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My recent experience at UK Games Expo was my first time bringing Godflesh to a major convention. As I mentioned on the Game Burning podcast, it was both a chance to pitch the game to industry professionals and a learning experience that pushed development forward in ways I didn’t expect.
Convention preparation and early lessons
I deliberately timed Godflesh’s public playtest launch to coincide with UK Games Expo, so I’d have fresh promotional materials ready. I prepared both detailed booklets and simple postcards, and quickly learned something about conventions.
Nobody wants to carry booklets around. When offering information about Godflesh, attendees consistently took postcards with download links over the full booklets. Makes sense – people accumulate bags full of stuff over the course of a convention, and lighter wins every time. Small lesson, but useful for next time.
Finding success through genuine connection
The best conversations didn’t happen during formal networking events. They happened at exhibitor booths, in passing, talking about whatever. My approach was to ask about other people’s projects first, show genuine interest, and let Godflesh come up naturally when it fit.
Those conversations often went somewhere real – shared experiences working with artists, complaints about design software, comparing development approaches. The promotional material was secondary. What actually worked was just talking to people as if the project mattered, because it does.
Meeting Steve Jackson
The highlight of the convention was meeting Steve Jackson – of Steve Jackson Games, creator of GURPS and Munchkin. After I explained Godflesh’s development and core concepts, he told me something I won’t forget: “You need to finish this game.”
From someone with his experience in the industry, that’s both validation and a clear directive. Sometimes you need to hear from a respected professional that you’re on the right track.
Positive reception fuels development
The Godflesh pitch landed well throughout the convention. People liked what they heard. But convention enthusiasm is only useful if it translates into actual work, which is what happened next.
Post-convention playtesting: where the real work begins
The energy from UK Games Expo pushed me to run more focused playtesting sessions. These turned up several mechanical issues that only emerge through dedicated play.
Refining combat consequences: The Take a Powerful Blow move wasn’t creating the right sense of escalating danger. Fixed damage amounts (“take 1 injury” or “take 2 pressure”) felt disconnected from whatever triggered the move. I’m changing these to additional damage – “take 1 extra injury” or “take 2 extra pressure” on top of the initial hit. This creates genuine escalation as characters accumulate damage. This additional damage also can’t be mitigated by treasures, armour, or threads.
Solving mechanical interactions: We found that using threads after rolling creates problems with the disfavour mechanic – you can’t add a third die when you’re already keeping the lowest two. The fix is to let players declare thread usage before rolling when they have disfavour, with the thread removing the disfavour and making it a normal roll.
Integrating damage tags: The damage tag system needed better integration throughout the game’s moves. Currently, Catch Your Breath clears various marks but ignores damage tags, making the move feel incomplete. I’m working on systematic ways for moves to both apply and remove damage tags consistently.
Balancing recovery: Injuries are clearing too easily, which reduces their narrative impact. The Rest and Recover move’s “clear 1 mark per day” proved too generous for longer journeys. I’m exploring caps on total healing per journey and requiring specific conditions – to maintain the tension these mechanics should create.
Adding travel flexibility: When travel moves significantly change the band’s situation or goals, players should be able to choose different travel moves for the rest of the journey. This needs clear guidelines about when this applies and how transitions work.
What I took away from the convention
A few things that stood out, for the next time I do this:
- Postcards work better than booklets for convention distribution.
- Genuine interest in other people’s work creates natural opportunities to talk about your own.
- The best pitching happens in casual conversations, not formal networking events.
- Encouragement from experienced professionals is useful – not because it changes the work, but because it confirms the direction.
- Positive reception only matters if it actually feeds back into development momentum.
Looking forward
UK Games Expo confirmed that Godflesh has something worth finishing. Steve Jackson said it plainly. The post-convention playtesting sessions have been productive – surfacing mechanical issues that only show up through real play. That’s the cycle: external feedback, internal refinement, repeat.
The work continues.