UKGE - Saturday recap

I believe we managed to map out all the halls yesterday, hopefully getting a glimpse at everything UKGE 2025 has to offer (okay, that's probably impossible, but we tried 😅). On the final day we can concentrate on checking out some specific games that interest us the most. ❕Fellow attendees: if you have secret tips, let us know! 😁🤩

Now on to some games we played! 👇

🏘️ Rival Cities

I've heard good things about this game and a free demo table winked at us invitingly, so we gladly gave it a go. This is an extraordinary 2p tug-of-war type game, with multiple victory conditions and even some engine building (just wish the theme wasn't horrible 😅).

💍 Duel for Cardia

I don't even see this game on BGG yet, but I'm intrigued after playing. It's a simple yet brilliant dueling card game. Players play cards simultaneously, the higher value wins a Signet, while the lower card activates its power. Thanks to all the abilities you can do some cool plays. (It reminds us of Time Division, btw.)

🌋 Fate of the Fellowship 

This is the biggest release of the Expo for sure, and having all the Pandemics at home, we couldn't resist getting this. It feels like an epic Lord of the Rings game, and not just a simple Pandemic retheme, but we'll cover this more extensively to elaborate.

🐟 Sakana Stack

A small ladder climbing card game themed around the Japanese fish market. You play stacks of the same number, with the restriction of not just going higher than the previous stack, but also having to follow the color or number of the last stack. 

🏞️ Tic Tac Trek

This game in a tin has an unbelievable amount of charm. It's a twist on tic-tac-toe with tile-laying added for never before seen layers to the classic abstract game. It's great.

🐼 Panda Panda

We couldn't leave this tiny card game. Basically you draw or discard a card each turn, trying to assemble a winning set. Of course your opponents are doing the same thing, so it's a mad dash to victory.