Sunday at UKGE2025

If you've ever been to the UK Games Expo, you’ll know that by Sunday, the energy shifts. The Saturday buzz mellows out, the crowds disappear. These were the top three board games Zara demoed on Sunday at UKGE2025.

Brutus (by Old Games | Demoed @ Hall 4 - 109)

Brutus is a chaotic card game with a Roman gladiator theme. You battle gladiators and bet to win to become richest in Rome. With the opportunity to build alliances or sabotage, it's ridiculously fun. I could imagine myself playing this with friends and a couple of drinks. Let the chaos begin! Look out for my review of Brutus with photos and live play footage.

A Gentle Rain (by Incredible Dreams Studio | Demoed @ Zatu Hall 2 - 560)

After the gladiator madness, I stumbled upon a Gentle Rain at the Zatu stand. You draw and place tiles, trying to align matching flowers at the intersections. Once you've laid enough tiles to uncover a circle, you then select a flower disc to place. That’s it. No scores, no stress...just a slow, thoughtful experience that feels like doing a jigsaw puzzle. I played it at a table surrounded by people and found myself completely absorbed. It's the kind of game I want on my table to unwind at the end of a hectic day.

Power Vacuum (by Keen Bean Studio )

Power Vacuum by Keen Bean Studio impressed me. It is a 1-5 player trick-taking game with some treacherous twists. The game is played over several rounds, and in each round players use tricks to adjust the power levels of other players to work toward their hidden agenda cards. I can see this becoming a favorite filler game for game nights where you want laughter. Now I have to be honest I didn't have time to fully demo it as it was so popular. But, I watched a full game from the sidelines and I will be doing a detail review shortly once I've had a chance to play it myself in full.

It's been a blast the last 3 days I've explored games I would never have noticed. But, I guess that's the beauty of UKGE. See you there next year!