Looking to attend a board game convention? Our guide to board game conventions can help you decide what to pack, play, and pass on! Last updated: November 9, 2024.
The board gaming hobby can be quite overwhelming for a newly budding board game geek. With thousands of new games coming out each year, it can certainly be hard to jump in head first. Maybe you’ve started your own gaming community, but you want an opportunity to meet even more gamers? Maybe you’ve started to build up a collection, but you want to get to try some of the new hot games before they come out? Checking out a board game convention might be the next best step for you!
If you’re still trying to get a grasp of the hobby, that’s totally fine as well! Go ahead and check out our previous article, So you like board games… What now?, before jumping head first into the convention scene.
If you are ready to take this next step, read on! It’s the perfect time to jump aboard since we are just kicking off convention season!
What is a board game convention anyway?
Origins 2017 – Renegade Games booth
Board game conventions come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small intimate gatherings where people marathon through games, and some are weeklong events with large dealer halls and lots of gaming events. We’ll mostly be talking about larger conventions, but before we jump in too deep, let’s take a look at what the difference is.
Small Con vs. Large Con
For the most part, gaming conventions can be put into two categories: either small conventions or large conventions. Of course, small and large can mean different things to all people, so we’ll try to distinguish that a little more.
Small/Local Conventions
Small conventions are often also called “Local Conventions.” The reason for this is that most of them simply attract a local crowd instead of drawing people in from all over the country. These conventions usually host anywhere from 200 – 5,000 attendees. Usually, they are more focused on bringing people together just to play games and often lack an exhibitor hall.
CMON Expo 2017
Personally, I love these kinds of conventions. With their small size, you often feel like you get to know a lot more people, especially if you come back year after year. We have a local convention called Tennessee Game Days that has grown to about 700-800 people over the years. Now that I’ve been coming for the past few, there are so many familiar faces. I even have friends in other states whom I only get to see at the convention each year. The small intimate feel is a huge perk to these local cons.
Meeple Mountain also runs Nashville Tabletop Day, a single day event in April. It’s small, but growing, with attendance nearing 500.
Large Conventions
The big conventions are always huge, vibrant, and exciting events. These can be hard to categorize because their attendance is so high in variance, but usually they host between 15,000 all the way up to 200,000 people. Most conventions that break the 15k mark of attendance will have a large dealer hall where you can buy games directly from the publishers and large event halls where you can sign up to play specific games or in tournaments. There is often not an emphasis on just playing games all day, and instead are focused on the shopping aspects, events, panels, etc. Large conventions can be quite overwhelming, so hopefully this article will help you understand them!
Gen Con 2016
Online Board Game Conventions
Online events are on the rise! As bandwidth becomes cheaper and more reliable, more gamers are looking to save money on travel and lodging by attending online board game conventions (also called virtual board game conventions). Their numbers are small, but growing, and you can expect to see more in the coming years. If you’re not sure what to expect then make sure to check out our tips for attending an online board game convention so that you can get the most out of one. Then when you’re ready, check out our listing of online board game conventions in our master list.
Why should I go to a board game convention?
There are lots of great reasons to go to a convention! Everyone gets something different out of their experiences, but here are some prominent reasons that a board game convention might interest you.
You want to:
play a lot of games.
try the hot new games before they are released.
meet your favorite designers, authors, artists, publishers, or media personalities.
compete in large gaming tournaments.
find really cool stuff to buy and take home.
survey lots of different board games from different publishers to find something new that you might like.
meet other gamers with similar interests.
hear talks and panels about topics in the industry that interest you.
get ahold of exclusive promotional cards/pieces/expansions for your favorite games.
If any of those interest you, then giving a gaming convention a shot might be right up your alley! In all honesty, there is so much more to do at conventions, but these are a few of the cool things that really stand out.
Ok! I want to go! Now what?!
Good question! The first thing you’ll need to do is decide on whether you want to go to a smaller or larger convention. For many people, location will be a big factor in this decision, while others may be willing to travel long distances. Let’s take a look at some of the options available. Most of these will be “large” conventions, but there are some smaller ones that squeak through based on popularity.
Most Popular Board Game Conventions
This is, by no means, an exhaustive list of gaming conventions. There are hundreds of game conventions each year, just in America, so it would be quite difficult to cover them all. The selections below are all either significant because of their pure size or following. Some may be “smaller” conventions, but they are still very prevalent in the board game industry or even run by a large publisher or media outlet. Check out the bottom of this article for an up to date list of worldwide board game conventions!
I’ve picked a convention, how do I prepare for it?
Buy your badge
First things first, you’ve got to purchase a badge. Some conventions only last a day or two and only have one badge option, while others will allow for you to purchase a badge for individual days or just the weekend. Since most conventions run through both weekdays and weekends, you’ll need to decide what works best for your schedule. Purchasing a badge is usually simple and can either be done online or at the door. Be careful, though! Many conventions sell out ahead of time!
Find housing
We got lucky with a beautiful airBnB at Gen Con in 2016!
Housing can be one of the most frustrating parts of prepping for a gaming convention. Each con is a little different, but most are infamous for making this a true pain. If you buy your badge as early as possible, you should receive some sort of communication before the hotel sales go live. This can be a tricky process as some will have a “queue” system and others will have a “whoever can get through” set up. Either way, for larger conventions these websites will often become bottlenecked and crash. Honestly, there is often just a lot of luck here. Make sure you’re online the second they go live!
If you aren’t interested in a hotel or you weren’t able to get one, there are still lots of other options! I’ve used airBnB a couple times for this and it has worked wonderfully. You might have to walk a bit farther or drive to the convention center, but you also might save some money and stress, so it’s often worth it for many people.
Register for events
Each convention will have a long list of events that you can attend. These can range from talks/panels, gaming tournaments, game demos, and more. Some events will cost while others will be free. Most conventions open their events up to pre-registrations and many events fill up. Each convention website should have a portal that you can log into to find and register for each event. If you miss out on registering in advance, sometimes you can still make it into them, though! Most large conventions will offer “generic tickets” that you can purchase and spend for events. If it isn’t full, you should be able to spend these “generics” to jump in. If a “full” doesn’t have all of its registered attendees, you might be able to jump in with generics as well!
Make a plan of attack
The convention floor can be overwhelming! With so many booths to stop in and so many new games to try, it’s easy to see why you could get lost in the mix. To help ease this sensory overload, it can be helpful to have a plan before you even begin your travels to the convention. There are two things that can help with this: making sure you know which games you are interested in up front and preparing your path in the expo hall.
It can be hard to keep up with all of the games coming out each year, especially with so much going on during the convention season. One of the best ways to keep an eye out on new releases during the major conventions is through the Boardgame Geek Preview lists. Board Game Geek usually releases their preview geeklist a month or two in advance of each major convention. These lists have all of upcoming convention releases and their information listed in order by publisher. This is a great resource to scope out the games that really interest you the most. Be careful, though, as you don’t want to miss out on a game that you didn’t expect to enjoy by counting it out ahead of time!
Once you’ve found the games you are most interested, you can either register for demo events or seek them out in the exhibit hall. The advantage to demoing games in the hall is that you usually will only play a quick demo to get a feel for them. Of course, if you want to play a full game or don’t want to wait in a line, events might be better for you. If you do chose the path of the exhibit hall, it can be a huge help to familiarize yourself with where booths you want to visit are actually located. Most conventions will post a map of the exhibit hall ahead of time, and you can even print it out to highlight and draw the most efficient path for you!
One more thing to keep in mind is that sometimes it can be important to prioritize the “hot” booths first. Every year there are certain games that everyone knows will sell out quickly. If you want those games, you’ll need to make sure that they are your first stops! This can be hard to tell sometimes, but keeping an eye on the comments of the preview lists can help you gauge people’s interest.
Pack accordingly
My pre Gen Con shopping trip from 2016
So, what do you bring to a convention? Well, outside of the obvious answer of clothes, there are some things that I’ve found helpful to have on you.
Hand sanitizer. Seriously. The “con crud” is real and you don’t want to mess with that! Think about it, tens of thousands of people in one room does not lead to good sanitation.
Snacks. Cliff bars, trail mix, crackers. Whatever you need, make sure to keep some snacks on hand to keep yourself energized.
Water bottle. Similar to the snacks, you’re going to want to keep hydrated to stay healthy.
Battery chargers. My phone always seems to die twice as fast during conventions. The last thing you want is to not have a way to find your friends in the midst of tens of thousands of people!
Games. Ok, I’ve overdone this too many times. In my experience, it isn’t worth bringing big box games unless you have a specific plan to play them. Instead, I always make sure that I have a couple small card games in my bag for those times where you’re stuck in a line or waiting on something to start.
Get Out of the Con
Yes, we know you’re there for board games. But if you’re traveling to a new city, then consider getting out of the con at least once and seeing sights. Visit an art museum, eat at a great local restaurant, or look for a board game cafe in that city.
I know this process can be quite stressful, but hopefully this gives a little bit of direction for your journey to your first convention! Do you have any other tips or tricks? Make sure to let us know in the comments below!
Worldwide Board Game Convention List
The following list of worldwide board game conventions is updated regularly.
Help us keep our list of board game conventions up to date. If you know of an event that has cancelled or postponed their event dates, let us know using the form below.
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106 Comments
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The convention list really ought to be sorted by date to be at all useful.If it were, I’d bookmark this site, but now I’m moving on to the next listing on Google.
That’s a fair comment. It’s still plenty useful, but having it sorted by date would certainly increase it’s effectiveness.
FYI, the events are now sorted by date within each region.
How can I add conventions in Germany? (At least 4)
Kurt, I’d love to add them for you. Please include the following information, for each convention, in an email to info @ http://www.meeplemountain.com.
Event name
Event website
Start/End date
City, Country
Agree that it would be great to sort conventions by date. It is still, though, very useful as it is. I would say it is the best calendar for 2019 out there. Thank you so much, Elijah!
Thanks Stan. We’re slowly working through arranging conventions by date. I’ve gone through and done all of the countries but the US, and I’ll update the US over the next week or two.
MegaMooseCon has been moved to October 25-27, 2019. Can you please update the article to reflect! Thank you!
Sure thing. Updated! 😉
That was meant to be a question not a “!”
Hello,
We are hosting a gaming cruise in 2019, would you add that to your list?
Thank you for providing this service! The cruise is leaving from Charleston, SC headed for the Bahamas!
Sure thing! Added.
Have a great time.
Hi! Thanks so much for including EttinCon! We moved from Katoomba to Blackheath back in 2017, would love it if you just updated it to read “Blue Mountains” instead, please?
Updated! I lived in Sydney for two months, but never took the time to visit the Blue Mountains. A regret on my part. Good luck with your event!
Our dates forEttinCon 2020 are 18-19 July (we’re finally doing a weekender!) – thanks so much for curating/maintaining this list.
That’s great. I’m in the process of adding a bunch of new dates to the calendar. I’ll make sure I notate this one.
Apple Con is in year one this year (Hoping you’ll update). Tim Kask may be coming this year, Larry Elmore in the next year or two, we’re looking good.
Lloyd, thanks for your submission. The guide has been updated.
How do you get listed? We hit 25,000 people last year. Salt Lake Gaming Con is in June this year.
You’re good to go Jake, already sent you an email.
Our most famous convention in Brazil is Diversão Offline (translation: Offline Fun), which is also considered by some the biggest in Latin America. It´s a weekend of convention and right now it happens twice a year: one in São Paulo, in the first semester, and the other in Rio de Janeiro, in the second.
Diversão Offline is one of the best weekends in the year for me! 🙂
Thank you for letting me know Thiago. I’ve added the April event for Diversão Offline to the con page.
Lexicon was last weekend (Apr 5-7) and is every April in Lexington, Ky.
Yep. I added it to the list last night. Sounds like fun.
Could we please add Oct 4-6 as the dates for this year’s SHUX (Found in the Canada list)? Thank you kindly!
Of course; added!
Hey there, Wellycon in New Zealand is held Queens Birthday weekend (holiday in NZ) in June each year 🙂 Not October
Thanks for the update. I should know better…one of the organizers of WellyCon lived here in Nashville for a while. It’s fixed!
The Turner Public Library in Turner, Maine is having a gaming convention this year as a non-profit fundraiser. “Book Stacks and Boss Fights” will be held on October 5&6, 2019 at the Turner public library. We will have a large selection of board games as well as RPGs, board game designers, local RPG authors, CCGs, minis, movies and more.
People can visit turnerpubliclibrary.org/bossfights beginning June 1 to register and find updated information and events, or they can contact me at bookstacksNbossfights@outlook.com
I hope you will be willing to add this to your list!
Thank you!
Sherri Talbot, Convention Head
I can’t find how to add to the convention list… a new small (250 gamers) con in Orlando Metro area early Nov 2019…
Would you mind adding Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (July 12-14, 2019) http://www.GameATL.com to your list. We would fit in the South-East. Thanks!
You’re already on the list, but in the wrong spot. I’ll move you from South Atlantic to East South.
We have moved to Hong Kong from UK – any idea of conventions in Asia? – Say within 3 hrs flight time from HK?
Excellent question George. Asian events, other than Tokyo Game Market, aren’t as well known over here. That said I’m happy to reach out and solicit input from any followers we might have in those countries!
And the most important
PLAY! Festival del gioco (Game festival) – April 3-5, 2020, Modena
This is great, thank you. I’ve added all three of these events!
Okay, so let’s talk about conventions. I’ve been to Gen Con a couple times, but I’m not sure I want to go back.
I’ve reached a point with my games where buying the latest and greatest is not what I want anymore.
I want to play games. Lots of games, and I don’t get to do it often at home, so conventions are a great choice for that.
Which conventions are best for playing games?
Howdy Daniel, thanks for asking. Smaller cons are usually going to be your best bet there. BGG.con, Dice Tower East (and West), or regional cons are what should look for. What city are you in and I might be able to point you in the right direction. It’ll also depend on if you want to stay local, or if you’re willing to travel.
Coming back to this comment. I’ve broken down the convention list into individual states (in the US) so finding cons near you should be much easier.
ReCon Board Game Convention, Kernersville NC – September 28th & 29th, 2019
Weekend-long FREE gaming event http://www.reconbgc.com
Added
Hey I know it’s a tad late but we have a small Con that maybe could be added… Meeps and Peeps Con 2019 in Silverhill, AL on Sept 14th 2019
Link https://www.facebook.com/events/510533489696986/?ti=icl
Will be working on next years date and hopefully growing the event! Thanks so much
Added
Great list, but I think your Nevada section is off. Gaming Hoopla is in IL and Origins is in Ohio. I think you’ve got some cons listed for other states (WA, LA, DE) too.
That’s a big help, thank you! The sort must have malfunctioned. I’ve gone through and fixed the ones you’ve indicated, then I’ll have to go back through and spot check the list.
I live in NJ and was excited to see that a couple of gaming conventions were coming up. However, my hopes were soon dashed when I found that you have listed a couple of cities incorrectly. I guess no gaming cons anytime soon 🙁
So sorry about that. We had a formatting issue a few weeks ago that offset some cities into other states. It looks like some got missed. I’ll move them to where they belong, but I wish I could put something in their place for you!
Could you update CascadeCon (Bellingham, Washington) for 2020: January 17–20, 2020?
Updated.
Hi Andy.How do I want to know which fair is the best board game show after Essen? About winter to spring time
Great question Hamed. If you’re looking for a larger show, then PAX Unplugged is going to be your best bet. It’s the largest show right after Essen and it’s going to be great. In fact almost a dozen Meeple Mountain team members will be there, so I’d be happy to chat.
Thank you for your excellent guidance, Andy
ProtoCON
January 25
Salt Lake City, Utah
protoconutah.com
Alrighty, you’re added to the calendar.
Hello Andy again. The festival you mentioned is very popular but I live in Iran and find it difficult to get there. can you please introduce another prestigious festival closer to my country?very very thank you andy.
Ah, sorry about that Hamed. It looks like there’s only two events near you. One in the UAE, the other in Israel. If you’re willing to travel into Europe then there are a number of events in France, Spain, Germany, and the UK.
Thank you Andy.Unfortunately the Emirates Festival is over and I can’t travel to Israel according to the rules of my country. Maybe India is suitable for the board game I have designed with the grace of God and thank you again Andy Dear
I wanted to contact you as one of the creators of BFGcon to see if we could get our 2020 information posted on your convention calendar. Below are the relevant details.
BFGcon 2020
The Big Frederick Gaming Convention
March 13-15, 2020
Thank you for your time!
Heather
You got it Heather, I’ve updated the BFGCon listing for 2020!
Great read!!
Just a note, Visioncon moved back to Springfield, MO, in 2019. The dates are correct above, just not the city.
Hi there! I’m with Love Thy Nerd, and we hosted LTN Con for the first time last year (2019). You have it listed with dates and location for this year (2020), but I’m not sure where that information came from. We haven’t announced date and location yet for 2020, though I can tell you that it will be in Louisville, KY, October 2-4, 2020. SPOILERS.
I am genuinely curious where the information came from for LTN Con happening in Centralia, WA, haha. One of our staff members lives there, but he has no idea how this ended up here either.
At any rate, THANK YOU SO MUCH for listing us here. We’re super grateful to be a part of this list with so many other GREAT events.
We had an issue a few months back where an errant sort messed up some events. We fixed most of them, but obviously missed a few. This is updated, and thanks for the big reveal!
Hey could you please update the listing for Wellycon NZ? We have moved the event to 24-25 October 2020. Thanks
Alrighty. Updated, thanks for letting us know.
As we near the end of the list, I’m anxious to know if there will be a new list or if this one will be updated. I’m interested in virtual cons beyond February of this year. Any leads? Thanks in advance!
Narcissa, I’ve got a todo on my plate to do a massive update of the convention list. As you can see from the length of the list, it’s going to take a long time. That said, this page is a resource to the community and I take that seriously. So I want it to remain useful for some time to come.
As Wynn and others have stated, thank you for your great efforts on keeping this resource up to date. It is super helpful and appreciated!
Aw, thank you. That’s a very nice thing to say. It’s a labor of love!
Thanks for spending the time to put this together. It’s very helpful.
I really like the map feature. As someone who digs through a lot of websites looking for events in various areas this was a useful feature for me. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words Eric. We work hard to keep the event calendar up to date.
Great article! Very helpful. Thanks so much for this.
Btw, “The small intimate feel is a huge perk to these local cons.” Missed opportunity to say “The small intimate feel is a huge *pro* to these local *cons.* Lol
Could you include https://www.midwestgamefest.org/kansascity on your calendar? It is an annual convention in Independence, MO (Kansas City metro). This year December 1st through 4th. Lots of board games and RPG games.
I’ve gone ahead and added it, but in the future you can submit new and updated events yourself!
This list is a great starting point!
My 2 cents to make it better would be to add a column indicating the relative size of the convention – just a large/medium/small/local classification would make filtering out which ones I’m more interested in much faster instead of having to click on all the links individually to check each one out.
Appreciate the work compiling all this info!
Nathan, that’s a good suggestion, but that information isn’t public, or at least easily obtainable (at least for the small to medium sized events). Not to mention that it would quickly become out of date as conventions increase in size. I certainly wouldn’t turn down including it, but it’s not something we can commit to at this time.
What alphabetical system, besides the one that you are using, puts the state of WEST VIRGINIA after the state of WISCONSON? Seems very illogical.
Your list seems like a great tool otherwise.
Great question Charlie. We’re storing the events using the 2 character “ISO code” for states, then alphabetizing on that, which means that WI comes before WV.
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Geekway to the West
The convention list really ought to be sorted by date to be at all useful.If it were, I’d bookmark this site, but now I’m moving on to the next listing on Google.
That’s a fair comment. It’s still plenty useful, but having it sorted by date would certainly increase it’s effectiveness.
FYI, the events are now sorted by date within each region.
How can I add conventions in Germany? (At least 4)
Kurt, I’d love to add them for you. Please include the following information, for each convention, in an email to info @ http://www.meeplemountain.com.
Event name
Event website
Start/End date
City, Country
Agree that it would be great to sort conventions by date. It is still, though, very useful as it is. I would say it is the best calendar for 2019 out there. Thank you so much, Elijah!
Thanks Stan. We’re slowly working through arranging conventions by date. I’ve gone through and done all of the countries but the US, and I’ll update the US over the next week or two.
MegaMooseCon has been moved to October 25-27, 2019. Can you please update the article to reflect! Thank you!
Sure thing. Updated! 😉
That was meant to be a question not a “!”
Hello,
We are hosting a gaming cruise in 2019, would you add that to your list?
GamingBySea 2019
July 13 – July 18, 2019
Charleston, SC
http://www.GamingBySea.com
Thank you for providing this service! The cruise is leaving from Charleston, SC headed for the Bahamas!
Sure thing! Added.
Have a great time.
Hi! Thanks so much for including EttinCon! We moved from Katoomba to Blackheath back in 2017, would love it if you just updated it to read “Blue Mountains” instead, please?
Updated! I lived in Sydney for two months, but never took the time to visit the Blue Mountains. A regret on my part. Good luck with your event!
Our dates forEttinCon 2020 are 18-19 July (we’re finally doing a weekender!) – thanks so much for curating/maintaining this list.
That’s great. I’m in the process of adding a bunch of new dates to the calendar. I’ll make sure I notate this one.
Apple Con is in year one this year (Hoping you’ll update). Tim Kask may be coming this year, Larry Elmore in the next year or two, we’re looking good.
Apple Con
Cornish, Maine – September 20-22 2019
http://AppleConMaine.com
Lloyd, thanks for your submission. The guide has been updated.
How do you get listed? We hit 25,000 people last year. Salt Lake Gaming Con is in June this year.
You’re good to go Jake, already sent you an email.
Our most famous convention in Brazil is Diversão Offline (translation: Offline Fun), which is also considered by some the biggest in Latin America. It´s a weekend of convention and right now it happens twice a year: one in São Paulo, in the first semester, and the other in Rio de Janeiro, in the second.
Diversão Offline is one of the best weekends in the year for me! 🙂
Thank you for letting me know Thiago. I’ve added the April event for Diversão Offline to the con page.
Lexicon was last weekend (Apr 5-7) and is every April in Lexington, Ky.
Yep. I added it to the list last night. Sounds like fun.
Could we please add Oct 4-6 as the dates for this year’s SHUX (Found in the Canada list)? Thank you kindly!
Of course; added!
Hey there, Wellycon in New Zealand is held Queens Birthday weekend (holiday in NZ) in June each year 🙂 Not October
Thanks for the update. I should know better…one of the organizers of WellyCon lived here in Nashville for a while. It’s fixed!
The Turner Public Library in Turner, Maine is having a gaming convention this year as a non-profit fundraiser. “Book Stacks and Boss Fights” will be held on October 5&6, 2019 at the Turner public library. We will have a large selection of board games as well as RPGs, board game designers, local RPG authors, CCGs, minis, movies and more.
People can visit turnerpubliclibrary.org/bossfights beginning June 1 to register and find updated information and events, or they can contact me at bookstacksNbossfights@outlook.com
I hope you will be willing to add this to your list!
Thank you!
Sherri Talbot, Convention Head
I can’t find how to add to the convention list… a new small (250 gamers) con in Orlando Metro area early Nov 2019…
https://tabletop.events/conventions/orlando-games-con-20191
Jeff
I’ve added Orlando Games Con to the list under South Atlantic.
Link to NEA Gamefest 2019 at the Hilton Gardens Inn in Jonesboro, Arkansas
October 18th – 20th 2019.
https://tabletop.events/conventions/nea-game-fest-2019
Added.
Thanks!
Would you mind adding Southern-Fried Gaming Expo (July 12-14, 2019) http://www.GameATL.com to your list. We would fit in the South-East. Thanks!
You’re already on the list, but in the wrong spot. I’ll move you from South Atlantic to East South.
We have moved to Hong Kong from UK – any idea of conventions in Asia? – Say within 3 hrs flight time from HK?
Excellent question George. Asian events, other than Tokyo Game Market, aren’t as well known over here. That said I’m happy to reach out and solicit input from any followers we might have in those countries!
AndoCon is no longer an Active Con…..
The Following are Active Con’s in the Nashville/Chatt area FYI……
Hypericon… was 7/5-7, 2020 in Murphresboro, tn…http://hypericon.net/
Connooga…. is in Feb, 2020…in Chattanooga…..https://www.facebook.com/con.nooga/
Chattacon… is in Jan, 2020 ..in Chattanooga……https://www.facebook.com/Chattacon/
Chattanooga state Tabletop Game Festival is going to be late 2019…and is in chatt..https://www.facebook.com/chattstatetabletopfest/
and Chattanooga Tabletop Game Fest is a one day event in chatt in June..https://www.facebook.com/chattanoogatabletopgamefest/
Somehow missed this comment Fred. I’ve added these events, except for Chattanooga state Tabletop Game Festival which didn’t happen this year.
Also pretty sure Cap-Con is not active anymore either…last update was 2018…..
Hello,
I hope all is well. We are hosting a couple board gaming cruises in 2020, would you add them to your list?
GamingBySea – Spring 2020 | A Board Gaming Cruise Vacation
March 29 – April 5, 2020
New York Harbor
http://gamingbysea.com/spring-2020
GamingBySea – Fall 2020 | A Board Gaming Cruise Vacation
September 27 – October 4, 2020
Orlando / Port Canaveral, FL
http://gamingbysea.com/fall-2020
Thanks,
Doug
Added!
Hello!
We have a few other boardgaming conventions in Italy:
Ferrara Ad Pugnam – September 6-8, Ferrara
https://fapcon.jimdo.com
Offensiva di Primavera (Spring Offensive) – February 8-10, Reggio Emilia
https://offensivadiprimavera.jimdo.com
And the most important
PLAY! Festival del gioco (Game festival) – April 3-5, 2020, Modena
This is great, thank you. I’ve added all three of these events!
Okay, so let’s talk about conventions. I’ve been to Gen Con a couple times, but I’m not sure I want to go back.
I’ve reached a point with my games where buying the latest and greatest is not what I want anymore.
I want to play games. Lots of games, and I don’t get to do it often at home, so conventions are a great choice for that.
Which conventions are best for playing games?
Howdy Daniel, thanks for asking. Smaller cons are usually going to be your best bet there. BGG.con, Dice Tower East (and West), or regional cons are what should look for. What city are you in and I might be able to point you in the right direction. It’ll also depend on if you want to stay local, or if you’re willing to travel.
Coming back to this comment. I’ve broken down the convention list into individual states (in the US) so finding cons near you should be much easier.
ReCon Board Game Convention, Kernersville NC – September 28th & 29th, 2019
Weekend-long FREE gaming event http://www.reconbgc.com
Added
Hey I know it’s a tad late but we have a small Con that maybe could be added… Meeps and Peeps Con 2019 in Silverhill, AL on Sept 14th 2019
Link
https://www.facebook.com/events/510533489696986/?ti=icl
Will be working on next years date and hopefully growing the event! Thanks so much
Added
Great list, but I think your Nevada section is off. Gaming Hoopla is in IL and Origins is in Ohio. I think you’ve got some cons listed for other states (WA, LA, DE) too.
That’s a big help, thank you! The sort must have malfunctioned. I’ve gone through and fixed the ones you’ve indicated, then I’ll have to go back through and spot check the list.
Cardboard Caucus
Des Moines, Iowa Oct 25-27 2019
Alrighty, you’re listed.
Roundtable Con
Sharon, PA USA
April 24-26 2020
https://roundtablecon.com
(and thank you!)
Okay. You’re added.
Hi,
I live in NJ and was excited to see that a couple of gaming conventions were coming up. However, my hopes were soon dashed when I found that you have listed a couple of cities incorrectly. I guess no gaming cons anytime soon 🙁
MACE West – Asheville, NJ – Feb. 28 – Mar. 1, 2020 (Asheville, NC)
GameholeCon – Madison, NJ – Oct. 31 – Nov. 3, 2019 (Madison, WI)
So sorry about that. We had a formatting issue a few weeks ago that offset some cities into other states. It looks like some got missed. I’ll move them to where they belong, but I wish I could put something in their place for you!
ConGlomeration, Louisville KY, April 10-12, 2020. http://www.conglomeration.info/
GalaxyCon, Louisville KY, Nov 22-24, 2019. https://louisvillesupercon.com/
Thanks for keeping this list up-to-date!
You’re added, and you’re welcome!
Could you update CascadeCon (Bellingham, Washington) for 2020: January 17–20, 2020?
Updated.
Hi Andy.How do I want to know which fair is the best board game show after Essen? About winter to spring time
Great question Hamed. If you’re looking for a larger show, then PAX Unplugged is going to be your best bet. It’s the largest show right after Essen and it’s going to be great. In fact almost a dozen Meeple Mountain team members will be there, so I’d be happy to chat.
Thank you for your excellent guidance, Andy
ProtoCON
January 25
Salt Lake City, Utah
protoconutah.com
Alrighty, you’re added to the calendar.
Hello Andy again. The festival you mentioned is very popular but I live in Iran and find it difficult to get there. can you please introduce another prestigious festival closer to my country?very very thank you andy.
Ah, sorry about that Hamed. It looks like there’s only two events near you. One in the UAE, the other in Israel. If you’re willing to travel into Europe then there are a number of events in France, Spain, Germany, and the UK.
Thank you Andy.Unfortunately the Emirates Festival is over and I can’t travel to Israel according to the rules of my country. Maybe India is suitable for the board game I have designed with the grace of God and thank you again Andy Dear
I wanted to contact you as one of the creators of BFGcon to see if we could get our 2020 information posted on your convention calendar. Below are the relevant details.
BFGcon 2020
The Big Frederick Gaming Convention
March 13-15, 2020
Thank you for your time!
Heather
You got it Heather, I’ve updated the BFGCon listing for 2020!
Great read!!
Just a note, Visioncon moved back to Springfield, MO, in 2019. The dates are correct above, just not the city.
http://www.Visioncon.net
Roger that, thanks for the update. Fixed.
Wyoming needs an entry…
https://tabletop.events/conventions/cheyenne-gaming-convention-2020
Thanks Fritz, you’re good to go!
Thank you so much for adding our event “Board and Beach Con” although the location is Orange Beach, AL. Thanks once again!
Fixed. Sorry about that.
Please add: MillenniumCon Austin Texas 5-8 November 2020
http://www.millenniumcon.info
Added
Hi there! I’m with Love Thy Nerd, and we hosted LTN Con for the first time last year (2019). You have it listed with dates and location for this year (2020), but I’m not sure where that information came from. We haven’t announced date and location yet for 2020, though I can tell you that it will be in Louisville, KY, October 2-4, 2020. SPOILERS.
I am genuinely curious where the information came from for LTN Con happening in Centralia, WA, haha. One of our staff members lives there, but he has no idea how this ended up here either.
At any rate, THANK YOU SO MUCH for listing us here. We’re super grateful to be a part of this list with so many other GREAT events.
We had an issue a few months back where an errant sort messed up some events. We fixed most of them, but obviously missed a few. This is updated, and thanks for the big reveal!
Hey could you please update the listing for Wellycon NZ? We have moved the event to 24-25 October 2020. Thanks
Alrighty. Updated, thanks for letting us know.
As we near the end of the list, I’m anxious to know if there will be a new list or if this one will be updated. I’m interested in virtual cons beyond February of this year. Any leads? Thanks in advance!
Narcissa, I’ve got a todo on my plate to do a massive update of the convention list. As you can see from the length of the list, it’s going to take a long time. That said, this page is a resource to the community and I take that seriously. So I want it to remain useful for some time to come.
As Wynn and others have stated, thank you for your great efforts on keeping this resource up to date. It is super helpful and appreciated!
Aw, thank you. That’s a very nice thing to say. It’s a labor of love!
Thanks for spending the time to put this together. It’s very helpful.
I really like the map feature. As someone who digs through a lot of websites looking for events in various areas this was a useful feature for me. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words Eric. We work hard to keep the event calendar up to date.
Great article! Very helpful. Thanks so much for this.
Btw, “The small intimate feel is a huge perk to these local cons.” Missed opportunity to say “The small intimate feel is a huge *pro* to these local *cons.* Lol
Hi!
thanks for the article.
If you want you can add RiaCon, Portugal
https://riacon.wordpress.com/
Nuno, I’d love for you to add RiaCon once your site has a bit more content.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwXCCIY4z_wHm7n1a0RaXgQ-V_aF1fX8AfXpjy_7vgd1658A/viewform
Could you include https://www.midwestgamefest.org/kansascity on your calendar? It is an annual convention in Independence, MO (Kansas City metro). This year December 1st through 4th. Lots of board games and RPG games.
I’ve gone ahead and added it, but in the future you can submit new and updated events yourself!
This list is a great starting point!
My 2 cents to make it better would be to add a column indicating the relative size of the convention – just a large/medium/small/local classification would make filtering out which ones I’m more interested in much faster instead of having to click on all the links individually to check each one out.
Appreciate the work compiling all this info!
Nathan, that’s a good suggestion, but that information isn’t public, or at least easily obtainable (at least for the small to medium sized events). Not to mention that it would quickly become out of date as conventions increase in size. I certainly wouldn’t turn down including it, but it’s not something we can commit to at this time.
What alphabetical system, besides the one that you are using, puts the state of WEST VIRGINIA after the state of WISCONSON? Seems very illogical.
Your list seems like a great tool otherwise.
Great question Charlie. We’re storing the events using the 2 character “ISO code” for states, then alphabetizing on that, which means that WI comes before WV.
Please add under Pennsylvania:
Splotter Con
Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 30 – Sep 2, 2024
http://www.splottercon.com
Hi! Could Diversão Offline be added?
As far as I know, it’s Latin America’s largest board game event. We had Reiner Knizia and Tom Vassel here this year. 😀
Diversão Offline
São Paulo, Brazil
June 01 and 02, 2024
https://diversaooffline.com.br/
Added, thank you Robert.