Tabletop Scotland is the premiere board game, card game and roleplaying convention in Scotland. It has been on my radar as one of the most promising looking conventions of the year, and is now just around the corner. Aside from it being a lovely excuse to hop across the border for a few days, Tabletop Scotland prides itself on its wide variety of events, its charitable wings and its accessibility.
This year’s event will be the first in the new venue of the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, running from Friday September 6th to Sunday September 8th.
I caught up with David Wright, the Convention Director of Tabletop Scotland to find out more about the convention and what this new venue means for attendees.
David & the Origins of Tabletop Scotland
David obviously has a lot of love for tabletop gaming. He spoke fondly about having been playing Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) since 1984. When I asked about where the inspiration for putting together a convention came from, he spoke of the difficulty getting gaming groups together around Edinburgh and wanting to make it easier for players to share their love of the hobby.
His love of gaming eventually led him to owning a game store in Kirkcaldy. Sadly, the store didn’t survive financially, but the experience did help him grow a community of gamers and inspire him to approach the hobby differently.
The emotional trauma from losing a business that was driven by a passion for your hobby caused me to essentially think of all the games that I enjoyed as products. So I took a year out of trying to rediscover the hobby. Gaming had been a constant for me throughout my life, and I either had to rediscover it, or I had to replace it with something else.
As Convention Director of Tabletop Scotland, David Wright is committed to the event being accessible and enjoyable by all.
Thankfully, David came back to gaming with many of his ex-customers now his co-gamers. He then went on to playtest Dungeons & Dragons‘ Fifth Edition and attended Gen Con in 2014 for the new edition’s official launch. Gen Con proved to be a terrific inspiration for him, and he recollected with joy the experience of taking part in a massive multiplayer DnD event.
It kind of blew my mind, as this is the sort of thing you can do with the hobby at an event, you know, it had 120 tables all playing exactly the same scenario at the same time, right, with claxons going off and all sorts of other things when certain events occurred. It was an amazing experience.
Returning home from Gen Con, David felt that Scotland was sorely missing these kinds of gaming experiences. From then on, he resolved to put together a tabletop convention in Scotland, supported by his sizable network of co-gamers and supporters.
That community has always been a thing for me within the hobby, and therefore, why not have a festival of the hobby as part of a convention?
After a couple of years of searching for an appropriate venue and putting his project manager experience to good use, the first Tabletop Scotland convention took place in Perth in 2018.
On its inaugural weekend, they were hoping for an attendance of 500 people and were blown away by over 1,000 attendees, instantly making it the largest event of its kind in Scotland! Since then, it has grown consistently with around 2,300 attendees last year.
New Venue – Opportunities & Challenges
The Royal Highland Centre is the largest indoor space in Scotland with a maximum capacity of 6,100, meaning Tabletop Scotland can now host so many more attendees, exhibitors and events. However, David was very clear that having more space doesn’t mean pushing for maximum capacity. For him, it has always been much more important that there is enough breathing space for everyone to be comfortable was a key priority.
For board gaming, we have always had, and continue to have, a minimum of 1.5 meters behind the back of chairs, right? So when someone is occupying a space, they’re still one and a half meters before there’s somebody else occupying the space…I always wanted my attendees to feel comfortable in the space, even if it was really busy. I didn’t want them to feel like they were crowded in.
This ethos has been something important from the beginning of Tabletop Scotland. It has also been informed by the work the convention does with charities, especially mental health charities.
Tabletop Scotland prides itself on its accessibility and providing breathing space for attendees.
We partnered with an autistic charity last year and the year before, and they helped us understand how to better manage the space for those on the spectrum or those who have other neuro a diverse attributes. That was really, really helpful, and moving to a venue that’s three times the size, it’s easier, obviously, for us to give space now between things.
However, with the bigger space came worries about too much open space spoiling the comfortable, accessible experience of Tabletop Scotland. David has been through many floor planning iterations to get around this. Thanks to the smaller rooms at the venue, there are plenty of enclosed spaces for RPG sessions, seminars and dedicated a quiet room away from the hustle and bustle of the main exhibitor hall.
Highlights to Look Forward to
With all this extra space, I was keen to find out all the things that Tabletop Scotland would be able to offer this year.
More Exhibitors
The increased space has also allowed more exhibitors. Last year, there were 71 whereas this year, they’ll be able to have 120, whilst still having plenty of breathing room for exhibitors and attendees. David shared his gratitude for exhibitors who have attended multiple times, such as Handiwork Games Hatchling Games and Inspiring Games to new ones such as Chaosium, Modiphius and Ravensburger.
As an avid DnD fan, David also revealed that they will be displaying copies of the new DnD Player’s Handbook, ahead of its general release on September 17th.
If you want to browse the full list of the attending exhibitors at this year’s convention, you can do so right here on Tabletop Scotland‘s website.
Game Sessions
Looking at Tabletop Scotland‘s website and speaking with David, it was clear that there is an abundance of gaming events for people to enjoy. There are various Open Play Zones that attendees can check out, and you can even arrange to play specific games using the Game Finder system on the website. There will also be a Games Library you can visit to check out and check in games on the day.
There’s even an area for attendees completely new to gaming called the Gateway Zone. Attendees can go there for support and guidance from Tabletop Scotland’s volunteers to get started on their gaming journey and make the most of their time at the convention.
Tabletop Scotland has a huge variety of offerings for gamers of all levels.
Inspired by the incredible DnD multiplayer event at Gen Con, Tabletop Scotland also has DnD Epics of their own. Though they won’t be on the same scale as Gen Con, David recommended checking them out for the fun chaos that surrounds these sessions.
Want to try out a game that’s not even on the market yet? There’s a Playtest Zone where game designers test out their games and are on the lookout for players to help with that. Taking part means you get to enjoy a novel new game and be a part of the creative process of bringing their game to life!
Perhaps what intrigued me the most was the Tabletop Scotland Game Jam. This 48 hour event runs from 4pm on Friday 6th to 4pm on Sunday 8th and allows you to team up to create a completely new game from scratch. The event is the first of its kind at Tabletop Scotland and is sponsored by Panda Game Manufacturing, who also provide mentorship for participants.
Panels/shows
Throughout the weekend, there will also be a variety of tabletop gaming shows you can attend. These range from professional industry seminars to comedy shows to pub quizzes.
You can find the full live show schedule on the website. Make sure to reserve your spot so you don’t miss out!
Tabletop Scotland will be running from September 6th to September 8th out of the Royal Highland Centre. Check out their website for further details and to book on to specific events.
