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Way back in the dusty tomes of history, well ok, in 2016, I attended my first UK Games Expo. At this point, I had not been to any form of convention in over 20 years. The last time was at Gen Con UK where I essentially spent the entire weekend roleplaying. As this was my first venture in over 20 years, I was a bit unsure as to exactly what I would be doing while I was there. I have a somewhat varied taste when it comes to games, happy to play board, card, dice, miniatures and roleplaying games, so when I was trying to think of what to take to the UK Games Expo, the only thing I knew for sure is that I hoped to be playing games.
My Tiny Epic Mission
Therefore my mission was to pack as many games as possible into the boot of my car so that once there my son and I would not be unprepared.
Miniature war games take a lot of room, so do roleplaying games. Once they were in the boot it did not leave much room for anything else.
I learnt a valuable lesson during my first experience of the UK Games Expo, Pack Light!
Once I arrived at the UK Games Expo, I walked the near mile from the car park to the Entrance of the NEC with a backpack full of anything that I could fit in there. Then stood in a queue for over an hour. Needless to say, on day two my backpack was not as full, only carrying the smallest of games. It was more important to carry water.
The second time I went to the UK Games Expo, I took games that were considerably smaller in size, dice games, card games, and the odd miniature war game if it offered a small starter set or small footprint when on a table.
A few of the games that fell into this category were Star Realms, Cthulhu Realms, Magic the Gathering Duel Decks and Mars Attacks.
Tiny Epic Games
Then one fateful day I sat down and watched a YouTube video of actor Wil Wheaton playing a game of Tiny Epic Galaxies. I was engrossed in this video and enjoyed watching the gameplay that came out of this tiny box. I immediately thought of how this would be perfect the next time I went to the UK Games Expo.
This was a game-changer. I wanted to know more, who were Gamelyn Games, and what other Tiny Epic games existed. I did some research and found that they had three other titles at the time, Tiny Epic Kingdoms, Tiny Epic Defenders and Tiny Epic Western. The core ideas between these four games seemed to cover the themes of tabletop gaming quite well. All whilst maintaining its small footprint.
Since that fateful day, I have watched Tiny Epic Games grow from strength to strength. Gamelyn Games now have an impressive line up of Tiny Epic Games and expansions. They have even created another range called ‘Ultra Tiny Epic’, making a couple of these games even smaller. Each new game demonstrates that Gamelyn Games have their finger firmly on the pulse of the gaming industry, as the themes of each game always fill a new niche and do not duplicate any of their previous games. Some of the games have been so successful that expansions have been produced and even a 2nd Edition has come out for Tiny Epic Defenders
Tiny Epic Collection
Here is a list of games released so far and ones that are due soon:
- Tiny Epic Kingdoms
- Tiny Epic Defenders
- Tiny Epic Western
- Tiny Epic Galaxies
- Tiny Epic Zombies
- Tiny Epic Mechs
- Tiny Epic Quest
- Tiny Epic Tactics
- Tiny Epic Dinosaurs
- Tiny Epic Pirates
- Tiny Epic Dungeons (Presently in Kickstarter)
I will freely admit that I have each of these on my shelves. The last two I have pledged on Kickstarter. I will agree that some games on the list will not suit everyone, we all have our likes and dislikes. With each new release, a lesson is learnt from those before it. There are improvements in the overall quality and presentation. They always push the limits of what exactly can fit inside one small box.
The fact that you can have nine or more different games all fit inside a standard backpack amazes me. One backpack instead of having to put the seats down in the back of the car. You can fit the same games on two-foot of shelf space that would not even look out of place alongside your book or BluRay Collection. Tiny Epic Games are a win in every possible way in my mind!