The first and most immediate takeaway from Hastings Games Fest was, that it is both a much smaller event, and aimed at a younger audience than I had initially expected. However, it is only as I write this that I realise this might be its greatest strength - particularly over some of the many other, potentially overwhelming, conventions I plan on visiting in 2026. After all, the main purpose of a gaming convention, much like that of the many Board Game Café’s and Clubs up and down the country, is to provide a much needed third space to actually partake in and share a love of the hobby, with likeminded people. And it is with that thought in mind that I thought it best to begin when writing this review.

The Convention Centre

The convention itself, at first seems small, but perhaps this is simply in comparison to the roaring scale of the halls in London’s Excel Centre or Birmingham’s NEC.
Of course, we all know that it is not size that matters, but what you do with it.
And what Hasting Games Fest is able to do the White Rock Theatre is take full advantage of its venue to make the most of the space provided.
Across three floors, each with their own distinct focus, it is amazing how much The Guildhall Trust has managed to accommodate.
Opening into the foyer, you are greeted by friendly and knowledgeable staff who politely explain how it is all set up and where to go for what - see image to left.

Board Games Library as provided by, Dice Board Game Lounge

On the ground floor or what would be the stalls if a theatre production was running, is a pretty large-scale open-gaming-space with half a dozen tables that any Board Game Café worth its salt would be jealous of. On one side lies an extensive gaming library provided by Dice Board Game Lounge, along with a host of games for sale, where I was able to finally add Flip 7 to my collection, and also pick up The Number, which I have heard brilliant things about from Actualol.

The other side hosts a number of local nerdy stalls, including the likes of the lovely people at The Loyal Rose Tavern where I was able to get my hands on my first ever wooden dice along with 3 lovely woven dice bags, each with their own hilarious memorabilia and at a reasonable price. I also picked up a number of cute Pokémon pins, but am sorry to admit that I cannot recall the name of the stall.

Meanwhile, to the right of the foyer, is an Indie Gaming Zone, where a few smaller scale developers were showing off their games. Not having the time to visit myself, they made an excellent impression on my friends who picked not one but two copies of a Japanese style of playing card game which looked like a lot of fun.

White Rock Theatre’s Upper Circle, the Quiet Space

Of course, it was not just Board Games that Hastings Games Fest was focused on, and the 1st floor foyer held some 12 arcade machines for retro gaming, overhanging the typical British sea view which a February in Hastings would provide.

Here there was also foam archery for children and the onsite café.

Most notably there was a quiet space in the gods for any parents, overwhelmed children, or just those neurodivergent among us looking for a place to regroup and take in a breath.

In the basement, the was an entire hall specifically for E-Sports and watching those playing in tournaments on a massive screen. I must admit, even as someone who came of age during the beginning of the Video Game streaming era, this all felt a bit alien to me.

There was also the Dabble Zone, which appears to be an area for 16-25 years olds looking to learn more about how to get into the industry of gaming, with some level of focus on VR. It was this 16–25-year restriction, mixed with the foam archery that made me realise, maybe this was a bit too young for myself. But to hold one’s misconceptions of the event’s purpose against it would feel unjust.

The fact that this convention exists to get young people more active in considering Video and Board Games as a hobby and/or career, is an excellent purpose that I am more than happy to support.

Games Played

While at the convention, the highlight as always is to meet up with friends who you would not otherwise get the chance to see and play games with them. In the 2 hours that we were sat around a table together, we were able to play through Karuba and Escape the Dark Castle.

Karuba

At first look Karuba might make one think that it was before the modern Board Game revolution, with its beige boxes and fading artwork, but it actually won the Spiel des Jahres as recently as 2016! – oh Jesus, that was 10 years ago wasn’t it.

And after a quick play, I can see why. What it arguably lacks for in box-art, it more than makes up for in gameplay as a highly enjoyable tile-laying game with a brilliant adventure theme.

All players place their colour of temple and adventurer at any degree on the Board (as long as the temple is in the forest, the adventurer is on the beach, and both are at least 30⁰c away) and all other players copy in unison, so everyone has the same goal. Then a lead player selects a random face-down tile, and all other players get the same tile to place anywhere on the board. Some tiles have Gold Nuggets or Crystals on them to collect for points, but the real score is getting your adventure to the respective temple first and getting 5 points, particularly if you do so in the colour of the pieces you placed for additional personal satisfaction. Moving your adventurer is done by refusing to play a tile and moving the adventurer the number of spaces equally to the number of exists each tile has.

Overall, this makes for a visually entertaining game where you fill a board and move pieces, in a way that is satisfying to the eye, made all the more engaging by the fact that you have used the exact same tiles, completely differently to other players who had the exact same goals.

It was so good in fact that one of our friends bought the game, despite it not initially being on sale!

Escape the Dark Castle

On the other hand, Escape the Dark Castle was a cooperative, dice-rolling gaming with a narrative focus that was reminiscent of a text-to-speech or choose-your-own-adventure book.

Choose 1 of 3 bosses at random, which is then put on the bottom of a deck of cards. This makes up the different events that take place in each room of the dark castle, as you try to make your way through this dungeon crawling game with limited gear.

Each archetype has its own strengths and weaknesses that are helpful to different scenarios, as dice are rolled to determine how difficult each encounter is and how well you are rewarded.

The dice themselves have different symbols to reflect fight, insight, wisdom and shields from harm allowing you to clear the encounters collectively, until you run out of time and jump ahead to the big boss before realising the massive difficulty spike.

I feel like I have played this game before, if not something similar and while I like rolling dice, nothing about the game is shouting play it for a third time.

This could be due to the time constraints we played it in or perhaps a failure to fully comprehend the rules, which might have made earlier encounters much more difficult than we found them to be, reducing the end boss’s difficulty spike.

Big Ups for Hastings

Of course it is not just the convention that we went to but also Hastings itself, which despite the Britain-in-February-at-the-seaside weather, had a lovely gem of a Vietnamese place called Made-Pho-You.
Here a lovely man I did not think to get the name of made some outstanding dishes that made me question why I do not eat Asian Cuisine more often.
I would happily recommend it and go back again next time I find myself in Hastings.

All considered, I am not certain that this is a convention I would return to again next year. It was a nice day out with friends and playing some interesting games in a new space that got me out of my usual routine. But and while I cannot claim the convention itself is at fault being intentionally designed for a younger audience, it is simply not something I would deliberately revisit, without the reassurance that I would have friends to play with.

I sincerely hope that the convention is still running by the time I have children, so that I can become a regular attendee, using it as an opportunity to indoctrinate my child into my hobbies. Until then, I’m sorry to say it Hastings Games Fest, but it’s not you, its me.

Hasting Games Fest 2026 - Review

Games Played

Karuba

Escape the Dark Castle