Questival 2026: Running The Numbers

5 Oct

Well, I didn’t expect to be writing another Running The Numbers blog (check out the others here, here, and here) until Dragonmeet at the end of November. But here I am, writing one about a brand new event. It’s time to run the numbers for Questival 2026!

For those of you who don’t know me / us, I’m George Francis Bickers and this is Three Sails Studios. I’m the Studio Lead and the creator and designer of our first two games, Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG and Gallows Corner - A Peasants’ Revolt RPG, and we’re a small indie TTRPG design studio and publisher based in Manchester in the UK. Alongside me are Jeremy Blum (designer, developer, and writer), Joel Kilpatrick (illustrator), and Lou Fryer (editorial and operations).

Following in the footsteps of the amazing Colin LeSueur of By Odin’s Beard RPG, I have started writing and sharing blogs that break down our expenses and takings at conventions, starting with Dragonmeet 2025 and followed by UK Games Expo 2026.

I’m carrying on now with an analysis of our time at Questival 2026. Let’s dive in!

Logistics

Questival UK is a brand new ‘celebration of fantasy fiction, comic books and roleplaying- games, brought to life by three independent businesses based on the Wirral Peninsula.’ This year was the inaugural incarnation and, by the success of the event this past Saturday (October 3rd), it looks like it’s going to become a yearly event!

Held at a number of venues in the shockingly picturesque Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula, and organised by Bulwark Games, Paper + Word, and Kraken Comics, Questival was billed to us, when we were asked if we wanted to exhibit, as a storytelling convention. This billing certainly held true. Alongside a number of UK-based (particularly those of us in the north west) indie TTRPG creators and publishers, there were authors, comics writers and illustrators, artists, and craftspeople exhibiting and taking part in panels, workshops, and live games over the course of the Saturday.

Port Sunlight is on the Wirral Peninsula. Located across the Mersey from Liverpool (a major UK city) and north of Chester (a less major, but very beautiful, I’m told, city), it wasn’t difficult for us to get to from Manchester. Joel picked me up in the car at around 07:45 and we arrived at the venue just after 09:00. We had a standard 2m-wide table and brought very little stock with us (more on this later). Set up took all of ten minutes, and gave us time to go say hi to friends and check out the venue (Hulme Hall).

I had our stock shipped to us from our warehouse. I brought 6 Gallows Corner box sets, 3 Gallows Corner books, and 4 copies of Mappa Mundi. I didn’t want to bring too much, especially to a new and local event, as whatever we didn’t sell would have to remain in my house.

I was not prepared for what came next.

Costs

This was an exceedingly cheap convention for us to attend. Our 2 meter table was £75. I put £15 of fuel into Joel’s car, and the stock cost me £15 to ship to my house the week before the event. We both brought food with us, and out staffing expenses were covered by our salaries.

Total expenses: £105.00

The Stand

Given the size of the event and our table being only 2 meters, I decided against bringing any banners. We only have one small enough to fit into that space, and I’d have needed to ship it up to us from GMS, who look after our larger conventions materials inbetween events.

Instead, I made use of our tablecloths and table runners to let people see who we were, and to let our games speak for themselves.

It was a tight squeeze, and we couldn’t fit our City of Espers prerelease copies on the table, but had them to hand to show people who were interested.

*A very happy Joel, sat behind the stand just after initial set up.*

Sales

Always the most popular part of the blog, and part of our commitment to radical transparency. Here are all the details I have for our sales across six hours of trading at the event.

We were selling Mappa Mundi, Gallows Corner box sets and books, and showing off City of Espers. (Psst. if you hadn’t seen, City of Espers successful crowdfunded in September and is now available to preorder! You can order your copy right here.)

Prices:

Mappa Mundi - £60
Gallows Corner Box Set - £80
Gallows Corner Book - £50
Gallows Box + Mappa Mundi Bundle - £125
Gallows Book + Mappa Mundi Bundle - £100

We sold 6 copies of Mappa Mundi, not including bundle sales. We sold 6 copies of the Gallows Corner box set and 2 Gallows Corner books, not including bundle sales. We also sold two Box Bundles, meaning an additional 2 copies each of Mappa Mundi and the Gallows Corner box set. As you can see, this means we sold more copies of Mappa Mundi than we brought with us. But a service we offer at conventions, in the full knowledge that each of our boxed games weigh in at nearly 2kg, is to ship the game to people for free after the convention if they want. And people took full advantage of this for Questival. They’ve all been shipped today!

TOTAL SALES: £1,090
TOTAL EXPENSES: £105
TOTAL PROFIT: £985

Analysis

Now, these numbers shocked me in the best possible way. Not only were we able to turn a profit, but we made almost enough to cover my salary for a month! I brought very little stock with us because I had no idea how many people would attend the event, and of those who did, how many would be wanting to spend (especially on our games, which are at the higher end of the indie price range).

Questival was a roaring success for us, and for a number of other TTRPG creators I spoke to (shout out to Rowan, Rook, and Decard and their wall of goblins and Fistful of Crits). I can’t say how other creators, writers, publishers, and artists did, but for us TTRPG people, the day was well worth it.

As we were leaving, a few of us were talking with one of the organisers, and someone said ‘If you’d told me this event had been running five years, I’d have totally believed you.’ I can’t help but concur. The whole team behind the event did an excellent job. The venue was clean, bright, and well laid out. The attendees were generous with their time, attention, and money. And the vibes were immaculate throughout.

Whether this level of sales will happen again next year (both Maz and Grant from RRD pointed our that they felt this was similar to the first year of the Norwich Games Con, with attendees excited for a first event, but returning next year having already bought your stuff; a valid point, I think!) remains to be seen. But, if Questival will have us, we’ll be back.

If we had made half what we did this year, I’d have been very happy. I expected to break even, maybe to hit £200 in total sales, and to have left happy to have supported a new event. As it transpires, I’m happy to have supported a new event and walked away with new customers, new fans, and substantial sales for an event of this size and location.

Summary

Overall, Questival was a great experience, and one that I hope continues and grows. I have to give a huge shoutout to the organisers (Bulwark Games, Paper + Word, and Kraken Comics) for organising such a great event, and to the several volunteers who did an excellent job (including bring rounds bottles of water to exhibitors; a very nice touch)!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this breakdown of our experiences. Three Sails Studios operates on the premise of radical transparency. I try to be as open with you all as possible and to share whatever knowledge I / we have acquired.

As always, I’d love to hear how Questival 2026 was for you, whether you were exhibiting or attending. If you want to share them, you can find us on Bluesky, Instagram, or join us on Discord.

You can also learn more about Mappa Mundi here (or buy it here), Gallows Corner here (or buy it here), and preorder City of Espers here.

Until next time, be excellent to each other. A better world is possible!

In solidarity,

George
Studio Lead, Three Sails Studios