I was very excited to see a couple of social media posts recently about Guildhall Games Fest. Having been held around Febuary in previous years, I'd thought I was going to have to wait until 2025 for my next Games Fest. But, yay(!) here we are with another awesmone games event.
My late summer to autumn has really become very event busy; with wrestling at Wembley end of august, Mindset Maintenance at the start of September (listen to podcast Ep298 with Bianca to find out more), World Suicide Prevention Day (10th September), World Mental Health Day (10th October) and now Games Fest. That's quite a lot of events in a short period of time.
Board gaming has been something that has supported my wellbeing and switching off for a while. And it became even more so during the 2020 lockdowns and social restrictions of 2021. Since Henry's arrival it has become harder to carve out the time to sit down and play games, so having the opportunity to wonder around Guildhall Games Fest and discover a few new games was a great way to spend my Saturday afternoon. While exploring I talked to a few people about their games, services and exhibition spaces. I think potentially there maybe some future podcast conversations to follow, so look out for those.
Wondering around the Guildhall you were exposed to various game types: board games, eSports, retro and arcade games machines, 'real life' Angry Birds, archery, social deduction, online and digital games. And potentially my favorite this year were the games in the South Asian Origin Exhibition.
The South Asian Origin Exhibition included art and literature based project 'Bridges not Borders', alongside games of Chaupar, Carrom and Moksha Patam (or as many know it, Snakes and Ladders). The additional liturature about the games was really insightful and I think really added to the experience you could have. Did you know(?) snakes and ladders/ Moksha Patam originated in India as a game about morale and religious phlosiphy, symbolising life with virtues (ladders) leading to enlightenment (Moksha) and vices (snakes) causing a fall backwards.
I also enjoyed the art pieces by Sarika Khurana showing Portsmouth locations using modern woodwork and ancient Pattachitra. This was actually the first thing I noticed on the exhibition, and that drew me over to the other art displayed before I even really took in the games that were also part of the space.
I remain impressed at how many events the Mary Rose Team attend, sharing insights and experinces while promoting the local history and further exhibitions within Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Alongside their archery/ Tudor Gaming space, Y+ Coaching had a very popular Angry Birds activity. This looked amazing, though getting a photo proved tricky as those slingshots were not as easy as they looked. It was great to hear about the important youth coaching, education and activities they deliver across Portsmouth and East Hampshire.
If we are talking about experinces, we have to talk about Blood on the Clocktower. I didnt go into the room this was being played in, because I didnt want to interupt the gameplay, but it looked great. I have watched BotC be played both online and in person on YouTube; this is maybe a weird thing to say, but I love watching this game be played while not particually wanting to play it. Maybe that's at least in part because this is such a different game from my usual. I've never previously been into social deduction or role playing games, but this game is so much fun. If you haven't seen this game be played yet I recomment watching NRB plays BotC. I love that this game was at Guildhall Games Fest and being played through. My only request (without any idea of how you would do this) would be to have a space were you could passivley watch without participating. I think that would help introduce the game to more people that be either don't want to or are apprensive about playing.
While roaming around the ground floor there was an increasing amount of digital and eSports games and spaces. It's been really interesting to see how these spaces have transformed over even just the years Games Fest has been running at Guildhall. Having initaly been a small room space to now having a giant display in the main hall with in person and online watchers, along with new games and development. One of those games 'Dungeonfell' was particually interesting. As I chatted to the team hosting the stand they shared that the event, while being great to promote their game, was also an opportunity for live testing. With one member of their team jumping on to program changes after a player discovered something within the game. That was such an interesting experience to see, and I think adds to the exciting opportunities for both exhibitor and attendee in terms of being part of that game's development.
Once again it was great to see Dice hosting the board game space, Game Over hosting the retro arcade gaming and Dream Team adding to everyones experinces with their amazing cosplay and invitation to join their cosplay community. I am somewhat skimming these three exhibitiors because they appear in many of my event reviews and insights, but do not let that underplay how essential these three exhibitors are to this event. From my experince I would say rather than adding to this event, these three are very much the core of our Guildhall Games Fest experinces.
The digital aspect to the Games Fest was very much highlighted by the live stage (and screens) eSport tournament zone. With St Vincent Sharks competing in games against local teams and event attendees. A couple of times during the day I sat down and watched as the teams battled it out in Rocket League or Overwatch. It was fun to watch gaming in this friendly, but competitive enviornment. I also enjoyed seeing the added media elements to this zone, with winners being interviewed (I think for a live stream). Having this in the same room (while appropratley zoned for sound) as games of Jenga, Cobra Paw, Patch Work and Dungeons and Dragons really signified the amazing vastness of games at this event, and the orginisation that's happened to appropriately space and zone them.
Once again I really enjoyed attending the Guildhall Games Fest, discovering new games, finding out a little more about local events, tournaments, groups, services and projects. Board games have been something that really supports my wellbeing over the last few years, but before that I was really into computer games, and increasingly I'm interested in social deduction games like Blood on the Clocktower. So maybe there's seasons we have with different types of gaming. If you have found yourself less interested or available for one type of gaming, could there be another one for you to pick up?
This year I also particually enjoyed the cultural and historical inclusion with the South Asian origin art exhibition and games. Which I think was maybe my favourite part of this years event. The exhibition is continuing at the Guildhall until Sunday 22nd September, if you have the opportunity I really recommend visiting.
The Guildhall Games Fest was once again an awesome experince, I'm already looking forward to next year and the new games, exhibitions and zones.
Will the soon to be released Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 Pro be on your shopping list ?
Will you visit the Bridges Not Boarders exhibition?
Will I see you at next year's Games Fest?
l have included a few links throughout this post to signpost to the people and projects I have mentioned. Do visit their website and social media channels to find out more about them. If you have not already, I'd also recommend following Portsmouth Guildhall on social media to find out about their upcoming events and activities.
Blogger's note: This post does include sponsored content; as I was provided a media pass for the event. However, Guildhall Games Fest (along with all exhibitors and speakers) did not ask to, and have not seen this post before it is published. Nor have they instructed me on what to say. The views, experiences, thoughts and insights expressed in this post are my own. The links included in this post are direct web links and are not affiliate links.
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