UK Games Expo 2019 – This is Scotland!
It’s getting close now folks. The emails are coming thick and fast into Giant Brain HQ, telling us about all sorts of shiny things to see at the convention. I’m going to try and use this one to highlight some of the smaller companies that I intend to visit. I’ve done this a bit in my previous two glances at Expo but this time I am going a little more local and showing off some of the Scottish Talent.
One of the reasons I go to something like Expo is to play games from independent publishers that might not get the attention they deserve and I urge you to do the same. Yes there will be opportunities to play the new games and buy the latest hotness but all the big companies that will be there were once small and it is there that you may find tomorrow’s star designers.
Badcat will be relaunching their swords & sandals brawler Gladiatores just before the con, a game I very much enjoyed when I previewed it last year. They have been doing some polishing to the game and will most likely be chatting about some of their other works in progress as well.
Keith has been a stalwart member of my local playtest group and he has loads of cool designs up his sleeves and on his table. I’ve played Nuts and Bots a fair amount but he will also have a pirate and a retro computer game themed projects with him.
A Dundee based outfit whose first game Doomsday Bots I reviewed earlier in the year. They are a multi-disciplinary group having their background in computer game development. They’ll have their new game Adventure Mart for you to try out at Expo.
Mark is a lovely chap who was one of the early members of the Edinburgh Playtest Group. Wreck and Ruin had a long road to getting to production and I am so happy to see him back at Expo with the completed game in tow. Check it out and become a Wasteland Warrior!
I’ve interviewed this outfit in the past and they are now headed to their first expo to show off games created by the youngest designer I know, Rory Hodgson. Dad, Johnny Hodgson is one of the best artists in the business and is working on a bunch of RPG material as well as doing projects for other companies under his new company branding. Go and check them out, especially if you want some fun games to play with the kids.
I previewed Legends Untold way back in the early days of switching the site to a journalism focus. Inspiring Games were good enough to use a small fry like myself and I’ve always been grateful for that. The final game has been getting great feedback from backers and reviewers and I hope to use my time off over Expo to dive back into the game and produce a review of the final product.
Nigel and Sarah Kennington have been regulars at my Playtest group in Edinburgh and I’ve been a fan of their designs from the get go and their most recent release Micro Brew was a lovely piece of minimalist design. They run excellent campaigns and I really think they are one to watch for the future.
