Board Gaming Convention
17th – 19th January 2020
Holiday Inn Maidenhead
Manor Lane
Berkshire
Maidenhead
SL6 2RA
Buy Tickets
Opening Times & Registration
Opening Times
The con is open from 9am Friday until 8pm Sunday.
Single and Two Day tickets permit entry from 9am until late on the relevant date(s).
Registration
When you arrive at the hotel, please make your way to the HandyCon registration desk (note that this is not the hotel reception desk!) located near the entrance to pick up your pass.
Please bring your ticket with you, in either printed or digital form, to speed up check-in. If you do not have your ticket with you we will need you to provide some form of ID.
HandyCon registration is open from 9am until late each day.
Travel & Parking
Car Parking
There is free parking on site at the venue for attendees (first come, first served). There is an automated parking management system in the hotel car park, but it shall be turned of from 7am on the Friday until 1am on the Monday. If you are arriving or departing outside of these times, be sure to register your car at hotel reception.
You can also park in the surrounding roads, which are free to park. You can find more info in our FAQs.
Train
The nearest train station is Maidenhead Railway Station. The venue is only a 20 minute walk or a 15 minute bus ride away.
Bus
The nearest bus stop is in Norreys Drive, which is located in the road opposite the venue. You can find bus times for the westbound route (towards town) here and eastbound route (away from town) here.
Open Gaming
Open gaming is available for the duration of the convention. We have a large main open gaming area (Berkshire Suites 1-4) and the areas near the bar as well as a few other rooms on the first floor (Cedar Suites 1 – 4). You can find a map of the space available here. Are you coming along on your own or do you just need some extra players? No worries! We have a number of options to help you find people to game with:
Looking For Players (LFP) System
This is our web-based LFP system, which allows attendees to create and sign up for events before and during the convention. You can check it out here!
Players Wanted Signs
We will have 'Players Wanted' signs that you can display on your table to let people know you are looking for some extra players.
Facebook Group
Some of our attendees like to try and prearrange games on the HandyCon Facebook Discussion Group.
Games Library
The Games Library is open to all attendees for the duration of the convention. If you wish to borrow a game from the library, just write your details on the board provided. You can browse our library below using Cardboard Butler, which gives you some nice filters to help you find what you are looking for, or view it on BGG.
Please be sure to return all games in the condition you found them.
Events
We will be running various events throughout the convention.
At previous HandyCons we have hosted games of Two Rooms and a Boom, a board gaming quiz, a Mini-Games Challenge and more.
We will post more details as soon as we have them.
Tournaments
We will be running various events throughout the convention.
At previous HandyCons we run tournaments for games such as Terraforming Mars, Flamme Rouge, 18xx, Baseball Highlisghts 2045 and more.
We will post more details as soon as we have them.
If you are interested in running a tournament at HandyCon, please email Rich Watney for details.
Demos
We shall have demos of various games running throughout the weekend.
We shall provide updates closer to the time.
Playtest Zone
Come and play yet to be released games and give your feedback to designers! We will be releasing more details of who to expect at the convention closer to the time.
If you are a designer and have a game you would like to playtest at HandyCon, we shall be releasing playtsting tickets closer to the time.
Bring & Buy
Opening Times:
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: 9am – 8pm
For Sellers:
You do not need to pre-register items into the Bring & Buy.
Fill out and attach the post-it notes provided (or use your own) to each individual item you wish to sell. Be sure to include the name, price and any relevant details about the item (such as missing pieces or if it includes any promos or expansions) as well as your name and mobile number.
You can also download and list your items for sale on our Bring & Buy sheets (pdf here, docx here) and display them in the Bring & Buy.
We ask for a discretionary donation of £1 per item sold to be donated to our elected charity (donations can be made at HandyCon Reception).
PLEASE NOTE: Whilst we provide a space to help facilitate trades, the HandyCon Bring & Buy is not staffed and all items entered in the Bring & Buy are left entirely at their owners’ risk. HandyCon does not accept responsibility for any items lost, damaged or stolen.
For Buyers:
Feel free to browse the items in the Bring & Buy at any time. Please try and handle the items with care and try not to accidentally remove any attached post-it notes. Try to put any unwanted items back as close as possible to where you found them.
If you find an item you wish to purchase, use the mobile number provided to contact the seller. Note that you must contact the seller and finalise all purchases before removing items from the Bring & Buy.
General Advice & Considerations:
- You can list all your items for sale on the Facebook HandyCon Discussion Group to prearrange trades.
- Price your items to sell. We recommend using boardgameprices.co.uk to find the current brand new price of your game to use as a guide.
- We only have limited space. We ask that sellers are considerate with the number of items they enter into the Bring & Buy. If you have a large number of items, we suggest leaving some in your car/room and entering them into the bring and buy once others have sold.
Charity
We will announce the charity closer to the time.
Trader
The CCG and Boardgame Social
Barny Baker from The CCG and Boardgame Social will be there for the duration of the weekend with a selection of games for you to purchase. If there is anything specific you would like Barny to bring along for you to purchase at the con, please get in touch with him beforehand.
Accommodation
Hotel Room bookings will be open from 09:00 Thursday 14th February.
For those of you wanting to stay on site, the Holiday Inn Maidenhead, we have managed to negotiate the following room rates:
- Double Room – £60
- Twin Room – £70
- King Room – £70
- Executive Room – £85
- Suite – £115
All room rates are per night and include breakfast.
These room rates are available from Thursday to Sunday night, so you can stay the night before and the night after the con at the special rate.
Rooms can be booked online using the Group Code (found under the ‘More Options’ toggle on the bookings page) ‘HA7’ for HandyCon 7. Alternatively you can call the hotel on 01628 506070 and quote the above code.
Food & Drink
At The Hotel
We will negotiate a special HandyCon menu, which we will release closer to the time.
Local Restaurants, Eateries and Food Establishments
Ratings are all Google Ratings (number of raters) – anecdotal feedback based upon information received from Handycon guests, locals and Captain Frohnsdorff-Harris.
On the doorstep
Subway – at the Garage just outside the Hotel.
In Maidenhead
Ross Fish Bar 4.5 (116)
We’ve heard good things if you like fish and chips. Simple but gets you out of the hotel.
Gandhi Indian Restaurant 4.2 (135)
Flavio’s Café Bar Restaurant 4.5 (153)
Pizza Hut 3.6 (137)
Francesco’s 4.2 (164)
The venue for the first Date of Mr and Mrs Handycon. 3 years later they were married, she’s still trying to work out what happened.
Noodle Nation 4.0 (279)
Vivasa – Authentic Indian 4.4 (177)
The Gourmet Chicken Company 4.5 (181)
Miyazaki 4.6 (195)
Pizza Della Mamma 4.6 (142)
The Bistro Story 4.5 (174)
Chutney Jacks 3.8 (183)
Bianco Nero 4.4 (116)
Thai Orchid 4.5 (228)
Absolute favourite of Mrs Handycon who often dispatches Mr Handycon for double take-away (one Thai Green Chicken curry and Coconut rice for now and one for tomorrow) anytime she has had a rough day or he needs to apologise for being a terrible husband.
Toby Carvery 4.0 (743)
Further afield
Emperor of India 4.2 (115)
Hinds Head 4.4 (422)
Heston Blumenthal Gastropub
Crown at Bray 4.3 (294)
Heston Blumenthal Gastropub
Caldesi In Campagna 4.7 (118)
The Fat Duck 4.6 (463)
Heston Blumenthal Gastropub
Belgian Arms 4.4 (176)
George on the green 4.3 (155)
Riverside Brasserie 4.0 (168)
The Fifield Inn 4.3 (112)
Harassment Policy
HandyCon is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable gaming environment for everyone who attends. Please behave respectfully to all other attendees, ensuring all can feel safe and enjoy themselves regardless of gender, gender identity, sexuality, appearance, race or religion.
Physical and verbal harassment will not be tolerated and the organisers reserve the right to take appropriate action including warning the offender or expulsion from the convention with no refund, and in some cases informing the police.
Some examples of harassment include:
- Offensive verbal comments
- Explicit sexual images or references
- Deliberate intimidation
- Unwanted attention or following of persons
- Unwanted recording or photography
- Sustained disruption of games or activities
- Innappropriate physical contact
- Unwelcome attention, including sexual remarks, jokes or taunting, leering, staring or suggestive gestures
To report harassment: If a request to stop behaviours does not get the desired result or there are continued problems with one gamer, please report the problem to a member of the HandyCon team.
