A slighly grumpy post about UK Games Expo

Over Spaghetti Junction cold, through Great Barr deep and Aston old, #ukgamesexpo here i come!
— Tim Atkinson (@Magpiemoth) May 26, 2013

I swung into UK Games Expo on Sunday for a quick game of Achtung Cthulhu and a mooch around the trade halls. 

This was the first time it had moved from the Masonic Conference Centre and neighbouring hotel in Edgbaston out to the Hilton at the NEC. Word of the Gaming Gods is that they got 3,500 people along (most for 2-3 days) which is their best attendance yet.  

Good stuff: 

• The Trade Halls and gaming rooms were a lot better laid out and easier to navigate than the previous venue (there was much less chance of your way being blocked by a marauding dalek). 
• I was able to lay hands on a copy of Shock.
• You could still check out board games to play-test in the bar (like this round of Pirates Cove)

• Good family-friendly atmosphere
• The USP of always being able to get into a game, whether RPG, board or wargames.
• Being able to get there by train was much appreciated.

Not so good stuff: 

• Food and drink prices ranging from expensive to rip-off, with punters shelling out upwards of £4 for a decent coffee or a pint at the main bar, which wouldn't have been so bad were it not for...
• ... the comparison with previous years, where you could nip outside the con to a range of decent pubs and restaurants, even if you weren't straying more than 5 minutes walk away. 
• Or go in search of cheap snacks according to means and timing.
• General sense of soullessness endemic to the Hilton and surrounds made you long for the quirkiness of Apron 'n' Compass central.

The setting for a con matters, so while transferring Expo to the Hilton probably makes a lot of sense for the size of event it's become, it has lost quite a bit of its charm in doing so. 

I'm not sure if that was my last visit to the event, but I'd be reluctant to do more than a day in future. I wish the organisers well, but perhaps I'm not their target audience.