UKGE - Friday recap

Our day 1 of UKGE 2025 was a bit slower than usual. Normally I like to prepare by printing out maps, marking any interesting booths, making wishlists with different priority rankings. This time the weeks leading up to the Expo were a bit busy so we came less prepared. 🫣

So we mostly just spent the day walking around and absorbing the convention atmosphere 😌, and just casually checking out stuff with no big goals whatsoever. We did some shopping of course and played a few demos. In the evening we unboxed and tried a few smaller games! Here are some teasers! 👇

💥 Line of Fire: Burnt Moon

This game is a lane battler with parts of the Undaunted theme and system which sounds splendid, but the demo didn't really convince me unfortunately. We also kind of ran out of time before really understanding it to be honest.

⚔️ Gwent: The Legendary Card Game

I absolutely love Gwent, it's a brilliant duel card game from the Witcher 3. The tabletop implementation is fun, but the switch from digital to analog really slows the game down. Maybe too much.

🐈 Cat Chi Cat 

This is a crazy little trick-taker for 2p and it looks crazy. 😄 It has a simple twist: when both players play odd-numbered cards, Chi cat’s mood changes. You want to lure Chi cat towards you to get points, and to do that you either need to win or lose tricks, depending on his mood. 

🍀 Asterix & Co

I watched and read a lot of Asterix growing up, so this game was a must for us. Luckily it's not just thematically and graphically brilliant, but the gameplay also holds up. It's a lane battler for 2-4 players, with every card having some special ability.

🚩 Muster: Raise the Banners

Another lane battler for 2p that's a blast, and the illustrations are exquisite. You play until the deck runs out, trying to control the majority of the 5 castles by the end. There are some fun rules that restrict card placement, and you can make some cool plays.

🏯 For the Emperor 

This tiny box of cards is surprisingly fun! A lane battler for 2 again, where lanes get closed after a set amount of cards are added. Both players have the same 9 cards, but they have special abilities and the sequence you play them greatly influences the outcome.