the years there has been an increase in publishers/designers using a booking system for demo slots, either in the run up to the UKGE or during the show. So it might be worth checking with the exhibitors of games you REALLY want to demo in advance.

If you spot a game you want to demo and you’re ever in doubt ask one of the friendly demonstrators running the tables – who we should mention are all awesome volunteers making the Expo the amazing event it is.

We recommend taking time before UKGE to make a shortlist of games you’d like to see and demo (along with the stall location) because it’s useful to have a list to fall back on in case you get overwhelmed by choice on the day. But don’t be too rigid – some of our favourite UKGE demos were games we stumbled across in the halls that weren’t even on our radar before the show.

TIP! Exhibitors often give copies of the games being demoed or launched at UKGE to the Gaming Library, so if the demo table is busy this could be another way to try them out.

We’ll be sharing our UKGE hit list – games we want to try and buy – closer to the time! 

Is the Bring & Buy worth it?

The answer is, it depends on what you’re after and how you want to spend your time. 

During our first few shows we loved the Bring & Buy and it was one of our UKGE highlights. Most of our UKGE hauls (which were bigger back then!) came from the Bring & Buy. There were so many second hand games, some at bargain prices. 

But we can’t ignore the fact that out of all of those games, very few have remained part of our collection. It is very easy, especially when you’re new to the hobby, to get carried away with board game purchases, especially lots of cheap second-hand bargains. But we do look back and wonder if we’d spent the money more intentionally in the trade halls, would we have ended up with fewer games, but ones that stayed in our collection. Arguably, we could have bought more intentionally from the Bring & Buy, but in our experience the more popular/’top tier’ games were often similar or more expensive than retail prices (our friends always seemed to have better luck than us finding Bring & Buy gems, but these were still rare). The bargains are perhaps bargains for a reason… 

Something to also keep in mind is the time sink: Bring & Buy always has a big queue to get in (except on Sunday, when there aren’t many games left!) and sifting through all the games takes longer than you expect. This, combined with Lauren finding the crowding and pressure in the Bring & Buy environment overwhelming, are the main reasons that we no longer prioritise the Bring & Buy and prefer to spend time elsewhere at the Expo.

If you’re after some bargains or have a specific second-hand game in mind, and happy to spend time digging for treasure, the Bring & Buy is great. Just remember it’s cash only, so make sure you have enough with you!

Where should we stay during UKGE?

As we mentioned above, the UKGE takes place at the NEC in Birmingham. If you have the budget, there are quite a few different hotels within walking distance of the NEC halls – but their proximity to the NEC and airport does drive up the prices quite a lot, and they tend to book up really quickly (it’s unlikely there’d be much left for this year now).

Alternatively, if you’re going by car there’s a lot of hotels 15-30 mins drive from the NEC, of varying quality and prices. This includes more budget-friendly chains like Travelodge (our choice this year).

TIP! We recommend staying somewhere that provides breakfast (or there’s nearby breakfast options that open early enough), and if you’re heading back to the hotel as soon as the halls close you probably want nearby evening food options too. A bar/lounge area where you can keep gaming is also a bonus!

Another option is to stay somewhere close to a train station that goes to Birmingham International, which is the station at the NEC. We’ve done this previously, staying at hotels in Birmingham city centre and getting the train from Birmingham New Street. It was SUPER convenient, the train would take around 10-20 minutes and the Birmingham International Station basically takes you directly into the NEC near Hall 3 (avoiding the morning queues out the main NEC entrance). The obvious considerations are that your tied to the train times (which from New Street were regular, but it may differ for other stations like Coventry) and that you have to think about what you’re buying if you plan on carrying it back (unless you pay for UKGE’s Pack & Post service).

So as you can see there’s loads of choice, depending on your preferences & budget. There’s also AirBnB and similar rental options. As we’ve never explored that we can’t really comment on it, but if you’re travelling in a bigger group that might be a great flexible, cost-effective option.

Can I bring my own food? 

We’ve checked and like previous years you can bring your own food, drinks, and snacks to UKGE! 

There are also a LOT of other food options in and around the Expo, including:

• A food court in Hall 4 near open gaming. Usually this has been standard burger/hot dog fare and a bar. In our opinion this isn’t the best food option – but it is convenient! There’s also cafes/restaurants dotted around the edges of the halls.

• Chow Street outside the Hilton has some great street food options, from toasties to greek souvlaki, and even dessert! The memory of Jabberwocky’s cheesy toasted sandwiches still excite the taste buds! You can check out which street food vendors will be at the expo this year on their website. Chow street isn’t as convenient unless you’re spending time in the Hilton, but if you’re only planning on buying food once, this would be our suggestion.

• Within the NEC atrium there’s a Wetherspoons, Subway, Starbucks, and Cornish Bakery as well as a Londis. The Wetherspoons is great for a cold refreshment break away from the halls, but it has a limited food menu.

• If that’s still not enough food options then Resorts world is 5 minutes walk away (according to google) for typical chains such as Five Guys, Nandos or Las Iguanas. We’ve not been as we’ve always found the above food options were enough, so we can’t comment on what it’s like.

If you’re a coffee fiend like Lauren, there’s the aforementioned Starbies and various coffee carts dotted around the halls and SK coffee in the atrium (our preferred). And there are water refill points in the atrium too, but they usually have massive queues.

As you’d expect, the food isn’t the cheapest, and being a captured market those big names do add a markup so be prepared for that! 

Our general food plan around UKGE is:

• fill our boots with all-you-can eat breakfast at our hotel
• pick up a meal deal, snacks and drinks on the way to the NEC, to keep costs down
• Head to Chow Street in the evening 
• Coffeeee and extra drinks as needed

TIP! If the weather is nice, the space outside the front of the NEC near the water and Living History Village is great to chill and eat.

I get overwhelmed by noise/crowds – is the UKGE for me?

We can totally empathise with this. We both can feel overwhelmed in busy and noisy environments. You know your limits better than us but we think there are a few things you could do to make it less overwhelming so you could have a good time:

• Loop earplugs: A few years ago Lauren got loop earplugs which she sometimes uses when we are in busy crowds or somewhere with a lot of background noise. She finds they can really help.

• Take the event at your own pace: and take regular breaks out of the trade halls. The open gaming spaces can be a refuge, or a live show, or coffee and sit down. There doesn’t need to be pressure to demo everything, or do everything at the UKGE. You can have a great time just taking it at your own pace.

• Quiet facilities: the NEC has some facilities such as the quiet room. When we checked it out last year it was literally just an empty room with no furniture, but it is quiet and there for people to take a time out and relax. You can see where these are on the NEC maps.

• Go at quieter times: if you have the flexibility to choose what days you go, Sunday is the best option for reduced crowd and noise.

TIP! We learnt the hard way after our first few UKGEs that lots of fun can really take it out of you, and working the Monday after was a slog. Now we always give ourselves an extra day of annual leave to decompress and chill before going back to work on Tuesday. We definitely recommend doing this if you can (but appreciate this isn’t always possible).

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We hope answering these questions were helpful and look forward to seeing you at UKGE next month! Keep an eye out for more UKGE posts in the meantime.