Tabletop Scotland 2024

Earlier in the year I attended Gothcon in Sweden, and wrote about why I attend conventions. I said ‘If gaming was a religion then conventions are our churches’. This last weekend I joined the congregation at my local chapel Tabletop Scotland to observe the tenets of our hobby.

2024 was a particularly special one for Tabletop Scotland. After beginning its life in Perth, the team has literally taken the show on the road and headed to Edinburgh. The Highland Hall is part of the Highland Show Grounds near Edinburgh Airport. This venue represents a tripling of the space that the convention had in previous years.

The Giant Brain team were more involved than ever before. After the success of taking over the quiz last year we were back for our second shot at that event. On top of that I had agreed to moderate some of the seminars, and we also ended up lending a hand with setup on the Thursday. I was equal parts nervous and excited about stepping up our involvement more. We had spent a long time smoothing off the rough edges of the quiz from last year and despite being overly prepared, those nerves were still there. 

The convention was opening the doors earlier than it had in previous years, giving exhibitors an extra half day on the Friday to sell to punters. We turned up early to see if we could lend a hand. It was good to see the scale of the convention before it got filled with punters: lots more exhibitors, an increase in play space, and a whole heap of potential. 

When the doors opened at 12, folk started arriving. Slowly at first then a slow build until the hall felt busy. Not packed, but busy. Speaking to some of the vendors they were a little worried it wasn’t busy enough, and I shared that concern. I worried that the bigger venue combined with the change in timings and increase in vendors would lead to individual stands feeling like they weren’t getting the traffic they needed.

Over the course of the afternoon, Jamie and I played games, chatted with exhibitors, and caught up with friends. Our first stop was at Dissent Games, to try out their new game Loose in the Library. This is a lighter take on their game Library Labyrinth, and it sees you acting as various famous women from fiction, capturing beasts and monsters from stories. Jessica Metheringham, the designers, was gathering feedback for the game and it was lovely to stretch my games development brain for the first time in a while. 

Next up we put on our Sou’westers and headed out into the unknown waters of Deep Regrets, a “horror fishing game”. This sees you pushing out to sea and fishing for sea life both fair and foul. It had a push your luck element I really enjoyed, alongside some light engine building with the equipment you could employ in this endeavour. I really like the look of it and some of the graphic design touches were excellent. I especially like the back of the ocean deck showing the size range of the creature on the face via a shadow in the water. 

The rest of the afternoon saw us wandering, checking out exhibitors, and getting a couple of interviews. As evening drew in I headed off to the seminar room for my first moderator duty. This first panel was on “Folklore & Fantasy” and we had Anna Blackwell (Blackwell Games), Brian Tyrrell (Stout Stoat Press), Lynne Hardy (Chaosium), and Pablo Clark (Old King’s Crown). I could have happily listened to these folks on this subject for hours, and I was really happy how well it went. I was a bit nervous starting out, but soon got into the swing of things. 

The end of the day saw some Crash Octopus hitting the table and our friend Kenny took us through a few rounds of Quacks of Quedlinburg. The latter is a game I’ve wanted to try for ages. I really enjoyed it, despite not getting to the end of the game before our tutor and another player had to head off. Push your luck and silly combos, very up my street. 

The dawn of Saturday brought trepidation with it. Would the Tabletop Scotland team pull off the step up to a bigger venue? Would we run a good quiz? 

The first fear was quickly quelled, as the hall filled quickly with eager punters ready to buy, sell, play, and participate. The place was buzzing in no time and I felt that Tabletop Scotland had taken its first step into a new era. All the stalls I talked to that day seemed to be having a great day.

With the day looking busy for vendors, I backed off the interviews. We were accompanied today by Iain Chantler, former co-host on Brainwaves, who we had picked up on the way. Our first stop for the day was Hachette Boardgames UK and one of their new titles Castle Combo. We all really enjoyed it. It is simple to pick up, with satisfying decisions, a dash of blaming past you for current problem, and some neat scoring combos. 

My next panel was earlier in the day, but I had enough time to get settled into the convention vibe before heading up to the Seminar Room at 11.  This time it was advice on freelancing from a panel with a load of experience doing just that and more. This was CJ Gahagan  (Rowan, Rook, and Decard), Bill Heron (Freelance RPG writer, and proofreader), Jon Hodgson (Handiwork Games), and Mairi Nolan (A freelance puzzle/escape room designer).  It was another great chat and the panel had a wealth of advice to share with the audience, and me! 

For the rest of the day we chatted with vendors, bought some games, and made some contacts. The place was buzzing, and vendors seemed to be doing a good trade. Bring & Buy was well attended and the open play areas were busy. I managed to get a short demo of the Joyride, the new game from Rebellion Unplugged. It’s a game I can loosely describe as “Mad Max Mario Kart” and sees you racing around a track, pushing your car as hard as you can, while jostling for space by any means necessary. I really enjoyed it and can see what all the buzz is about.

It was the Saturday that made me feel like Tabletop Scotland had taken the first steps towards being a ‘big convention’. The change in venue meant that some larger names from the UK scene had made the trip. Being next to Edinburgh Airport, and a tram ride from the city centre, made the venue more accessible. The numbers the team released reflect this, seeing a 75% rise in attendance against a consistent 20% in the previous years. 

I was delighted to be joined by my wife Catherine (Cath) Dolliver in the afternoon. We had a lovely time wandering and seeing what caught her eye. She had never been to a convention with me before and she had a great time. Cath said to me afterwards that everyone at the convention made her feel very welcome. 

Saturday evening was all about the pub quiz for us. We had made a good show of it in our inaugural year of 2023. This year was a chance to refine our process, and improve the quiz. My friend Iain Galloway assisted us with his tech skills and equipment, giving us a great speaker and mic setup. 

Cath joined Iain Chantler on the scoring team. In 2023 Jamie and I had helped score in between rounds, and that had been a bit stressful. With Cath joining the team, it meant Jamie and I could concentrate on being ‘the face’ of the quiz. We smashed it. Having a second person marking meant Jamie and I could forget about that and concentrate on entertaining. We even managed to give folk a break for drinks and still get everything done in about an hour and a half. We had two hours, but I like to leave a good buffer in case something goes wrong. The team will be back to do this again in 2025, already started planning! 

By Sunday I was pretty tired, having been at the convention for 3 days already. My brain was slowly turning to mush. However my duties were not over yet. My final panel was on “Publishing your game”. I had an excellent group of panellists: Elaine Lithgow (Rowan, Rook, and Decard), Cat Tobin (Pelgrane Press), Kevin Young (Inspiring Games), and Andrew McKelvey (Old King’s Crown). We had a great talk full of solid advice, insights, and differing perspectives from the publishers on different stages of the journey. 

I’d like to thank all the panellists for their time and patience. It was only my second time hosting panels at a con and I learn a little more each time. 

I spent the rest of the day getting some interviews, a process I always enjoy. Nothing like talking to enthusiastic people about their games, no matter the size of company or the type of game. Thanks so much to everyone who spoke with me, the cast will be out soon. 

I finished my interviews by sitting down with Phil Harris. Phil was running the Game Jam at Tabletop Scotland and it was great to talk to him about how the event had gone. They had a good range of games that had come out during the Jam. This kind of event really helps support designers new and old. It gives the teams support through the design process, and gives playtesting feedback along the way. Phil was good enough to share some photos of the Game Jam with me. This was a first time for such an event at Tabletop Scotland and it had gone down very well.

As I had taken on more duties this year, I didn’t get to play as many games as I would have liked. Being more involved in the convention was its own reward, and I got to meet and talk to loads of interesting people. Doing this is one of the privileges of the position I find myself in, a fact I never forget.

The Tabletop Scotland team handled the step up to a bigger venue with style. They worked incredibly hard to make that transition as smooth as possible. I am sure there were some teething issues, it felt very smooth for the first time in this new venue. The convention will be back next year, and I hope I will meet you wandering the halls. 

As we ran the quiz and some of the panels we got access to the convention for free. 

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