Hey all, Fleur here!

It’s been almost a month since UKGE 2025 — our second time attending as exhibitors!

I wanted to do a little roundup of the highs and lows: what worked, what didn’t, what new things we tried, and dive into the nitty gritty of expenses and sales.

I hope to make this kind of blog a regular thing, especially as a resource for other small publishers. The idea came from Odin’s Beard, who does a post-convention breakdown after every event, and those posts were so helpful when we were getting started ourselves.

Our display at Stand 3-B96. Note to self: bring iron next time!

💸 Expenses & Sales

Let’s get the numbers out of the way first!

Last year was our very first UKGE convention, and it went better than expected. I don’t have the exact figures, but we made about €4k, with around half of that being profit. We went in with no expectations and kept the expenses as low as possible, including getting a “standard” table that cost €290.

This year, we invested quite a bit more in the size and positioning of our booth, and while it looked great, I’m not entirely sure we made the most of the space. We paid extra for corner space, only for it to be placed near an emergency exit.

We sold a very similar number of units as last year, but our newer product, Deadline, is at a much lower price point than Flabbergasted. That said, it's good to have a range of price points in our catalogue. As expected, Saturday was by far our best day. We sold more on Saturday morning than all of Friday.

Expenses:

Flights (Malta to Birmingham, 2 people): €426.10
Accommodation (3 people, 4 nights at Ibis budget): €810
Table space & furniture rental: €988.51

Total: €2,224.61
(Not including food, snacks, or our very needed coffee trips.)

Units sold (approximate):

Flabbergasted – 36
Deadline – 62
Deadline Broadsheet – 32
Wanderer’s Companion – 13
Treasure Trove – 12
Flabbergasted dice sets – 8
Flabbergasted metal lucky coins – 8
Pins –
Stickers –
Lucky bags –

Total revenue: €3,114.45
Profit: €890

Thoughts & Observations

Table setup

Table layout needs some work. We got extra space this year to share with our friend Benji (Ferguson Games), who’s just getting started in the board game world. He’s done us some favours and work, so we returned the support by covering his table space. Other things to do include getting much bigger and eye-catching banners next time!
We also added a demo table to run games. This was fun, and everyone who played Flabbergasted or Deadline ended up buying a copy — but the extra space, chairs, and rental costs weren’t really covered by those sales. It was great for engagement and vibes, but maybe we’re a bit small to have a dedicated play area just yet. I’d love to do a special after-hours event next time, like what Parable Games did with their epic Shiver event.
Wanderer’s Companion was very popular with people trying it out. In between games, we encouraged people to sit at our table and make a portrait. And yet, despite getting comments on how ‘this is a brilliant idea’, it didn’t necessarily translate into many sales. I wonder if the price point is too high, but this is a very expensive product to produce and we cannot make it lower.

Other thoughts

Chelsea was part of a ‘A Seat at the Table - Women in TTRPG’ panel’, and it was amazing! The room was full, with a queue outside, and the feedback was so warm and encouraging. Loads of folks came to say they felt inspired and wanted to support us. I know it’s a cliché, but these kind of interactions make what we do all worth it.
We took part in Stamp Quest this year. I think TIN does a fantastic job running it, but it didn’t feel hugely worthwhile for us. A lot of folks just popped by for a stamp and dashed off. It did help make the booth look busier, which probably attracted more people, but overall not a game-changer.
Last year we had more retailer sales, and this time we didn’t push that much. Next year, we’ll try reaching out beforehand and arranging pickups at UKGE rather than trying to chase folks down during teardown!
Best booth upgrade this year: our foldable display boxes for Flabbergasted and Deadline! Got them from Pixartprinting and I love them. Lightweight, easy to pack, and super eye-catching. Perfect for flying in from Malta when Kallax shelves aren’t exactly suitcase-friendly.

Final thoughts

Honestly, the TTRPG community and meetups are the best part of these events. Being in Malta, it’s mostly just me and Chel — we’re pretty isolated from the wider community. So these conventions are a rare but wonderful chance to meet other creators, make new friends, and come home feeling inspired and recharged.

Mental note to myself: write a separate blog post soon just highlighting the awesome folks we met and admired at UKGE — both old friends and new!

🎲What’s Next?

Our upcoming conventions for 2025:

Malta Book Festival
Malta Comic Con
Dragonmeet (UK)

And next year… maybe Essen?

Thanks for reading — and if you’re a small publisher thinking of exhibiting, I hope this was helpful! Happy to answer questions, share resources, or just chat about the joys (and chaos) of con life.

Until the next one!
Fleur

UKGE 2025 Post Mortem