UK GAMES EXPO 2016

Aneurin wrote:So this is my list for the expo... Buy, play, look at... Not decided yet.

Welcome to Walnut Grove
El Grande
Catacombs
Caylus
Brass
Voyages of Marco Polo
Patchwork
Orleans
Grand Austria Hotel

I particularly want to try out Quadropolis at the expo (and then will likely buy it if I enjoy it).

Having backed the "This War of Mine" KS I'll be very curious if I see anyone playing one of the prototype copies at the expo

Beyond that I have a short list of older games I might pick up and then it's just going to be wandering around seeing what I see!

Aneurin has pointed out that I'm the official face (or side profile) of the Expo games library this year. I'm available all weekend for game signings.

Where?

Splash banner image on the main page. It's the photo after the armada one as it scrolls around. His beautiful face is on the left.

Maybe it should be our aim to photobomb as much as we can this year

Save you some time...

Is anyone travelling there and back tomorrow? I have the car if not but would be better sharing the lift if poss. I've messaged Karl but he hasn't replied, it might be because he spells his name wrong. Or maybe his new game expo celebrity status has gone to his head :p

Haven't seen any messages from you mate. We're setting off in an hour. Will drop you a text.

So - Hands up who's already booked their hotel room for next year?

PaulC wrote:So - Hands up who's already booked their hotel room for next year?    

Yep, done!

PaulC wrote:So - Hands up who's already booked their hotel room for next year?    

How do I go about this? They wouldn't let us do it at the time

Kes wrote:How do I go about this? They wouldn't let us do it at the time

If you want the Hilton then you can book online at hilton.com. There's no expo discount code yet but the current sale prices are pretty good. Depends which days you stay but Thursday to Sunday is currently averaging to £56 per night for a single, £77 for a twin. Both include breakfast.

You need to join the hhonors reward scheme to get the best price, but that's free to join.

I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

Lizzy wrote:I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

Just by being logged in as hhonors on the site, though I got a family room as the family may join me for part of the trip...

PaulC wrote:

Lizzy wrote:I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

Just by being logged in as hhonors on the site, though I got a family room as the family may join me for part of the trip...

Just logged in again and the price had gone up significantly. Perhaps it's a demand based algorithm - They've had a lot of bookings today for those dates so automatically bumped the price up?

PaulC wrote:

PaulC wrote:

Lizzy wrote:I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

Just by being logged in as hhonors on the site, though I got a family room as the family may join me for part of the trip...

Just logged in again and the price had gone up significantly. Perhaps it's a demand based algorithm - They've had a lot of bookings today for those dates  so automatically bumped the price up?

Yep I'm seeing those higher prices now too I guess lots of people had the same idea...

Great... Should have done it last night.

Lizzy wrote:I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

I booked a twin room (cheapest option at the time) on Saturday for £86 per night for 3 nights. Weirdly, it appeared to have got slightly cheaper this morning and now way more expensive.

Lizzy wrote:I'm signed in under the scheme, but it's showing a twin as £128. Doesn't even list a price for a double.

What did you book Dave/PaulC?

There were no doubles when I looked either so we've booked a family Room - as with Paul was logged in as HHonors first (since its free to join and cheaper than not being a member (think it worked out £40 cheaper across the three days with B&B))

On the plus column the family rooms are a bit bigger - the one we had last time was big enough to put a table up, so if there is no space downstairs can play in our room instead

I'm also showing that the price has shot up this morning but hopefully will go down again soon once the initial rush is over?

Yeah, I'll keep an eye on it

Are you staying Thursday? I'm not convinced it was worth it. Was a lot easier though.

Just checked again and prices have gone down a bit and single rooms have reappeared.

Hotel pricing is weird.

Lizzy wrote:Are you staying Thursday? I'm not convinced it was worth it. Was a lot easier though.

I am. I agree I'm not totally sure it's worth it (no library, no trade hall) but it meant I could get a parking space at the hotel (which was more convenient and cheaper than the NEC) and there was plenty of gaming space (admittedly just for games we'd brought with us). Mostly, though, because I'm a freak who always wants to get everywhere early and not miss out on something exciting that might happen on the Thursday night. I'll always have unplayed games, so a bonus half-day of gaming is enough to tempt me

Lizzy wrote:Are you staying Thursday? I'm not convinced it was worth it. Was a lot easier though.

I am - it was nice to get situated and have fun playing a few games when it wasn't crazy busy

Re: pricing - it will be a computer algorithm that sets prices based on demand. With the prices shooting up everyone will have paused and that's probably dropped the demand enough for it to drop down a bit. No real suprise there - the price went up £50 per night in two hours (about 66% increase on what it was when I booked this morning) no wonder it gave folk pause!

I'm still feeling a little underwhelmed and burnt out by the expo. I don't know what I expected but I wasn't crazy about it - If I go next year I would probably just head down on the Sunday. It was quieter - games were cheaper - Ok it would be impossible to get some of the rarer games... and perhaps the selection in the B&B isn't great... but I think I could live with that.

I actually thought one of the best things was the family area. There were some fantastic guys there doing mini-D&D for children. Great story telling, real passion... it was farm animals verus angry squirrels - I really want those miniatures now! Maybe I should have done some play testing. I don't know.

So I'll be keeping my hands down...

However - I did notice that if anyone wants a gaming table the expo is the place to do it. The tables they had out on the stall and Geekensons were half price on the sunday!

I'm starting to regret not picking up Camel up... did you see on the Meeple Corner stand it was reduced to £15 on the sunday! With a black camel promo. Out of interest how suitable is that for an 8 year old?