I am pleased as pickled punch to report that everyone’s favorite sacreligious boards game, Playing Gods, recently made its British debut. Yes, my grubby little game made it to the land of leaden skies and bland, overpriced food (no offense, my beloved Brit friends!). The venue was the U.K. Games Expo which was held June 5 through 7 in Birmingham, which is north of London and in the West Midlands, about halfway up to Scotland. I’ve never been there, but I have a friend from there, and her accent is adorable.

At any rate, my U.K. distributor, Paul Evans of JKLMnP, kindly hosted a few Playing Gods games at the Expo. He gave away some stickers and posters (and probably a few T-shirts). He said there was definitely some interest, but few if any sales: some “Lookey Lukeys but no Byron Buyers,” as they say in their quirky local Birmingham idiom. I did my part by sending lots of promo swag, we’ll see if that helps get some traction in the coming weeks.

With a some press help from a marketing friend in London, I did a brief BBC radio interview just after midnight on Sunday morning the 6th. It was a live local broadcast from the Expo (it was 7 in the morning their time), and it went well. It was quick, though, and I only had time to answer about four questions: 1) What is the premise of the game? 2) Why did you choose to include the “real” gods? 3) Are you concerned that some people will miss the satire? and 4) Where can people find out more?

In other U.K. Playing Gods news, I plan to run a few adverts in the British magazine Fortean Times (for those of you unfamiliar with the title, it’s a nice, slick, full-color glossy monthly mag about mysterious, unusual, and paranormal subjects— sort of like a less-sceptical Skeptical Inquirer). Playing Gods is the sort of game that would appeal to FT readers, who seem to be an independent-thinking, contrary lot. Plus I have a bit of name recognition with that crowd: “Hey, wasn’t this designed by that Yank wanker what keeps disproving them ghost reports?”

Also, earlier this month (with more than a little help from my friends, to whom I am most grateful) I moved the whole damned stock of Playing Gods from one undisclosed location to another undisclosed location. Every last box, including a few which did not fare well during the journey and have a few dents. If I find enough of them, I’ll offer the games for sale at a deep discount. Until next time,