Hi folx,
Ordinarily, I would use this space to talk about Stamp Quest or UK TIN’s presence at UKGE (more on that later) but those topics are so big that they’re getting their own newsletter!
All that I will say for now, on the Stamp Quest front, is that we have some incredible sponsors (Leisure Games, SoulMuppet, and Three Sails Studios), a fantastic lineup of 30 Quest Givers, and four prize pools. Our website has more information and we’ll be adding to it as the event gets closer with more details on the prize pools, a full terms and conditions, and, more importantly, the finalised details on how to enter.
Regarding our presence at UKGE, I was blown away by the response our call for volunteers got and the sheer number of amazing games that were submitted. While I would love to be able to exhibit them all, our tables just aren’t big enough and it was difficult to nail down our final catalogue.
Until the next newsletter, have a good one!
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Meetups & Events
There are two conventions on this month. The biggest for us is the UK Games Expo, in Birmingham from 30th May to 1st June. TIN will be there on stall 2-383, and many designers who are part of TIN’s community will have their own stalls as well. We’re going to have a great selection of games for you to check out from up-and-coming creatives, but that’s a big subject so look out for the Convention Special edition of the newsletter later this month for more details.
Before that, though, there’s MCM London Comic Con from 23rd to 25th May. While TIN isn’t going to have a present at MCM, the London branch has moved its usual monthly social to coincide with the event. If anybody is visiting London for MCM and arrives on the evening of Thursday 22nd May, join us at the Arcanist’s Tavern from 7pm!
Our upcoming meetups are:
London: Thursday 22nd May, 7pm (usually first Thursday of the month)
@ The Arcanist’s Tavern, 87-91 Hackney Road, Shoreditch, E2 8FEGlasgow: Friday 2nd, Friday 16th, and Friday 30th May, all at 11am (fortnightly)
@ Beco Building, 62 Kingston StreetManchester: Saturday 3rd May, 2:30pm (first Saturday of the month)
@ KRO BAR, 325 Oxford Rd, M13 9PGVirtual Coffee Mornings: Wednesday 7th May, 10.30am (first Wednesday of the month) and Sunday 18th May, 10am (third Sunday of the month)
@ coffee-morning channel in the UK Tin Discord server.Creatives of Colour virtual hangout: TBC
@ PoC-Lounge channel in the UK TIN Discord server (remember to ask a Discord mod for the “creative of colour” role for access)
Norwich meetups are on hiatus this month.
Remember to keep an eye on our social media channels for any updates to these expected times or locations.
Last month’s TIN Talk was “What the heck is GPSR & CE Testing? (aka how do I keep selling my games in the EU)” by Samuel Steele of MisfitHobbies. It covered the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR), what impact they can have on tabletop creators in the UK, and how creators can navigate the new requirements. If you missed it, the recording of this talk—and all our previous TIN Talks—can be found at the TIN Talks Archive.
TIN Talks will resume again next month.
Gaming brings people together and raises money for charity with Roll For Good! On 17th and 18th May 2025, Roll For Good is hosting a TTRPG livestream for charity, streaming 6 one-shots for Game Therapy UK. Watch along and donate, from Wildsea to Monster of the Week!
New & Recent Releases
Ghostbox is a solo epistolary game by Marx Shepherd, exploring the one-sided stories of unreceived letters and correspondence in an abandoned postbox. Track what happens to the postbox over years, where letters are sent, but the replies never come. When the game ends, the postbox and its contents are lost forever.
Pariah & Parvenu is a Honey Heist hack by W.H. Arthur. The game is inspired by the writings of Hannah Arendt, on how members of a marginalised group have to choose between the role of a pariah (social outcast) and a parvenu (social climber). You play an Orc trying to get into an exclusive club for upper-class humans.
One of W.H. Arthur’s other games, May You Fish In Interesting Times, has recently won an Indie Groundbreaker Award, so it’s the perfect time to go through their itch page and see why!
Bundles, Crowdfunding, & Subscriptions
It's double trouble in this Kickstarter for Trail of the Behemoth 2nd Ed. + NEON HOPE from Village on Stilts (whose team includes our own TIN North chapter head, Freddie Watkins). If you're looking for great games to bring board gamers into TTRPGs, try these! Fight back against a cyberpunk dystopia in NEON HOPE or hunt titans in Trail of the Behemoth. Easy to teach, playable for years, designed with board gamers in mind.
The project campaign game ends early on 9th May, so back it soon if you’re interested!
Catalogue of Chaos: Edition 3 is the latest collection by Dungeon Master UK of brand-new magic items for D&D 5e. Its unique, interesting, and ridiculous magic items are sure to confuse players, derail your carefully planned sessions, and make everyone at the table laugh, groan, and question their sanity. Only here can you discover oddities of questionable utility such as the Washosauraus Rex (a toy dinosaur that doesn’t belong in the hands of a responsible adult) and The Dwarf Tosser (a bracelet that turns dwarves into airborne projectiles).
The project is set to launch on Backerkit on 6th May, so if you’re interested sign up for an alert when it goes live.
UK Tabletop Industry Network has a Patreon! All contributions help us support up-and-coming creators in the tabletop industry without a paywall or other barrier to entry. Patreon funding is the main way we cover up-front fees for conventions and events. The more funding we get, the more events we can attend, and the more games by aspiring creatives we can put in front of excited gamers that might otherwise miss them.
If you support the Patreon at the £5 tier or above, you’ll get free access to a growing selection of great games contributed by our members, the latest of which is All Bastard by Sam Armstrong. Other games for Patreon members include LadyBeaste by Michael Duxbury, Drama Llamas by Yvris Burke, Biome by Black Armada Games, and Slasher by Sam Armstrong.
Contributors to this month’s edition of the TIN newsletter were Ryan Wheeldon, Jack Terry, Josh Gane, Eleanor Hingley, and Stephen Morffew. If you would like to contribute to the newsletter, drop a message in the #tin-volunteering channel of the UK TIN Discord or contact Stephen Morffew via email at stepintorpgs(at)outlook(dot)com.