UK GAMES EXPO 2008
“Everything about games”
30th May to 1st June 2008
The Clarendon Suites
2 Stirling Road, Edgbaston,
Birmingham B16 9SB
www.UKGamesExpo.co.uk

UK Games Expo will be bigger in 2008. We are delighted to say we will have more board game companies than in 2007; there will be many more tables of games to play and lots of new releases hot off the press. UK Games Expo 2008 will attract a number of overseas Board Games companies from Germany, USA, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Here’s the latest news!

See our illustrated html newsletter here:
http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/misc/december08.html

Dates and Times
UK Games Expo dates are as follows:

Friday Night 30th May
NEW for 2008 we have added a Friday night Free Play room at the Thistle Strathallan Hotel, Edgbaston next door to the Clarendon Suites. This will be available from 6pm. There is no charge for this. You just turn up and play.

Saturday 31st May
Tournament entrant registration from 8.30 to 9am with tournaments beginning at 9.30 am prompt.
Trade Hall Hours: 10am till 5pm.
Free Play room at the Thistle Strathallan Hotel, Edgbaston next door from 6pm.

Sunday 1st June
Tournament entrant registration from 8.30am to 8.50am with tournaments beginning at 9am prompt.
Trade Hall Hours: 10am till 4pm.

Charges
UK Games Expo Entry Ticket:
Ticket Adult Child Family Ticket
One Day Ticket £5 £3 £10
Weekend Ticket £7 £5 £14
Family Tickets admit up to 2 adults and 3 children. Children are ages 6 to 11. (5 and under are free).

Board Game Tournament Fee
If you decide to enter any of our tournaments you buy a UK Games Expo Entry Ticket and also pay a Tournament Fee. The Tournament fee is as follows:
Per Half day Tournament £2
Per Full day Tournament £4
So if you came for both days and played am and pm tournaments both days the costs would be Entry Ticket (£7) + 2 x Full days Tournament (£8) for a total of £15 for the weekend. There is no charge for the Friday Evening Two player tournament in the Thistle Strathallan Hotel.

Board Game Companies
We are delighted to announce that following a successful first year these great board game companies are planning a return in 2008:
• JKLM – On the Underground which we are using in our tournament, Space Dealer, 1861 Russia, Junkyard Races, Kings Progress and many others. Released Phoenicia at UK games Expo 2007 which is also being used in the tournament. Aiming for a new game for UK games Expo in 2008.
• Surprised Stare Games – Tara Seat of Kings, Coppertwaddle, Blood Legacy and Scandaroon and a new game for UK Games Expo 2008 - Confucius
• Ragnar Brothers - Where there’s a will, Kings and Castles , Blooming Gardens and many others. Promise a new game for 2008: Monastery.
• Burley games - Take it easy , Take it to the limit and Treasure Island.
• Games for the World – the World Cup game and many expansions.
• Alphabet Runner – an award winning childrens boardgame and one of our childrens tournament games. A new word game will be released in 2008. Their high light is the RAS cube. Take the RAS cube challenge and win a Laptop if you are the quickest.
• Ludorum Games - Winners of the Best New Board Game Award in 2007 with Fagin’s gang will release their new game Ice Flow in 2008 at UK Games Expo.
• Warfrog Games - Brass, Mordred, Pericles and others.

And many others - more news in the next few weeks along with news of companies making their first appearance including overseas board game companies.

Other Exhibitors

UK Games Expo is not just about board games but also features many other games genres such as Miniatures, Role-playing, card games and computer gaming and will have dozens of other exhibitors will a full range of the latest games in these genres.

4th Edition D&D: Be the First to Play it
You can get your first chance to play the new 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons at UK Games Expo a whole week before it is published with lots of demoes, RPG slots and a chance to win a copy of the rules.
Test Drive the Tardis in Cubicle 7’s Dr Who RPG
Take a test ride in a Tardis in Cubicle 7's new Dr Who role-playing game officially licensed from the BBC. This will be available for a sneak peek and as demo games at Expo.

UK Games Expo Awards
The UK Games Expo awards were introduced in 2007 at the first UK Games Expo. They were developed to recognize the achievement of games companies in a variety of games genres.
How the awards Work:
Games products being demonstrated at UK Games Expo are eligible for entry into the awards. Games Companies may define which category their product falls within. Here are the categories:
Categories for Expo Awards 2008
1. Début Boardgame Award
2. Boardgame of the year
3. Family Game Award
4. Children's Game Award
5. Role-playing Game Award
6. Miniatures Game Award
7. Abstract/Puzzle Game Award
8. Card Game Award
Début Boardgame
UK Games Expo attracts many board game companies and we wish to encourage the best and hottest new releases to occur at it. The category “Début Boardgame” applies to Board Games that are released at or immediately before the Expo. This means they are available for sale at UK Games Expo.
All other Awards
Apart from “Début Boardgame” all other games must have been released in the 12 months since and including the last UK Games Expo (June 2nd and 3rd 2007) and the awards reflect the best of the last years games.
Who decides on the Awards?
The awards will be determined by a system that will involve both voting by the public over the weekend and from the opinion of a Panel of Judges appointed by the organizers. The judges will look for games which are original, engaging, attractive and exciting. The Awards will be announced at 3pm on Sunday 1st June.

Board Game Tournaments
Competitors will be glad to know that the board game tournaments will be accommodated in more spacious air conditioned rooms than was the case in 2007. The Grand board game tournament will occupy a first floor lodge room with the Battle-lore event in the adjacent ante-room. The Children’s tournaments will take place in the balcony above the Warwick room on the Mezzanine level. This will all provide more space and more pleasant and airy surroundings than in 2007.
There are a number of different board game tournaments available:

A)Friday Night Two Player tournament.
David Norman is organizing a two-player games tournament on Friday night 30th May. This will consist of Gipf, Lost Cities, Quinamid, Fjords, Hive. It will be held in the Free Play Games Room in the Thistle Strathallan Hotel Edgbaston next door to the Clarendon Suite, and will take around 2.5 hours for the entire tournament. This will run from 9pm-11.30 pm approximately. There is no charge for this tournament. There will be a small prize for the winner.

B) Grand board game Championship
David Norman and Mark Stetch are organising a mixed board game tournament. Expanding on the event we ran in 2007 this consists of am and pm sessions each day and full day tournaments. You choose which event to enter for each half day or instead you can enter a full day tournament. There will be individual winners for each different board game tournament and a Grand Tournament winner with prizes of games and vouchers to spend on more games! The overall Championship will be based on your results in the individual tournaments you play in. Exact timetables still to be finalised but the basic plan is:

Saturday 31st May:
All day tournament: Imperial
Sat am half day tournament: Phoenicia/ Container
Sat pm half day tournament: Settlers / On the Underground

Sunday 1st June:
All day tournament: Powergrid
Sun am: Carcasonne / St Petersburg
Sun pm: Puerto Rico / Acquire

We will schedule a long lunch interval so even players entering every event still have the chance to look round the rest of the Expo.

UK Carcassonne Championship. Win a Flight to Essen Spiel!
In agreement with Spielzentrum, the UK Games Expo Grand Boardgames Carcassonne Tournament on Sunday morning will be a qualifying event for the World Carcassonne Championship to be held at Essen Spiel in October 2008. The winning player will also have their travel costs to and from Essen paid for.

A request from David: Please bring along copies of any games you own that are part of the tournament and make sure you bring them to the Tournament Room. More details on this and other tournament rules can be found on the website and in the next QLA.

C)Memoir 44/ Battle-Lore Tournament
Barry Ingram is organising a Days of Wonder Tournament to feature Memoir 44 and/or a Battlelore Tournament dependant on demand. This will be a full day tournament. More details on the web site and in the next QLA.

D)Heroscape Tournament
Still in development is a proposed Heroscape Tournament which Richard Dewsbury may run.


E)Children’s Board Game Tournament
We believe that many games have educational value and improve social, literacy, mathematical and decision making skills. They are also fun! UK Games Expo is actively promoting the use and development of games in schools and encourages schools to start up games clubs.

With this in mind we encourage Primary schools to enter teams of 4 players ages 8-11 (Approximately years 5 and 6) in two fun but challenging events on the same day at UK Games Expo on 31st May 2008. (Other children’s organisations will be considered).
Saturday 31st May am: The UK Games Expo School’s championship.
We will supply a set of three games to each school entering a team in this event. Schools enter teams of 4 children from year 5 or 6 who compete individually and as a team to win the tournament. A hamper of games is available as the prize for the best team along with individual prizes.

Saturday 31st May pm: The Alphabet Runner UK Championship. Kids can win a Laptop and ipods.
Children enter this and compete individually through a knockout tournament using the new RAS Cube puzzle.

Exact timetables still to be finalized at this stage but we will have a Children’s tournament pack on the website early in 2008.

Other Events / tournaments
Along side the board game tournaments we offer many other tournaments:
Miniatures Tournaments: Warmachines/Hordes, Flames of War, Warhammer 40K and new in 2008 a Fields of Glory Tournament with the new FOG rules.
Collectible Card Game Tournaments in WOW CCG / Yu-gi-oh and two grand prix tournaments in Magic.
RPG sessions in Warhammer FRPG , Dark Heresy, Shadow Run and call of Cthulu. UK Games Expo will be the first chance to play the much heralded Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition.


Accommodation
The Clarendon Suites are a conference venue and not a hotel so you will not stay in the hall itself. However do not let that put you off because within 50 to 200 yards there are many hotels.
The Thistle Strathallan Hotel Edgbaston is recommended as it is closest and is also where the Friday and Saturday Evening gaming room is available for you to play in.
Contact: Thistle Birmingham Edgbaston 225 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands B16 9RY Phone: 0870 333 9127 Fax: 0870 333 9227 Email: BirminghamEdgbaston@Thistle.co.uk
For accommodation: Mention you are a UK Game Expo delegate when booking. Single room B&B £ 45; Twin/ Double on B&B for sole use:£ 55 For double occupancy B&B £ 65; Executive rooms on sole use will be at £85 and double occupancy will be £95 B&B
For alternative accommodation please see our website.

Free-play Rooms
We are glad to provide expanded Free Play space at the adjacent Thistle Hotel on not just the Saturday evening as in 2007 but also Friday night 30th May from 6pm till late both nights. So you can arrive on the Friday night and play some old favourite games or enter the tournament and then pick up some new releases at UK Games Expo on Saturday and retire to the Thistle to play these Saturday night. A fully licensed bar and a restaurant is available at the Thistle Hotel.

More Information
More Information will appear here on BGG in a few weeks and will also will be available on our website www.UKGamesExpo.co.uk early in 2008. This is being updated and relaunched early in 2008 so check back!
See our illustrated html newsletter here:
http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/misc/december08.html