THIS POST IS A RESOURCE FOR DESIGNERS AND GAMEMAKERS LOOKING FOR EVENTS TO:

• PLAYTEST GAMES
• IMPROVE DESIGN SKILLS
• MAKE CONNECTIONS IN THE INDUSTRY
• GET FACE TIME WITH PROSPECTIVE PUBLISHERS

You may find that many of these events occur annually or more than once a year, so don’t despair if you have already missed an opportunity, another is right around the corner. Not included on the list below are regional designer meet ups. There are many of these, and perhaps another feature will cover them. If you know of additional large-scale events, or if you have additional information about the events listed, please post information and appropriate links in the comments below. For up-to-date news on events for designers, be sure to follow the League of Gamemakers on Twitter and Facebook.

Luke Laurie and Tom Jolly showing “Drill, Baby, Drill” to James Mathe (Minion Games) at Gencon 2014 – Minion signed the game and it will be released as “The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire”

ABOUT UNPUBS AND PROTOSPIELS

If you’ve never attended an Unpub or Protospiel don’t be frightened. Peter Vaughan wrote a guide to help you: “Do You Protospiel?” These events allow designers to bring their tabletop game prototypes to playtest with other designers, industry professionals, and others who just like to playtest games. Participants will get a lot of feedback on their games, and will get to learn from other professionals. Occasionally, during these events, a publisher will find a game they really like, and the next thing you know, that game is on its way to being published!

Pay attention to deadlines and signup requirements for the event you hope to attend, and be sure to adhere to expected conduct guidelines. In general: Playtest other designers’ games at least as much as they play yours, and don’t hog the tables if they’re unassigned!

Kelsey Domeny of Two Penny Games shows “Epoch Rift” to Cosmic Wombat Games at the publisher speed dating event at Gencon 2014.

ABOUT PUBLISHER SPEED DATING

Many members of the League have taken part in publisher speed dating events, some as designers, some as publishers, a few as both. These events allow designers to get just a few minutes to pitch their games to several publishers in a lightning-fast format. Previous posts on the League of Gamemakers have described these events, and how one should prepare. (See Speed Dating Part 1 and Part 2, and How to Build a Sell Sheet). This year, there are plans to have publisher speed dating events at GAMA Trade Show, Origins, Gencon, and BGG.con.

James Mathe, President of Minion Development Corporation (Minion Games), has been running and promoting these events at various game conventions for several years. Probably the best way to get updates on these events is to join the Card & Board Game Designers Guild on Facebook, a group run by Mathe that now has over 5000 members!

SPRING EVENTS 2015

• March 13-15, 2015: Protospiel Houston Houston, Texas
• March 16, 2015: GAMA Trade Show Publisher Speed Dating. Las Vegas, Nevada
• March 28, 2015: Unpub Poland
• April 12, 2015: Unpub Mini at P.J. Gallagher´s Sports Bar & Bistro. Sydney, Australia
• April 17-19, 2015: Protospiel – Milwaukee, Wisconsin Three days of playtesting in one of the larger annual protospiels, located in the heart of the game basket of America.
• April 18, 2015: Unpub Mini at Atomic Empire, Durham NC
• April 24-26, 2015: Unpub-Protospiel San Jose, California Several League members attended this event last year, and found it to be a great opportunity for networking and playtesting with a great group of people. Registration for 2015 is being done through Kickstarter. The League of Gamemakers is a sponsor of this event.
• April 25, 2015: Unpub Mini at The Adventure Game Store, Davie, Florida
• May 15-17th, 2015: Indie Dash at Ancon, Hudson, Ohio
• May 17, 2015: Orlando Indie Tabletop Showcase Orlando, Florida
• May 30, 2015: Unpub Mini at Pair A Dice Games San Diego. (Vista, California) Jessica Berlin of Galvanized Studios recently did an excellent guest post focusing on this event for the League of Gamemakers: “Hosting and Unpub Mini Event”
• May 30, 2015: Unpub Mini Game Haven. Bountiful, Utah

SUMMER EVENTS 2015

• June 3-7, 2015 Publisher Speed Dating at Origins Game Fair (exact date and times TBD) Columbus, Ohio
• July 10-12, 2015 Protospiel – Ann Arbor, Michigan
• July 30 – August 2, 2015 Double Exposure Playtest Hall at Gencon Indy Indianapolis, Indiana
• July 30 – August 2, 2015 Publisher Speed Dating at Gencon Indy Indianapolis, Indiana.(exact date and times TBD) This event will be run by Michael Lohr. He can be contacted with questions.

FALL EVENTS 2015

• September 5-7, 2015: Celestispiel, Fremont, California This event is held inside the Celesticon game convention on Labor Day Weekend. There is quite a bit of gaming space in the hotel, and a steady supply of playtesters. There is a Facebook group, and a couple of posts on the League of Gamemakers were written about Celestispiel: Making Conventions Better for Gamemakers and How to Playtest – Part 1
• November 5-8, 2015 Metatopia – for Designers and Publishers by providing 72 hours of scheduled playtests, demonstrations, seminars, panels and discussions. Morristown, New Jersey
• November 18-22, 2015 Publisher Speed Dating at BGG.con (exact date and times TBD) Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport, Texas

WINTER EVENTS 2015

• Date TBD Spielbany, Albany, New York

Do you have more information about these or other events? Do you have some favorite events you want to talk about? Leave your comments below! I’ll update this page as new information comes in.