The Birmingham Boardgame Bash

Birmingham Game Designers is organising the first Birmingham Boardgame Bash for Saturday 3rd February 2018 at the Meeple Mayhem board game cafe in Edgbaston. The event will feature a total of 6 board game designers, including members of this group as well as special invited guests from the far corners of the land (well, from London and Bristol, which are both well outside of the Midlands). The designers will be bringing a mixture of different types of games for people to playtest or try out, from simple party games to more complex strategy games. Whether you are a board game designer yourself, or would like to be, or you are a dedicated hobby gamer, or just someone who likes to play board game occasionally, then this is an opportunity to play a variety of board games, provide feedback, check out soon-to-be-released titles, and even talk about game design. If you haven’t been to Meeple Mayhem before, then this is the perfect chance to check out Birmingham’s only dedicated board game cafe. The event will run from 12.00 to 18.00, but you can stay afterwards to continue gaming until closing time. The designers and their games will be:

Bez Shariari – Bez’ games have sold more than 35,000 copies worldwide. Bez will be coming with these things:
Wibbell++ (1-many players, 2-40 minutes). The deck of pairs of letters featuring speed games, word games, dexterity games, party games…The Kickstarter for the 2nd edition will begin on 30th January.
Kitty Cataclysm (2-5 players, 5-7 minutes). Due for release in 2018.
The Conversation (2 players, 15-20 minutes). A prototype of a game originally designed by Laura Wood, which is now going into development. Roleplay the critical conversation of a nordic LARP – argument, affirmation, first beginnings or final farewells.
A game, wherein you blether […] (3-6 players, 30-40 minutes). Talk quickly for 1 minute, trying to use as many key-words as you possibly can. Then vote on who blethered best. Featuring the longest ever name for a game.

Mateusz Rackowski will be bringing:
Krill (2-4 players, 20-25 minutes). A tile-laying strategy game where players take turns to place tiles on the game board. As they do so, their krill swarms emerge and grow.

Simon Milburn will offer players a chance to try out:
Tinmates (1-4 players, 15-45 minutes).  A strategic area control game that was created for the 2017 Mint Tin Design Contest. Battle for the Yard to gain Power and become the Prison Boss.

Richard Buxton will be playtesting:
Master of Olympus (2-4 players, 90 minutes). Players assume the role of a God or Goddess, each with a unique bonus, and use heroes, creatures and armies to prove their dominance of the ancient Greek world.

Scott Moore will be demoing:
1066, Tears to Many Mothers (1-2 players, 30-60 minutes). A game by designer Tristan Hall, this is a non-collectible, asymmetric, competitive card game in the style of Magic the Gathering, which puts players in charge of the Normans or the Saxons and recreates the historic Battle of Hastings. Currently available for pre-order.
Arkon (2-4 players, 10-30 minutes). A game by designers Casey Hill and Martin de Diego Sádaba, this is a fast paced strategy card game, played from one central deck of 52 cards. Players assume the role of a mysterious outsider who claims to be a fabled mystic from long ago. The Kickstarter for the game will begin on 1st February.
This War Without an Enemy (2 players, 120-240 minutes). Too long and complex to be demoed at this event, but a prototype copy will be available to peruse and the designer will be happy to talk about the game. This is a 2-player strategic block wargame on the first English Civil War. It will be available for pre-order from late February.

Nicki Lloyd will be offering:
Immortality (2-4 players, 20-60 minutes). In this Greek mythology-based dice rolling, card drawing game the aim is to be the first out of the maze to receive Zeus’ gift of immortality.
Be The Best – Zombie Survivor Edition (2-5 players, 10-20 mins). This is a card game with players aiming to be the best by gaining cards with the highest values in a variety of categories such as Zombie threat, protection and shelter. The game is available to purchase on GameCrafter.