UK Games Expo (UKGE) is a tabletop-game convention and trade fair held 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 42,000 guests.
UKGE features a range of exhibitors, events, open games, demos, and tournaments including the UK Carcassonne Championship, and the UK Agricola Championship.
All forms of tabletop games are represented at the event including board games, role-playing games, card games and war games. Organisers each year also hold the UKGE Awards with two categories, the People's Choice Awards as voted on by attendees of the event and the Judges Choice Awards.
Cosplay has played an increasing part at the event over the past few years with several cosplay groups regularly entertaining event-goers across the three-day event.
The UK Games Expo was first held in 2007, organised by Richard J. 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. In 2020 the event was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event returned in person in 2021 with additional COVID-19 guidelines. In 2022 the event removed the COVID-19 guidelines introduced the prior year. In 2024 it broke exhibitor and attendance records from 2023.
In 2008, the expo 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.
Each year the show awards the UKGE Awards which are split into two broad categories: The PeopleâÂÂs Choice, which are voted on by expo attendees, and the JudgeâÂÂs Choice, which are voted on by invited judges or delegates. UKGE rewards different game styles, including abstract games, strategic games, party games and more, as well as expansions, accessories, role-playing games, novelties, etc.