Warts and All: A Hopping Off and Moving On – Reflections and Fresh Starts After the UK Games Expo 2025
- Terror Toad
- Jul 18
- 3 min read
July 2025
Time for an, as always, overdue update. It’s been a bit of a mad time for Terror Toad.
As a small business, we wear a lot of hats. You get into a creative business to make the things you want to make, and then later comes all the other stuff - the complicated bits of running a small business. In May this year, we hit the one-year anniversary of a complication we would really rather have done without: a dispute with the courier DPD.
Our back-and-forth rigmarole with DPD had reached the point of court-recommended mediation - just days away - while we were also gearing up for the biggest event in our calendar: the UK Games Expo.
No New Product, All New Chaos
Now, I know I’ve called this article “warts and all,” but I will not shame or blame here; we didn’t have a new product to launch at UKGE as hoped. That worried us. We love UKGE - it’s a huge event - and you really have to bring your A-game to make it worth the effort.
At the same time, we were winding down one version of the business at HMRC/Companies House and starting afresh. That is a process more complicated than it needs to be. And, in the way that life tends to go, personal circumstances were also tricky.
Then, Mark quit the business. We, of course, wish Mark the best in his new commitments. He needs to do what’s right for him and the Toad, and this choice was just that.
And Breathe…
Fast forward to now, and Chris and I feel like we’ve just come up for air.
Mediation, by the way, is a great process - one I kind of wish applied to all disputes in life. Our dispute with DPD is, finally, coming to an end, so, thank goodness for that. The old business in its LLP form is wrapping up, and a better way of working is in the pipeline.
UKGE 2025: Tired and Totally Worth It
With transport only confirmed days before, we packed a car and headed to Birmingham with our usual gear. And we’re so glad we did.
Here’s where I’d like to give some well-earned shout-outs to the fellow exhibitors who made this year so much fun:
Playing Brexit: The Game with the guys from Curious Cats
Befriending Scott from The Who Zone (brilliant 3rd Doctor cosplayer!) who told us all about Fantasy Forest and Dalek maintenance
Hanging out with OneBold Studio—who we first met back in Manchester 2022 launching Fate of Witches—and who were such fun neighbours
Team Custard Kraken, who seem to run parallel to us in some magical chaotic way, and are fabulous for advice-sharing
Lucky Fox Studio, Tettix Games, Strong Point Games, Gamze Derinoz, and Wayward Stitchcraft, all for being lovely - and everyone else who popped by to say hello!
A special non-exhibitor shoutout to our pals Joe, Seb, and Kieran for coming to see us another year in a row. It's incredibly special to feel recognised in that space.
And boy - this really felt like the year of GRIM INC for us. Who would’ve guessed?
Thank you for making UKGE my personal favourite yet.
Toad 2.0 Is Coming
Chris and I have a lot to talk about in this new phase of Terror Toad. It’s time to put our heads together and figure out what we want to do next.
Let’s call it… a brand refresh, creative agency changes, a micro business evolution - something that sounds proper and fancy. But really, it’s just that some wee tweaks are coming round here. Much like this post, it’s long overdue. We can’t wait to see where this goes.
Thanks all for sticking with us. See you on the next hop.
Katie
Team Toad x
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