| UK Games Expo | |
| Frequency: | Annually |
| Coordinates: | 52.4533°N -1.7194°W |
| Founded: | 2007 |
| Next: | 30 May - 1 June 2025 |
| Attendance: | 65,000 |
| Organised: | UK Games Expo Ltd |
UK Games Expo (UKGE) is tabletop-game convention and trade fair held annually at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
UK Games Expo (UKGE) is the largest Hobby Games Convention in the UK First held in 2007 the event is now held annually at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham and currently hosts over 39,000 guests.
UKGE features a range of exhibitors, events, open games, demos and tournaments including the UK Carcassonne Championship, and the UK Agricola Championship.[1]
All forms of tabletop games are represented at the event including board games, roleplaying games, card games and war games. Organisers each year also hold the UKGE Awards which are voted on by attendees of the event.
The UK Games Expo was first held in 2007,[2] organised by Richard Denning and Tony Hyams. Apart from 2020 the event has grown year on year and in 2024 had over 65,000 daily participations, making it the largest tabletop games event in the UK and the third largest in the world.[3] (In 2020 the event was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The event returned in person in 2021 with additional restrictions.[5] In 2022 the event was restored to full capacity, and in 2024 broke exhibitor and attendance records from 2023)
In 2008 UKGE hosted the official launch of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition in the UK.
Show features at UK Games Expo:
Special Guests at previous UK Games Expo include:
Attendance figures released by the organizers are published each year in their exhibitor pack.[6]
| Year | Uniques | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 900 | 1,200 | |
| 2008 | 1,200 | 2,000 | |
| 2009 | 1,800 | 2,500 | |
| 2010 | 2,000 | 2,800 | |
| 2011 | 2,455 | 3,585 | |
| 2012 | 2,879 | 4,046 | |
| 2013 | 3,538 | 5,805 | |
| 2014 | 5,805 | 9,919 | |
| 2015 | 7,162 | 13,971 | |
| 2016 | 12,636 | 25,149 | |
| 2017 | 16,500 | 30,698 | |
| 2018 | 21,700 | 39,000 | |
| 2019 | 25,704 | 45,097 | |
| 2020 (online) | N/A | N/A | |
| 2021 | 10,671 | 18,430 | |
| 2022 | 23,163 | 39,527 | |
| 2023 | 31,117 | 52,888 | |
| 2024 | 39,306 | 65,281 |
Each year the show awards the UKGE Awards which are split into two broad categories: The People’s Choice, which are voted on by expo attendees, and the Judge’s Choice, which are voted on by invited judges.
| Year | Best Board Game (Euro) | Best Board Game (Strategic) | Best Card Game | Best Strategic Card Game | Best Roleplaying Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023[7] | Earth - Inside Up Games | Frostpunk The Board Game - Glass Cannon Unplugged | Viking Raiders - Neowulf Games | Isle of Trains: All Aboard - Dranda Games | Be Like a Crow - Critical Kit | |
| 2022[8] | Lost Ruins of Arnak - Czech Games Edition | Get On Board - iello | Dungeon Decorators - Slugfest | Lord Of The Rings LCG Revised Core - Fantasy Flight Games | Shiver Core - Parable Games | |
| 2021[9] | Excavation Earth - Might Boards | Undaunted: North Africa - Osprey Games | A Game of Pretty Gardens - Osprey Games | Imperium Classics - Osprey Games | Vaesen - Free League Publishing | |
| 2020 (online)[10] | Tapestry - Stonemaier Games | Dune - Game Force Nine | Solar Storm - Dranda Games | Marvel Champions - Fantasy Flight Games | The Alien RPG - Free League Publishing | |
| 2019 | Quacks of Quedlinberg | Root | The Mind | Arboretum | Forbidden Lands | |
| 2018[11] | Photosynthesis - Blue Orange | Warhammer Underworlds - Games Workshop | Legend of the Five Rings - Fantasy Flight Games | category began in 2019 | SINS - First Falling Leaf | |
| 2017[12] | SubTerra - Inside the Box Board Games | The Colonists | Statecraft - Inside the Box Board Games | Category began in 2019 | Adventures in Middle Earth |
| Year | Best Board Game (Euro) | Best Board Game (Strategic) | Best Card Game | Best Strategic Card Game | Best Roleplaying Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023[13] | Earth - Inside Up Games | New Eden - Schmidt | Viking Raiders - Neowulf Games | Vita Mors - Play With Us Design | Critical Foundation - Gigamic |
| 2022[14] | Bitoku - Devir | The Thing - Ares Games | CULTivate - Pops & Bejou | Lord Of The Rings LCG Revised Core - Fantasy Flight Games | Twilight: 2000 - Free League Publishing |
| 2021[15] | Excavation Earth - Might Boards | Prisma Arena - Hub Games | A Game of Pretty Gardens - Osprey Games | Schotten Totten 2 - Iello | The Dee Sanction - All Rolled Up |
| 2020 (online)[16] | Tapestry - Stonemaier Games | Ishtar - Iello | Solar Storm - Dranda Games | Origlamme - Studio H | Paladin - Chaosium |
| 2019 | Architects of the West Kingdom | Root | The Mind | Ruthless | Forbidden Lands |
| 2018[17] | Great Western Trail - Stronghold | Civilisation - Gibsons | Pikoko - Brain Games | N/A - category began in 2019 | Adventures in an Age Undreamed - Modiphius |