Source: Unsplash by Alperen Yazgi
With Free RPG Weekend done in some places, fading into the distance of the event rear view mirror, most tabletop gaming enthusiasts are looking for other events to quell their gaming fix.
Free RPG weekend helps with this by getting stores to host free RPG games over the weekend and runs on June 25th in North America and July 23rd Worldwide (outside of North America).
This runs every year and helps to promote RPG Games by giving out ‘quick start’ kits which are sort of like video game demos. They allow players to see what is coming in the world of tabletop RPGs.
On the second till the fourth of June every year, Birmingham plays host to an event known as Games Expo, where many fans of the tabletop genre, including role playing games, war games and board and card games, come down, look around the expo, and even purchase a few things – like dice and miniatures.
Chris Hastings, a devout gamer that goes as often as he can, quoted: “It is a monster that keeps growing, I went there in 2018 and there was a small Viking village, now it has grown to the point where there are different groups doing different historical enactments.”
The events are too numerous to count with everything from gaming sessions, to seminars on gaming and even a Starship simulator, where five players act as a bridge crew and go through a mission. There are also audience driven shows such as a recreation of the children’s game Knightmare from the late 80s.
Chris Hastings went on to add “it was expansive, and to show how expansive it was there were seminars on being a GM (Games Master) with everything on how to run a game on how to tell a story for your players”.
Tickets cost upwards of £18 for a single day adult ticket, or £110 for a family three-day ticket. For certain seminars and games an additional fee may be allocated, for events such as the Starship Simulator game.
“The pricing was fair for an expo, but then the guys for starship simulator had to recoup their money as they had to buy touch screen technology for their games. As for paying for the events, it is all tied to your email so you will get a QR code and your tickets are printed there on site, to avoid someone stealing your spot.” Chris added.
Next Expo is set for the second to the fourth of June in 2023. So, grab your armour, sharpen your broad sword and get your spell book ready.