After 20 years growing the UK Games Expo into one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in the world, founders Richard Denning and Tony Hyams are preparing for their eventual exit by bringing in AireCon co-founder Mark Cooke as operations director.
Cooke joins following another record year for UKGE, which has seen its annual unique attendance surge almost 65% since 2023 to reach more than 51,000.
The show has already well surpassed Gen Con in terms of trade hall size, with the British event now spanning about 44,000 sq m – about 40% larger than Gen Con’s trade hall area – and hosting around 900 exhibitors in 2026.
That soaring growth has put increasing pressure on the small organising team at UKGE, with Denning telling BoardGameWire last year that the show had strained a full-time workforce which stood at just six people – although UKGE also relies on more than 200 volunteers, GMs, umpires and other helpers to deliver the convention each year.
Cooke is no stranger to growing a UK board game convention, having co-founded and built AireCon with Ben Clarkson from a 28-person gaming weekend in his flat a decade ago into England’s second-largest board game con, with about 5,000 attendees this year.
More than 5,500 people are expected at the final AireCon – which has been nicknamed Airemageddon – with Cooke set to continue working on that final show before moving to UKGE full time.
A statement from UKGE emphasised the hire was part of a phased transition for UKGE’s organisers, and was “not a sudden change of leadership or direction”.
UK Games Expo 2026
It said Cooke would work alongside Denning and Hyams “over the next few UK Games Expo events”, ensuring that knowledge, experience and responsibilities the pair have built up over the last 20 years are handed over “gradually and thoughtfully”.
Denning said, “As UKGE has expanded to now one of the world’s largest shows we have gradually grown our team, adding event managers, administrators and logistics support.
“Bringing in Mark as operations director is the next logical step as we put in place plans to ensure UKGE can run far into the future.
UK Games Expo co-founder and director Richard Denning
“We have known Mark through AireCon and other industry roles for many years now and he is an ideal choice bringing both event management experience, energy and fresh ideas to the team as well as a safe pair of hands as and when Tony and I eventually step away from the show we have built together with others.”
Cooke added, “I’m incredibly excited to be joining the UK Games Expo team and to have the opportunity to play a part in the next chapter of such an important event for the tabletop gaming community.
“I have huge respect for what Richard and Tony have built over the years, and I’m looking forward to working alongside them over the coming events.
“This will be a gradual transition, giving us plenty of time to share knowledge, ideas and experience. My aim is to build on the fantastic foundations already in place while helping UKGE continue to grow and thrive for many years to come.”
Denning and Hyams launched UK Games Expo at Birmingham’s Clarendon Suites in 2007, when the convention attracted about 1,000 visitors.
It moved to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre in 2013, and had grown to more than 25,000 unique attendees by 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted its run of physical events.
UK Games Expo attendance figures since launch. Note: no physical show took place in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic
Denning told BoardGameWire last year that building a world-class trade hall in the UK had been a personal ambition stretching back almost two decades, adding at the time that UKGE was “now fully on the world stage of ‘mega-cons'”.
Despite this year’s record attendance, Denning told BoardGameWire after the show that there was still room for further expansion, particularly around the roughly 500 events taking place during the convention.
The next UK Games Expo is scheduled to take place at Birmingham NEC from June 4 to June 6, 2027.
Games tackling subjects ranging from the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests to the 30-year holdout of Japanese WW2 soldier Hiroo Onoda have been named as finalists in this year’s Summit Award, which aims to recognise historical game designs which have attracted new players or introduced new subjects or perspectives to the hobby.
The game puts players in the roles of the gender-defying mollies of early 18th century London, attempting to build community and joy while facing persecution by the Society for the Reformation of Manners.
Chicago ‘68, designed by Yoni Goldstein and published by the Dietz Foundation, was the most-selected title during the Summit Award’s public nomination process this summer.
Chicago ’68, designed by Yoni Goldstein || Photo Credit: Yoni Goldstein
The game explores the protests and police response surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention, dividing players between Establishment and Demonstrator factions including the mayor’s office, Chicago Police Department, Yippies and National Mobilization Committee To End The War In Vietnam.
Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, designed by Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini and published by Ingenioso Hidalgo, uses four different battlefield maps to recreate engagements from the Napoleonic Wars in sessions lasting between 60 and 120 minutes.
The fourth finalist is Francisco “Pako” Gradaille’s Onoda, a 25-minute solo game published by Salt & Pepper Games which explores the experiences of Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda, who continued guerrilla warfare on the Philippine island of Lubang until 1974. Judges praised the unusual subject and the way the game asks players to engage with Onoda’s story and decisions.
Onoda, designed by Francisco Gradaille || Photo Credit: Salt & Pepper Games
Winter Rabbit, which draws on traditional Cherokee animal stories and was created as a counterpoint to common colonial themes in games, was runner-up in the 2021 Zenobia Award and won the Light Strategy category at this year’s Origins Awards.
The Summit Award considers games across five criteria – ease of teaching, ease of play, uniqueness of topic, novelty of approach and effectiveness as a historical game.
SDHist, which was launched mainly as a local wargaming group in 2015, is led by wargaming experts including Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection designer Harold Buchanan.
The organisation’s board and board of advisors selected three of this year’s finalists following the public nomination process, which put Chicago ‘68 on the shortlist.
The same groups will select the winner, which is set to be announced at the SDHist Summit convention in San Diego in November.
Gaming convention major PAX is doubling down on the success of its tabletop-focused Unplugged show by launching a second event in Houston, after growing the original into the second-largest tabletop gaming convention in the US after Gen Con.
PAX Unplugged Houston is set to take place at the George R Brown Convention Center from June 25 to 27 next year – marking the first expansion of the Unplugged brand since the dedicated tabletop convention debuted in Philadelphia in 2017.
Company event manager Sean Gonzalez told GamesBeat that PAX had considered several major cities while investigating the feasibility of a second Unplugged show, adding that Houston stood out based on infrastructure, demographics, data from other ReedPop events and demand from the industry.
“Most importantly though, Houston is where exhibitors wanted us to place the event,” he said.
PAX said in a separate announcement that Unplugged Houston will feature an expo floor for tabletop exhibitors alongside panels, tournaments and community events, although it is yet to reveal exhibitors, floor space, expected attendance or badge prices.
The show marks a return to Texas for the business, which previously ran PAX South in San Antonio from 2015 to 2020.
Gonzalez told GamesBeat Houston offered an opportunity to bring PAX back to the community which had attended PAX South, while giving the new event a more specific tabletop focus.
He added, “While we know that the current state of the economy impacts everyone, we are extremely confident based on the tremendous success we continue to see with the PAX events, particularly our Philadelphia PAX Unplugged, that the market will support PAX Unplugged Houston.”
PAX was launched by Penny Arcade web comic creators Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik in 2004 as the Penny Arcade Expo, after the pair decided they wanted a show exclusively to celebrate video gaming and game culture.
Attendees at PAX Unplugged in 2024 || Photo Credit: PAX/ReedPop
About 3,300 people attended the inaugural show, but that attendance had already soared to 58,500 by the 2008 event, leading to organiser to team up with New York Comic Con organiser ReedPop in 2009, and to launch a second con, PAX East, in 2010.
The company expanded again with PAX Australia in 2013 and the short-lived PAX South two years later, before launching the inaugural PAX Unplugged in 2017 after seeing the tabletop sections of its existing PAX conventions continue to expand.
PAX does not disclose precise attendance figures for PAX Unplugged, but says the Philadelphia event draws “tens of thousands” of visitors each year – believed to be north of the 30,000 mark. Its record 2024 show sold out all three days for the first time, filling all 528,000 sq ft of exhibition hall space with more than 350 exhibitors.
But Pax Unplugged’s success has seen it displace long-running peer Origins as the second-largest tabletop gaming convention in the US – and its decision to launch a second event just 12 days after Origins 2027 is due to take place puts further pressure on the latter event.
Origins has been rebuilding its attendance since the pandemic, but unlike other major tabletop conventions such as Gen Con, Spiel Essen and the UK Games Expo has yet to regain its pre-Covid record of about 20,600.
The show’s attendance fell 2.5% this year to 18,700 – its first annual decline since the pandemic, although the fall came as other measures of activity at Origins remained stable or continued to grow. Exhibitor numbers increased marginally from 410 in 2025 to 413 this year, while the number of scheduled events climbed about 10% from 7,810 to more than 8,600.
PAX has not overtly positioned Houston as a competitor to Origins, but publishers weighing whether to exhibit at both now face the prospect of getting their teams and products to two major US tabletop shows within less than two weeks, alongside the associated staffing, travel, freight and booth costs.
Badges for PAX Unplugged Houston are due to go on sale later this year, with applications for media and content creators also opening before the end of 2026.
The original PAX Unplugged returns to Philadelphia for its tenth show between December 4 and 6 this year.
Spiel Essen has launched a dedicated B2B matchmaking system aimed at helping publishers, designers, retailers and other industry professionals find potential business partners and arrange meetings before arriving at the world’s biggest board game fair.
The new service, which is restricted to exhibitors and people with business visitor tickets, lets users create profiles detailing what they are looking for and what they can offer, send specific business inquiries, connect via chat and schedule appointments at the show using the built-in calendar.
Spiel said today that the system will be integrated directly into its dedicated app, adding that the move is intended to make networking between trade visitors, professionals and publishers “more targeted, simple, and effective”.
Business has long been an important part of Spiel despite its status as a public-facing convention, with major publishers operating their own dedicated B2B areas for meetings with retailers and other industry professionals.
B2B-specific companies such as manufacturers, crowdfunding services and trade organisations were still scattered across various halls in 2019, but that situation began to change after Spiel was taken over in 2022 by Merz Verlag – whose core event, Spielwarenmesse, is one of the world’s biggest B2B toy trade fairs.
Those companies began to be more concentrated in Hall 4 during the 2022 event – a move which intensified the following year amid a major reorganisation of the halls which attempted to more obviously split the fair into themed segments such as children’s games, family and light-to-medium games, expert games, tabletop and miniature games, roleplaying games and TCGs.
Florian Hess, managing director of Merz Verlag, said after last year’s record-breaking Spiel, “For exhibitors at the fair the focus is also on the joy of the games. At the same time, an incredible number of effective business developments emerge here – and this happens naturally alongside everything else.
“I don’t know of any other event that is as strong a springboard for a business’s launch as Spiel. I have met exhibitors who started here a few years ago with a small booth and are now occupying several hundred square meters and selling games internationally.
“Experiencing this kind of B2B rocket launch never ceases to fascinate me.”
Hall 3 at Spiel Essen 2025
The new system arrives as Spiel prepares for its biggest-ever event from October 22 to 25 this year – with an expansion into all eight main halls at the Messe Essen exhibition centre for the first time expected to see the event challenge its record 220,000 attendance set last year.
But despite the show bumping against its space limits at its long-time home, a Merz Verlag spokesperson told BoardGameWire in March, “We love Essen – as a venue and the city – and have no intention of leaving. For the foreseeable future SPIEL will remain in Essen as it has for more than 40 years now.”
The fair’s expansion into a seventh hall last year helped the four-day show to its record 220,000 attendance, outstripping the 209,000 visitor record it set just before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Spiel might have broken its attendance record in 2024 were it not for a self-imposed visitor cap, which limited the number of attendees each day to about 50,000 – a measure introduced alongside wider aisles post-pandemic to help visitors move around the often crowded halls more easily.
More than 920 exhibitors from 53 countries are expected at this year’s event, with Merz Verlag saying in March that demand had come both from long-term exhibitors keen to “significantly increase” their booth space, as well as an “impressive number” of first-time exhibitors hoping to attend this year.
About half of the available tickets for Thursday, Friday and Saturday have already been sold, seven weeks before the show opens, with Sunday sales currently “lagging slightly behind”, the show announced today.
Access to the matchmaking platform comes as part of Spiel’s €46 business visitor ticket, which compares with €25 for a standard adult day ticket.
Spiel Essen 2026 takes place at Messe Essen from October 22 to 25.
Fledgling Dubai board game convention tabletop.me is facing a very different challenge as it prepares for its second year: persuading overseas publishers the commercial opportunity of reaching the Gulf’s growing tabletop market is worth pursuing amid safety concerns around the US-Iran war.
The three-day event, which debuted last November as the Middle East’s first dedicated board game convention, attracted about 3,000 attendees and 55 publishers according to founder Mark Azzam. He told BoardGameWire ahead of the convention’s 2025 launch that he ultimately hoped to create something akin to a “Gen Con of Dubai”, drawing visitors from the UAE and across the region.
The show is aiming for at least 5,000 visitors when it returns between November 6 and 8 this year, Azzam said – but he added that the US war with near-neighbour Iran had already caused some publishers not to return for this year’s event, while others plan to wait until September or October before making a firm decision.
Azzam told BoardGameWire, “The main concern has been staff traveling here. Several publishers have told us that, because of the current situation, their companies are simply not allowing employees to travel to the region for the time being.”
He said that although tabletop.me offers the option to take care of booth builds, staffing, game demonstrator training and product logistics without a publisher representative being present, tighter publisher budgets this year were also factoring into its challenges.
“Many publishers are being more selective this year and focusing on their established convention schedule, such as Gen Con and Essen”, Azzam said, but added: “We believe emerging markets like the Middle East are exactly where brands should invest for long-term growth.”
This year’s show has already signed up companies including Asmodee, Allplay, Dice Throne, Oink Games and Blue Orange Games, alongside TCG brands that participated last year and seven publishers which did not attend the first event, according to Azzam.
But the continuing uncertainty around the US-Iran war makes the task of building an international exhibitor base considerably more complicated than it appeared when tabletop.me first launched.
Dubai and the wider UAE have continued operating as major international business and aviation hubs since the war began in February this year, but the conflict has affected air travel and freight through the region.
Azzam said those developments had clearly affected publisher decision-making, despite day-to-day life and business activity in Dubai having largely normalised following the most intense period earlier this year.
He said, “From our perspective on the ground, the situation has been much calmer than many people outside the region may have perceived. The first few weeks were a little shocking, as you had never experienced anything like this here before, but the UAE authorities responded extremely well.
“Since the ceasefire on April 8, things have largely returned to normal. The airspace is fully open again, flights have normalised, and Emirates and Etihad Airways are operating as usual. From what we see day to day, life in Dubai feels very safe and business has picked up again over the past couple of months. I have remained in the UAE throughout the entire period and have always felt safe here.
“There has definitely been a difference between the international perception, mostly due to the media, and the reality on the ground in the region. While the news coverage naturally focused on the wider conflict, daily life in Dubai has continued largely as normal, and confidence is steadily returning.”
Azzam, who also runs a trio of Back to Games board game stores across Abu Dhabi and Dubai, said that rather than the conflict denting his retail business, demand had actually risen at points during the last few months.
He told BoardGameWire, “Interestingly, it has almost been the opposite of what we expected! It reminded me a little of the early days of Covid, where more people started spending time at home and looking for ways to connect with friends and family.
“We saw a noticeable increase in demand for tabletop games, particularly TCGs and board games. With many large events cancelled or postponed over the past few months, people seemed to turn toward tabletop gaming instead.
“Rather than seeing a decline, our retail business actually grew during that initial period when the conflict started. It was a pleasant surprise, and now that things have settled down, business has largely returned to normal.”
When asked what he would say to publishers whose management has ruled out attending because of regional tensions, Azzam said, “I would tell them that, if anything, the conflict increased demand for tabletop gaming rather than reducing it. We saw that directly through our retail business, where sales, particularly in TCGs and board games, actually increased as more people turned to the hobby.
“Distribution was affected for the first month or so while freight and logistics adjusted, but that has now completely recovered. Products are arriving on schedule again, and the market continues to grow, with new game stores and cafés opening across the region every month.
“From what we are seeing, thankfully, the long-term opportunity in the Middle East remains just as strong as it was before.”
Azzam has spent more than a decade building businesses around that opportunity.
Spotting a gap in the market, the former airline captain funnelled his savings into launching a small kiosk in The Dubai Mall in 2015, before launching his first Back to Games store in Abu Dhabi six months later.
He subsequently built Back to Games into a three-store operation and became co-owner of publisher and distributor Boardgame Space in 2017. BoardGameWire reported last year that Boardgame Space had localised more than 55 games.
Speaking about the Gulf market for board games in general, Azzam told BoardGameWire, “I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that an internationally successful game will automatically sell well here just because it succeeded elsewhere. In reality, brand awareness and marketing are incredibly important in the Gulf.
“People are much more likely to buy a game they have already seen in social media or online, heard about through creators, or know is trending internationally.
“Presentation also matters. The box needs to clearly communicate the game and look visually appealing, as that first impression is often what generates interest.
“Also, publishers should be aware of some cultural considerations, which is exactly where local partners like us can manage easily. We understand the market and can help publishers present their products in the best possible way for the region.”
Azzam added that the show was spending more heavily on marketing this year, using budget freed up from the “significant” first-year setup costs that came with launching the event.
The show is also introducing a rewards programme designed to encourage attendees to try out unfamiliar publishers and games.
Vom 07.-09.08.2026 fand die jährliche Hauscon RatCon von Ulisses statt. Auch diesmal wurden wieder viele Neuheiten aus der Welt des Schwarzen Auges angekündigt. Vieles erscheint noch in diesem Jahr, aber auch der Ausblick auf das kommende Jahr lässt viele Fanherzen höherschlagen.
Africa’s longest-running board game convention is hoping to use its tenth anniversary to put more direct support behind the continent’s emerging designers, with plans for a new grant programme if its latest crowdfunding campaign reaches $20,000.
The November 27 and 28 event in Abuja will include prototype playtesting, workshops, industry discussions, networking and a marketplace alongside its consumer-facing game demonstrations and tournaments, according to organiser NIBCARD Games.
But potentially more significant for Africa’s developing board game industry are the additions AB Con hopes to unlock if the campaign moves beyond its base target.
Reaching $20,000 would launch an AB Con Designers Grant, providing financial support and mentorship to African tabletop designers to develop prototypes, improve their games and showcase them at future editions of the convention.
A $22,000 stretch goal would introduce an Impact Award recognising people and organisations helping develop the continent’s tabletop ecosystem, while $30,000 would extend this year’s convention from two days to three.
The campaign describes the designer grant as an attempt to create “more opportunities for African games to reach local and international audiences”.
That represents another step in a decade-long attempt by AB Con and organiser NIBCARD to build infrastructure around what was an extremely small modern tabletop design community when the convention began.
AB Con says there were fewer than 10 known indigenous tabletop games and only three published game designers in Nigeria before it launched in 2016, with few places available for people to regularly play modern board games.
BoardGameWire reported last year that the number of known modern games from Nigerian designers had since passed 100, while the number of designers had grown to 25.
AB Con has provided a crucial meeting point and catalyst during that expansion, bringing together designers and publishers alongside manufacturers, retailers, educators and players.
Gamers, publishers, designers and organisers at AB Con 2025 || Photo Credit: AB Con
Nigerian board game company NIBCARD’s role in developing that ecosystem was recognised with the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming in 2021.
The award committee described the company as being “the multi-faceted company at the heart of the nascent Nigerian games industry”, highlighting its work publishing games, manufacturing for other companies, mentoring designers, running a game café and organising AB Con.
NIBCARD itself says it has now designed more than 70 tabletop games since being founded in 2013, while its activities have expanded across publishing, manufacturing, education and digital games.
While those efforts have proved a pillar of the region’s hobby gaming growth, NIBCARD and AB Con founder Kenechukwu ‘KC’ Ogbuagu told BoardGameWire there were still large challenges around getting Nigerian and African designers and games to break into North American and European markets.
He said, “It’s a combination of several factors, but I would highlight visibility, access, finance, and market access.
“There is a significant lack of visibility for African games and designers. Publishers often don’t get to see the games being created here, while designers have very limited opportunities to meet and build relationships with publishers.
NIBCARD and AB Con founder Kenechukwu ‘KC’ Ogbuagu
“I have experienced this personally. I once received fully funded support to attend Spiel Essen, but was denied a visa. Last year, I was invited to GothCon on a fully funded trip, but I couldn’t even secure an interview date for my visa application.
“Finance is another major barrier. Even when a game is ready, designers need money to market it, work with content creators and reviewers, attend international conventions, and run crowdfunding campaigns such as Kickstarter or Gamefound.
“And for those who choose to self-publish, international shipping can make African games extremely expensive and difficult to compete with in global markets.”
He added, “One of our mission is to see African designers creating games that are enjoyed globally and, ultimately, seeing African-designed games recognised among the best games in the world.
“We have already started working towards this. Last year, with support from the Spiel Foundation, we showcased games from three African designers at SPIEL Essen 2025. We also started a game studio as a way to bring African games to light.
“But even as we build, from over 10 years of experience doing this, a lot of the impact are limited due to lack of funding.
“We are intentionally building AB Con to become a platform where African designers, games, publishers, distributors, and international industry professionals can connect.
“We want publishers from North America and Europe to see AB Con as a place to discover new designers and games from Africa, explore licensing and publishing partnerships, and build long-term relationships with the African tabletop industry.
“This is one reason we are committed to maintaining a two-day convention going forward, with the goal of eventually growing it into a four-day event. We want to create enough time and space for meaningful meetings, playtesting, networking, showcases, and publisher scouting.”
The growing scope of AB Con has repeatedly run up against the economics of staging the convention, however.
Its new $14,000 base target represents another substantial increase. Organisers said the higher figure reflects both inflation and the cost of restoring AB Con’s two-day format, and will be used for venue and production costs, volunteer support, logistics, marketing, accessibility and expanded programming.
Nigeria continues to experience significant price increases, despite inflation having eased substantially from the levels that prompted AB Con’s return to crowdfunding.
The country’s National Bureau of Statistics currently reports annual consumer price inflation of 15.9% – down markedly from an almost 30-year high of 34% when AB Con launched its 2024 campaign.
Last year’s AB Con campaign was initially intended to support ambitions for as many as 3,000 attendees, compared with roughly 1,300 at the 2024 event and about 1,000 in 2023. The 2025 convention ultimately took place as a one-day event on November 29.
At least seven Nigerian designers showcased projects at the 2025 convention, according to Nigeria’s Independent newspaper, while participating publishers included Althra Games, ICE Game and Jesus Native Games.
AB Con founder and lead convener Kenechukwu ‘KC’ Ogbuagu said, “When we hosted the first AB Con in 2016, our dream was bigger than organizing an event – we wanted to help build an industry.
“Ten years later, we’ve seen designers launch original games, communities grow across Africa, and more people recognize games as powerful tools for learning, culture, business, and connection.
“This anniversary is not only a celebration of how far we’ve come but an invitation for the world to help shape what comes next.”
The AB Con Kickstarter is live now, with the convention scheduled to take place in Abuja, Nigeria on November 27 and 28.
Once again Gen Con did not disappoint in 2026, and Meeple Mountain scoured the halls in full force with a whopping six members of our team swooping down on Indianapolis for the convention. As always, attendance hit all-new highs in terms of con-goers and vendors as gamers from all over the world joined the festivities. With several new additions including a D&D Tower, drone show, and the ever-present construction downtown as the convention center expands to accommodate, there was plenty to be excited about.
Here are our thoughts on Gen Con 2026!
Crawl Con in Full Effect
With the recent crowdfunding efforts by Renegade Games for their new Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG and Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable it was already preordained that Gen Con would be beset upon by the full force of DCC fandom. Couple that with the appointment of author Matt Dinniman and voice of the series Jeff Hayes as Media Guests of Honor to the convention, and you have all the necessary ingredients for a DCC takeover.
Sure enough, heart-patterned boxers and tortoiseshell Persian cats were all over the place, especially when the cosplayers put on their Saturday best for the annual contest. Saturday also happened to be the day when 2,000 crawlers—as members of the DCC fandom are called—assembled for a photo at Victory Field. I've…
Gen Con has hired longtime The Dice Tower presenter and convention organiser Camilla Cleghorn as its new head of events, putting a familiar face from board game media in charge of planning and delivering one of the tabletop industry’s largest event programmes.
Cleghorn’s new role will see her lead Gen Con‘s events team and oversee the planning and execution of the massive convention’s event programming, while supporting the organisers responsible for the thousands of events run each year.
That figure extends the show’s steady post-pandemic growth, following record crowds of 70,000 in 2023, 71,000 in 2024 and almost 72,000 last year – all of which broke the 2019 pre-pandemic high.
But the convention, which has sold out before opening for three consecutive years, is operating at a hard capacity ceiling at the Indiana Convention Centre – and is set for a significant floor space expansion next year alongside its 60th anniversary.
The expansion includes an extra 143,500 sq ft of floor space – roughly the size of 2.5 American football fields – and 800 new hotel rooms through the opening of a new Signia by Hilton hotel.
Cleghorn told BoardGameWire that growth would create both exciting opportunities and new challenges, adding, “The opportunity is finding ways to welcome more people and experiences while maintaining what makes the convention special. The challenge is making sure the systems, communication, and support behind that growth scale along with it.”
Gen Con 2026
She said, “From the publisher and exhibitor side, I’m fortunate to come in with experience working closely with many of those partners, but I don’t want to arrive with a list of things I think need to change before I’ve had the opportunity to listen and learn.
“Gen Con has an experienced team and a tremendous community of partners. My priority will be understanding what’s working well, where opportunities exist, and how we can continue to build on that together.”
Cleghorn confirmed that Gen Con’s veteran director of events Derek Guder would be “transitioning into an adjacent role” at the business, but said they would work closely together.
She joins Gen Con after several years as a prominent member of The Dice Tower team, filming reviews for its more than 360,000 YouTube subscribers as well as helping to grow Florida-based convention Dice Tower East and working on the show’s annual crowdfunding campaigns.
She said, “I’m incredibly grateful to have been a part of The Dice Tower’s journey over the last several years, and I’ll always be thankful to Tom, the DT team, and all of you for giving me opportunities I never imagined I’d have.”
She told BoardGameWire, “One of the things I value most about my time with The Dice Tower is that I’ve had the opportunity to experience the hobby from a lot of different perspectives: publishers, designers, content creators, convention attendees, and the people working behind the scenes to make events happen.
“It’s taught me that each group has different needs, but ultimately they all want a great experience and clear communication.”
Cleghorn added, “The timing also felt right for me personally and professionally. I’m incredibly proud of my time with The Dice Tower and everything I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of there, and I’m excited to take what I’ve learned into this next chapter.”
BoardGameWire contacted The Dice Tower creator Tom Vasel to ask about the impact she has had at the reviews giant, her biggest achievements at the business and what he will miss most about her moving on, but did not receive a response.
He did briefly mention Cleghorn’s new role in the most recent episode of Dice Tower News, joking about Gen Con’s “thievery” before saying, “We’re excited for her, excited to see that happening”.
He added “You’ll still see here occasionally here on The Dice Tower but she’ll be really busy working for Gen Con.”
My WBC 2026 is over and I’m sad about it! Well, it actually ended last Thursday evening after 5 1/2 days of gaming goodness, but I am now just putting together this wrap-up post. I had planned to stay until Saturday morning and then leave to come home to attend a concert with my wife for our 30th wedding anniversary (Darius Rucker) but I had some pretty severe back pain late Thursday evening that haunted me through the night only allowing to me to get a few hours of restful sleep and when I awoke on Friday for my last planned day my back was pretty stiff and I couldn’t see sitting around for 12 hours at a gaming table and then having to drive home on Saturday. So, I made the mature decision to pack up and leave Friday morning to avoid it getting worse and making the 6+ hour drive home more difficult. This caused me to miss a rousing multi-player game of Virgin Queen from GMT Games on Friday and I am very sad about that. But, I made the correct choice and am now home safe and sound and my back got a bit better overnight on Friday and has pretty much now totally recovered. On Saturday morning and into the early afternoon, I did spend some time organizing the games I played at the convention but didn’t put up neatly and also clipping the counters for a few new games to ready them for play.
A look at the games that I was able to get played as well as some new acquisitions.
This was an extremely productive trip this year and I had a blast. I wanted to simply give you a quick look at my time at WBC and share what I was able to accomplish by myself as once again Alexander was not with me and I was flying solo. If you are interested in more detail than is found here, you can visit my Daily Debrief posts at the following links:
Here is a look at my overall statistics for what I accomplished in 5 1/2 days.
The Numbers
If you don’t know, I am infamous for my activity and schedule while attending these conventions. I just really love conventions and playing lots of multi-player wargames and also meeting great people. It is the fuel to my fire and I truly try to schedule my time while at the convention. I always play a ton of games but also try to get in many interviews with designers and publishers to share with you our readers. And this year, was extremely productive and I was asked several times how I have the energy to keep up such a torrid pace and I really don’t have an answer. But, you are the beneficiary of my pace and I am going to give you an overview.
Games Played
I played a lot of games. That is what I do. I am a content creator who loves to game and I played 2-4 games per day over the 5 1/2 days there for a total of 15 games played. I always feel like I am running from one thing to the next but it works for me and allows me to be exposed to a lot of different games. These numbers are a bit skewed though as I played 2 games on Sunday all day pretty much in Grand Tactical Series (GTS) Where Eagles Dare and The Devil’s Cauldron and counted that as 2 separate games when in fact it was just one large combined game that I played bits and pieces of as I was assigned by the overall commanders when chits were drawn and those formations were activated. But as you can see from the list below, I got in some bangers. Classics. Games that I have always wanted to play but have never had a chance. New systems. New games and some games that are still in playtest and development.
Now you might be asking what games did I like out of that list and I would answer all of them, with the exception of The Adventures of Conan from Gale Force Nine. We bounced off this one hard. Poor rules, lack of structure and little clarity, which is a shame. The art is fantastic, great components with custom dice but I felt like we had no idea what we were doing or how we were supposed to reliably get things done. Standout games were Baltic Empires from GMT Games, Korean Tide from Compass Games, World Order from Hegemonic Project Games and Above the Trenches from Flying Pig Games. But the highlight for me was playing the Grand Tactical Series from MMP with a combined game of Where Eagles Dare and The Devil’s Cauldron. I liked that one so much that I purchased the GTS Briefings Magazine with the pack-in game Strike – Counter Strike and look forward to getting this one played.
Interview Videos
As you know. one of things we do at these conventions is video interviews with designers and early looks at their upcoming games. This year was no exception as I was able to do a total of 7 video interviews. I am a bit worried about them though as I was having major technical difficulties with the camera and batteries holding charges and had multiple videos where the battery just up and died and the camera stopped working. I had to then change out the battery and try to start where I think it went off but I expect that some of the videos will have missing sections and I apologize for that. Below is the list of video interviews that I was able to accomplish.
Once Alexander gets back this week, and he has had a chance to download the videos, review them and try to stitch them together as best he can we will start putting them up on the YouTube Channel for your viewing pleasure. I would expect that to happen in the next 2 weeks. I still have to put together a debrief video as well and that one will probably lead the videos on the channel.
Games Acquired
Now, WBC is not a buying convention but there is a small vendor area at the site with publishers the likes of Compass Games, GMT Games, Flying Pig Games. Blue Panther, MMP, Decision Games, Wharf Rat Games (new this year), Sound of Drums (new this year) and B2M Games (new this year). They are open for sales on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and typically all of the vendors offer 10-20% off retail prices for attendees.
This year, I purchased or acquired 9 total games. Now I needed these 9 games like I needed a hole in my head but they were all nice looking games and several of them are solitaire offerings that I will play on my own time at my gaming table. Here is the list of games that I was able to acquire.
Most of these games are brand new 2026 offerings, with the exception of GTS Briefings Strike – Counter Strike, which I believe came out a few years ago. The others are all new games and we will add them to our list for 2026 and try our best to get them played so we can share our thoughts with you.
I love WBC. It is the highlight of my gaming year and I very much look forward to attending each and every year. There is something to be said for being locked into a building with 3,000 gamers who all love gaming! They are there to play, discuss, buy, sell, compete at, enjoy and examine wargames. There are people who come to this event every single year and plan the entire week out with monster wargames. Where else in the world can you do that? Well, there are a few other places but WBC is a brotherhood. I feel a true kinship with the people that we have met there and played with. I feel true friendship for people that I have had amazing conversations with like Mark Herman, Greg Smith, Mark Holt Walker, David Heath and others. I feel the kinship and the closeness and it is wargames that have brought us together. That and a healthy respect and interest in military history and those who have served our country to make our freedoms possible.
Wargaming is a hobby like no other. We are crusty older people (at least I am) who sit in the dark for hours upon end pushing around cardboard counters to replicate or do better than the historical result from many a by gone battle. This hobby is about connections. I talked to people who have played with the same person in their basement for decades. I have heard from some who look forward to WBC each year for the B-17 Queen of the Skies events because they have flown with the same bomber group for nearly 20 years. What does that tell you about our hobby? Connections. We do this because of the connections that we make. The friendships. The relationships. And I love it.
If you have never been to WBC, please consider attending next year. I promise you will not regret it. And I might just be able to make a few new friends if you show up.
Here’s to next year when the convention will run from Saturday, July 24th through Sunday, August 1st.
Seventy-four thousand people walk into a bar. That’s it. That’s Gen Con. BGQ was there, and we’ve got the recap to prove it. The Gen Con Experience Tony: Gen Con’s attendance this year came in at 74,000+, which was apparently a record. But it felt more crowded than ever to me. When the dealer hall […]
Last November, I attended the San Diego Historical Games Convention for the first time and it was one of the best events of 2025. When the SDHistCon board announced they would be putting on a new convention outside of San Diego, SDHistCon North, and invited me to attend, I was absolutely thrilled. Even more so when I learned it was just about an hour flight from Chicago, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Purple and Gold
Given my undying love of Prince, Hüsker Dü, and the Coen Brothers, it’s strange that this was actually my first time in the North Star State. The downtown St. Paul office buildings, ballparks, and breweries definitely gave it a different vibe from the tiny surf shops, bait shops, and oceanside restaurants of Point Loma in San Diego. The convention itself had a distinct feel, as well. To begin with, it was only a two-day event, as opposed to four in San Diego. While this meant that I had to pack my gaming schedule pretty tightly, it also meant that I didn’t spend too much time exploring the city.
SDHistCon North took place at the historic St. Paul Union Depot. Originally built in 1881, it was rebuilt in 1923 after the original burned down in 1915.…
Good morning faithful readers and wargaming enthusiasts! At the time this post uploads to the blog at 8:00am on Saturday morning, July 25th, I will already be on the way to the World Boardgaming Championships held at the beautiful Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. This year, unfortunately, Alexander will not be with me as he is visiting family in the south of France for a reunion. This is now the 2nd time in the past 3 years that I have flown solo to WBC but this time I am more prepared and more ready to take on the convention and its coverage. I will miss my friend and partner Alexander but will have a blast anyway. I am leaving earlier than I have ever left before for the convention and plan to make a pit stop in Pittsburgh, PA to pick up a friend Mike from the airport on Saturday afternoon to travel down together. We should arrive at WBC around 3:00pm on Saturday, July 25th and I plan to be at the convention for a total of 6 1/2 days leaving on Saturday, August 1st to come back home.
Only the essentials including games, diet Mountain Dew, victuals and of course something healthy in apples!
I already have a lot of plans laid out and will have 6 1/2 days filled with gaming, designer interviews, looks at new prototypes, visiting with friends, publishers and designers.
Here are my scheduled games as of today:
Sunday-Monday – Grand Tactical SeriesThe Devil’s Cauldron: The Battles for Arnhemand Nijmegen and Where Eagles Dare: The Battle for Hell’s Highway from Multi-Man Publishing. I will be playing this one with Mike Heckman and a few others. I am very much looking forward to my first exposure to the Grand Tactical Series.
Monday – sit down with designer Gregory M. Smith and maybe a play of his Viking Dawn and a look at a new surprise Burning Banners offering (I won’t talk….yet!). But what I can say is that you will be able to play tactical battles in Kalar. We will also discuss his other in-process designs.
Tuesday – World Order from Hegemonic Games Project taught by our friend Tom and Coalitions: Realpolitik from PHALANX taught by Ric Manns from Southern Indiana.
Wednesday – The Emperor’s Choice and The Emperor’s Voice coming from Worthington Publishing designed by Wes Crawford and Maurice Suckling. I am very much excited about seeing these games and getting to play them.
Thursday – Imperial Elegy from VUCA Simulations. This will be my 3rd play and is sure to be epic!
Friday – Here I Stand from GMT Games. Our standard play of one of the best games in the hobby. Always look forward to this.
Plus I am trying to schedule a game of Small BoaR: The Battle of Cowpens from GMT Games with designer Bruno Sinigaglio, A Forlorn Hope from Wharf Rat Games, Above the Trenches: The Fokker Scourge 1915-1917 from Flying Pig Games with designer Bob Tkach and a sit down with Uwe Wallentin to get a look at Sound of Drums upcoming games. Already a full schedule and that isn’t even accounting for the opportunities that will present themselves. Should be an exhausting blast!
This year will be my 8th trip to WBC (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and this is by far the best of all the different conventions that we attend! WBC is an event put on by the Boardgame Player’s Association (BPA), which is a non-profit corporation established to support the shared interests of board game players everywhere. This is a membership organization and I have been a member since 2019.
At the end of each day, I will be putting together a short summary of what I was able to do that day at the convention. I would like to keep this to just a few paragraphs with several pictures to give you an idea of the games I played that day, designers I was able to speak with and other activities I found my way to participate in. I am still planning on doing some videos that will be released on the YouTube Channel over the next few months but this written coverage will supplement the videos and be a real-time look at my time at the convention. This summary will most likely not be posted until after 11:30pm EST each night, if not a bit later, so you might be checking it out the next morning which is fine.
If you might be interested in attending WBC in the future, here is a look at their schedule for the next few years.
Finally, if you are at WBC please feel free to find me and say hello. I love to meet people, discuss gaming and catch up so don’t hesitate. I will also have plenty of TPA buttons and stickers to give away so just ask. I also would like to take a picture with you so I can document it in our writings. As is usual at our convention attendance, I will be looking to get in some bigger multi-player games so hit me up if you are interested. Thank you and here is to a successful trip to WBC!
The summer heat is intense, but it’s not as hot as Gen Con 2026. Soon gamers from all over the world will descend on Indianapolis for North America’s largest board game convention. Just like in past years, hundreds of new board games will make their debut – over 600 this year, an overwhelming number. But never fear, the Meeple Mountain team is here to help you find the gems among the coal. Our staff have scoured through the upcoming titles to select our most anticipated games of Gen Con 2026! So without further ado, here are our picks!
As someone who graduated from high school in 1989 I am, as the marketing literature says, “the target audience” for this upcoming release from Paverson Games. Class of ‘89 is set back in time when hair was…
While attending Buckeye Game Fest in spring 2024, we met with a new designer named John Lapham. John had with him a new game called A More Perfect Union and we got a chance to play the game and chat about it with him. A More Perfect Union is a 2-player card driven game that simulates the public debate over the ratification of the Constitution that took place across the United States from 1787-1789. The game uses the same system as Twilight Struggle and 1960: The Making of the President but felt very fresh and unique to the situation. Catastrophe Games is planning a Kickstarter campaign in the near future and we reached out to John to see about getting some more insight into the design and he was more than willing to share.
Grant: John welcome to our blog. First off please tell us a little about yourself. What are your hobbies? What’s your day job?
John: Thanks so much for having me, Grant. My main hobbies will surprise no one – gaming and history. I also enjoy hiking, cooking, and theater. As for my day job, that is in the past. I’m retired now. Before that, I had jobs in both the legal and educational professions.
Grant: What motivated you to break into game design? What have you enjoyed most about the experience thus far?
John: I wanted a game on this topic and no one else seemed willing to oblige me—although Jason Matthews and Christian Leonhard came close with Founding Fathers. I enjoyed the beginning and end of the experience. I love historical research and pondering messy interpretive narratives and historical hypotheticals. So, I was not surprised by how much I enjoyed the front end of the design process. What surprised me was how much I enjoyed the collaboration that occurred near the end of the project, and the practical and artistic challenges of turning an idea into an actual, physical game. I had no experience with that process and enjoyed learning about it.
Grant: What is your upcoming game A More Perfect Union about?
John: A More Perfect Union is about the political struggle to ratify the U.S. Constitution in the thirteen states from 1787-1789. The game employs the popular card-driven mechanics of such well-known games as Twilight Struggle and 1960: The Making of the President.
Grant: Why was this a subject that drew your interest?
John: It was the subject of some of my earliest graduate school research in the late 1980’s (yeah, don’t ask, I’ve been around the block more than a few times). As a history educator, I was drawn to less well-known stories, involving people and events that popular and school histories have neglected. This is one such story, and it is an important one that has enduring relevance for understanding much of American history and our current turbulent moment.
Grant: What is your design goal with the game?
John: I had two main goals. I wanted the game to offer a window into the history of that moment and to spark interest in the topic. I also wanted it to be a fun, tense game that could be played in a couple hours but with enough complexity and variability to invite repeated plays.
Grant: What from the Constitutional Convention was most important to model?
John: Ok, that’s a hard one. I cannot give you just one. Several things were important to me.
First, I wanted the game to capture the intense war of words that occurred in the nationwide debate. America was on the leading edge of the first wave of mass media made possible by high literacy rates and the printing press. Americans of the period were highly literate, avid consumers of news, and intensely interested in politics. Ninety different newspapers and hundreds of presses across the country printed thousands of essays, letters, and pamphlets over the course of the debate.
Second, I wanted the game to capture the importance of political strategy in terms of grabbing and holding onto the initiative in the debate through the scheduling of the thirteen state conventions, as well as exploiting the momentum gained from successful outcomes in those conventions.
Third, I wanted to express the tension and uncertainty felt by the delegates during the actual conventions themselves. Delegates often went into these conventions uncertain of their outcomes.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted players to come away with an understanding of the immense challenges faced by the new nation to come together and form a strong union that did not threaten the individual liberty that Americans prized at this time. It is in large part the work of the Anti-Federalists that delivered the country its Bill of Rights, a fact that is perhaps too often overlooked or forgotten by modern Americans.
Grant: What sources did you consult about the details of the history? What one must read source would you recommend?
John: Tremendous digital resources are available on the ratification debate thanks to the phenomenal work done by the Center for the Study of the American Constitution at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (https://csac.history.wisc.edu/). I encourage anyone interested in this topic to explore their website and the treasure trove of material available there.
For a more curated collection of primary source material, the Library of America has published an excellent two-volume collection of many of the most important essays, speeches, newspaper articles, pamphlets, and private letters, The Debate on the Constitution, which also includes a detailed chronology and biographical information on the participants in the debates.
For a single, narrative history of the entire series of events, the best choice is Pauline Maier’s Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788, published in 2010. Reading that book was the last nudge that I needed to start designing the game.
Grant: What is the goal of the game? How do players go about trying to sway States to their way of thinking?
John: Fortunately for me as a designer, the main goal of the game was set out for me in the Constitution itself, which required nine states to ratify it to become binding on those states. Thus, the Federalists win the game immediately if nine states ratify the constitution without recommended amendments, and conversely the Anti-Federalists need five state conventions to reject the Constitution to win immediately. If enough states thread the needle of compromise and ratify the Constitution with recommended amendments, then victory is determined by the weight of the states on each side of the ledger.
The primary tools to convince voters in the states are direct campaign efforts, which involve the use of the campaign points in particular states, and the play of publication events. Publication events address one of three broad sets of issues that animated the debate – commerce, states rights, and individual rights. Each state in turn has a rating that reflects how important each of those sets of issues is to its voters. As a result, the effect of a publication will be more or less, depending on the state in which it appears.
Grant: What is the layout of the board?
John: The board includes several broad features – a map of the thirteen states with a state information and holding box for each state, turn and round tracks, a convention track, a state status track, and a table of information.
Grant: What information is contained in each State Box?
John: Each State Box has a number that reflects the maximum number of combined player cubes that can be present in the state, icons showing if either player starts with cubes in the state, numerical ratings for each of the publication issues, the convention value, and the momentum value of the state, and a spot for the state’s status marker, which shows if the state has scheduled or held its convention. Finally, the state boxes are color coded to show the section of the card deck in which the state’s convention card is seeded.
Grant: What are the 5 different words and corresponding values in these boxes mean? How are these elements connected to the cards?
John: The words “Commerce, States, and Individual” relate to the three publication issues and the numbers (0,1, or 2) next to them reflects the effect that a publication on that issue will have in the state – either adding or removing that number of player cubes in the state. The word “Convention” refers to the convention value of the state and the number next to that is the number of campaign points (CP) a player must expend either to call an early convention in the state or to attempt to take control of the State Status Marker through legislative maneuvering. The word “Momentum” refers to the campaign bonus a player will earn if they win the state’s convention.
The issues ratings connect directly to the publication event cards. The Convention ratings connect to the expenditure of CP gained from card play. The Momentum rating does not connect to the cards but instead relates to the outcome of the convention in the state.
Grant: What is the purpose of the State Factors Table and the State Issues Table?
John: This table summarizes in one place the information contained in the individual State Boxes, and it groups the states by their color codes to show players when they will draw the State Convention Cards over the course of the game.
Grant: What is the Back Room? What role does this play in the game?
John: Each player has a Back Room in which they can place a maximum of two cards. Cards in the Back Room are not part of a player’s hand, cannot be played during a player’s action round, and are not discarded at the end of the turn. Players can access the cards in their Back Room at three times – (1) during the card draw phase of each turn, when they can freely remove or add cards to the Back Room, (2) at the start of any convention, when they can remove, but not add, cards from their Back Room, and (3) during an action phase by playing a card for the sole purpose of adding or removing cards from their Back Room.
The Back Room plays two main roles in the game: (1) it provides a means by which players can hold onto powerful events that are not yet ripe to play – often convention events for conventions that will happen on a future turn, and (2) it provides a way to avoid playing a strong opponent’s event at an inopportune time.
Grant: How does the game use cards?
John: This a classic Card-Driven-Game. Each player is dealt a hand of cards each turn and plays one card each round either to spend the Campaign Points provided by the card or to implement an event described on the card.
Grant: What different types of cards are there? What is the purpose of these different types?
John: There are five different types of cards: State Convention Cards, Publication Events, Convention Events, Reaction Events, and General Events.
Each state in the game has a State Convention Card, which are mandatory events that must be played in the turn in which they are drawn. They grant the player cubes in the state and control of the State Legislature, and they schedule the state’s convention by placing the state’s status marker on the Convention Track.
Publication Events publish and distribute a publication addressing a particular issue in a particular state that and a few of its neighbors. Most of these events will specify the state in which they originate and the issue that they address. A few allow the player to pick the state and/or issue for the publication.
Convention Events can be played for their event only during a convention and will have some effect on the outcome of that convention.
Reaction Events are played in response to some other game effect.
General Events are a catch-all for any other type of event.
Grant: Can you share a few examples of cards and explain their use?
John: Sure, here is an example of a State Convention Card:
Each state has one of these cards and they all work the same way.
These cards trigger the scheduling of State Conventions.
They must be played on the same turn they are drawn and cannot be discarded or placed in a player’s Back Room.
They are seeded in a particular quarter of the draw deck at the start of the game, as indicated by the colored banner in the upper right corner of the card.
When played, you move the indicated state’s Status Marker from the map to Box 1 on the Convention Track and mark it with a cube of your color. This represents that you are in control of the state legislature and can spend CP to call an early convention in this state on a later turn. In addition, you may add or remove 2 cubes in the state.
Here is an example of a Publication Event:
These are the most involved events in the game but like the State Convention Cards they all work the same way. So, once you’ve done it a few times, it becomes straightforward.
The red star identifies this card as an Anti-Federalist Event.
The “3” in the star shows that this card is worth 3 CP.
The newspaper icon under the star shows that this card is a publication event, as do the words in the white banner running along the left side of the card.
When played for the event, publications are distributed in a number of states equal to the CP value of the card. In this case, that means 3 states. The first state the publication must be distributed in is the state identified by the postal code in the title of the card. In this case, it must be distributed in Virginia. In addition, the publication may be distributed in twoadditional states that are adjacent to Virginia for a total of 3 states.
The issue addressed by this publication is individual rights, which is indicated in text at the bottom of the card. The issue controls how many cubes the player will add or remove from each state based on that issue’s value (from 0-2) in each state. The individual rights value in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina is 2, but it is only 1 in Maryland. That means that this publication with add or remove 2 cubes in Virginia, Pennsylvania or North Carolina, but will only add or remove only 1 cube in Maryland.
Grant: What happens if you play an opponent’s event? What type of thinking and strategy does this create?
John: Generally, the event triggers, although the player gets to decide whether the event happens before or after they use the card for campaign points. There are two ways to mitigate powerful opponent events. They can be played during the Initiative Phase of the turn to bid for initiative without triggering the event, although doing so often reduces the player’s chance of winning the initiative for the turn, which is costly in its own right. They can also be stored in the player’s Back Room for possible play on a future turn when the event might be less damaging. This too is costly as the Back Room can hold only two cards and those spaces can also be used to save your own events for a future turn when they will be more effective. Thematically, in both instances you are spending time and energy managing a potential problem rather than advancing your own agenda.
Grant: What is the general Sequence of Play?
John: Each turn has the following phases:
Card Draw – Slightly more involved than a standard CDG because each turn you can change the cards in your backroom, which is often a challenging decision.
Initiative Phase – This phase sets the initiative and the first player for the turn.
Action Phase – The heart of the game when players alternate playing cards from their hands.
Convention Phase – State Conventions are resolved or move closer to resolution.
Voter Apathy Phase – Some voters lose interest and players remove some cubes from the map.
Grant: What is a Convention and how does it work? What is the outcome of this process?
John: A Convention is when a state makes its final decision as to whether it will ratify the Constitution. Thematically, this is the moment that elected delegates meet, debate, and vote on the Constitution. To model the drama of these events, players have a final opportunity to play cards that can affect the outcome. After that, the player’s cube totals in the state are compared. If the Federalists have the most cubes, the state ratifies the Constitution. If the Antifederalists have the most, the state does not ratify. If the two factions have an equal number of cubes, the state ratifies with recommended amendments.
Grant: How does Campaigning work?
John: Each state has a set number of voters. This number puts a cap on the number of combined player cubes that may be placed in that state. Players can think of it this way: the voters in each state can have one of three states of mind – undecided, Federalist, or Antifederalist. At the start of the game, most voters are still undecided, which is reflected by the fact that only a few cubes are placed on the board during setup. Campaigning involves the expenditure of Campaign Points (CP) to persuade these votes to change their mind, represented by placing or removing cubes in the states. It costs 1 CP to place a cube in a state. It costs 2 CP to remove a cube from a state. If a state is already at its cube limit, the player will first have to spend points to remove an opponent’s cube before they can place their own cube. Thus, to replace an opponent’s cube with one of your own costs 3 CP. Cards range in CP from 1-4. So many cards will not grant the player enough CP to replace an opponent’s cube with one of their own.
Grant: How is victory achieved?
John: The Federalists gain an immediate victory if nine states ratify the Constitution without amendments. Conversely, the Antifederalists win if five states reject the Constitution. If neither player achieves these conditions before the end of the final turn of the game, at least one state has ratified the Constitution with recommended amendments. Victory at that point is determined by comparing the values of the states in each section of the State Status Track. Each state has a value that represents its political and economic importance – the larger the state the more it is worth. Each player gets full credit for each of the states in their column and the Antifederalists get partial credit (the Convention value) for each state that ratified with recommended amendments. Thematically, this represents a compromise situation, where the Constitution is ratified but with amendments. The stronger the opposition to the original Constitution, the more impactful those amendments will be. Strong amendments represent a partial victory for the Antifederalists. Historically, the Antifederalists efforts resulted in the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights.
Grant: Which side has the tougher challenge to meet their goal?
John: The challenges faced by the two sides are different, but I hope they are roughly equal in difficulty.
Grant: What are some basic strategies the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist players?
John: The Federalists need to strive to win states quickly and build on that early momentum. They may need to consider making aggressive moves early in the game to take states off the board. They also must stay competitive is as many states as possible. They can only afford to lose four states, and the deck is stacked against them in two states – North Carolina and Rhode Island. The Antifederalist player has a wider range of strategic choices. They can focus on winning outright victory in one or two of the early states in an effort to reach the five states they need for an automatic victory, or they can build up their strength in several of the more valuable states that hold their conventions later in the game and improve their chances of winning the game on the basis of points at the end of the game. They cannot afford to compete with the Federalists in every state. They need to pick their battles carefully.
Grant: What type of an experience does the game create?
John: My hope is that it offers players challenging strategic and tactical decisions and creates dramatic moments of high tension where careful planning or bold action can alter the course of the game.
Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design?
John: Overall, I am pleased with the way it models the challenges and choices faced by the historical actors. With respect to the game play, I particularly like the Initiative, Back Room, and Convention mechanisms.
Grant: What other designs are you working on?
John: I’m working on a four-player game about the labor movement in Chicago, during the late 19th-century, and a solitaire game about the Civil War in which the player takes on the role of Lincoln and has to prosecute the war as commander-in-chief, while also navigating the challenges of domestic policy and political campaigning.
While attending Buckeye Game Fest in spring 2024, we met John Lapham and shot a video interview discussing the game and its mechanics:
Extrablatt, Extrablatt: Brett & Pad verbringen ein fantastisches Wochenende auf der Burg. Extrablatt: Markus steigt bei dem Podcast The Boardgame Theory als offizielles Mitglied ein. Extrablatt: Alexander Zverev gewinnt in einem wahnsinnigen Match endlich einen Grand Slam. Halt, Stopp! Bevor ich jetzt alle Highlights und News des vergangenen Wochenendes hier verkünde, bleiben wir mal bei...
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Small local board game fairs and conventions are great. You get board gaming fun in a manageable dose of one day, without long trips and expensive accommodation. In many cases, they’re also not quite as full – which means no waiting times and instead just 100% of the good stuff. In that spirit, I attended Spiel doch! in Friedrichshafen (Germany). Here’s how it went.
If you want to read more convention reports like this, I strongly recommend you subscribe to the blog – all new posts in your inbox right when they go live!
Spiel doch! [Just play!/Why don’t you play?] is a new-ish affair: Its western German original was first held in 2015 in Duisburg (and has since moved to Dortmund). It has branched out to the south in 2023 (Friedrichshafen). The name of the fair also indicates who the target audience is – casual gamers who might not have sold their soul to board gaming entirely (yet). That means the focus is on playing – a good part of the fair grounds is dedicated to tables at which you can play ganes (either your purchases r copies from their ample library of games (which you get to check out for free).
Ever saw the Night Witches fight Louis XIV’s musketeers? – Now you can!
Of course, there are also opportunities for publishers and local board game stores to present their goods (and even some new designs). There’s a lot of variety between the sellers – some focus on the bestsellers, others have a more eclectic collection where you might find a rarer gem. For example, I got a copy of A Battle Through History (Erik Burigo/Pär Sundström/Marco Valtriani, Pegasus) as a gift for a friend who is a big Sabaton fan.
Dice, dice in all colors of the rainbow.
In addition to the games, you’ll also find a lot of board game accessories and other items of interest to the nerdy crowd drawn by a board game fair.
Some great pins to wear for game night!
As said, though, the heart of the fair is the big free play area. We had the chance to give Dungeon Legends (Przemek Wojtkowiak, Rebel Studio) a try: Our team of knight, scout, and smith cleared the underground of monsters, kept the castle safe, and eventually extinguished the fire which was the main challenge of our legend.
The bluish hue of the game mat makes the orange fires which we had to fight in our legend pop even more. Great visual design!
We enjoyed the straightforward deck building and the visual style of the game – but I must say that learning the rules was a bit of a challenge. Whose idea was it to list the actions you can take in the middle of the rule book and then describe how you perform them in an icon overview on the second-to-last-page of the scenario book?
The best thing about Spiel doch!, however, may be that it goes beyond buying and playing games, as two particular highlights for me attest: The booth of the European Society of Game Collectors presents rare games through the ages – this year, all of them aerospace-themed.
Some older aerospace-themed games. The one in the left foreground was co-funded by the German Research and Testing Agency for Flight and Space Flight.
Over the June 5-6 weekend, QuestCon 2026 took place just outside of Raleigh, NC, about four miles from my house. Honestly, I didn’t realize there were that many board gamers in my area. I knew statistically there must be some, but enough to put on a game-playing convention? Nah.
[caption id="attachment_331942" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Apparently, I was wrong.[/caption]
I’ve been playing board games with the same group of friends for over 15 years. As a result, I haven’t looked elsewhere to find if there were other gamers in the area for a long time. Years ago, I checked out MeetUp, but going to a stranger’s house to play a game that might interest me (or at least didn’t involve dice) didn’t feel worth the time.
Turns out, over the years, that MeetUp group has been building. Meeting two Friday evenings a month, they claim to be the largest board game MeetUp group in North Carolina. They’ve been running a weekend gaming convention for the past few years that I had never heard of. Meeple Mountain’s founder, editor-in-chief, and all-around nice guy, Andy Matthews, sent me a message from Nashville, telling me about a convention right in my metaphorical backyard.
Diese Woche startet die Fussball-WM und auch wir können verkünden, dass wir uns mit euch in die Spiele stürzen wollen. Für Brettspielende unter Umständen interessanter könnte ab morgen, Freitag, 12. Juni 2026 ab 18 Uhrnämlich die boardgame.digitalsein. Veranstaltet von Geekpunkt lädt diese virtuelle Brettspielmesse nämlich zum virtuellen Brettspielwochenende – und Frosted Games ist mit dabei. Bis Sonntag, 22 Uhrhabt ihr im Rahmen dieser Veranstaltung dann die Gelegenheit, mit uns zumindest virtuell unsere Neuheiten zu spielen und kennen zu lernen. Und das sogar bei noch nicht erschienenen Spielen wie TIR NA NOG, aber auch bei dem gerade erschienenen WUSELIGE WIESEN. Lasst euch von unseren Spiele-Angeboten auf der Board Game Arenaund auf unserem Discordüberraschen und wetteifert mit der größten deutschen Brettspiel-Community „League of Geeks“ virtuell vor Ort auf bga. Holt euch zudem die aftergame APP, um keine Aktionen zu verpassen. Geplant ist neben den Spielerunden unter anderem am Samstag auch ein AMA ASK ME ANYTHING am Samstag mit Ben Schönheiter und weiteren Mitarbeitenden aus dem Frosted Games Team sowie ein Panel rund um die Grafik bei Brettspielen am Sonntag.
Die boardgame.digital sieht sich dabei nicht als Ersatz für eure klassischen Brettspielrunden, sondern möchte ein darüber hinausgehendes Angebot für die Brettspiele-Community unter einem gemeinsamen Label – der boardgame.digital – bieten und zusätzliche Möglichkeiten schaffen, Menschen unabhängig von Wohnort, Mobilität oder sozialen Hürden zusammenzubringen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen virtuelle Spielrunden vor allem auf Board Game Arena, können aber grundsätzlich auch plattformoffen und künftig auch von Spielenden selbst angeboten werden. Über den Technikpartner aftergame können Besucher Spielrunden einfach erstellen, finden und sich direkt anmelden. Ergänzt wird das Ganze durch Livestreams, Sonderaktionen, Talks, Community-Events und weitere Inhalte rund um Brettspiele. Kurz gesagt: Wie eine echte Convention oder Brettspiel-Wochenende … nur diesmal ganz ohne von zu Hause weg zu müssen!
Alles zu den Spielrunden von Frosted Games erfahrt ihr in Kürze hier und natürlich über die Event-Webseite, die APP und die Spielerunden auch über bga. Auf Board Game Arena werden diesmal nämlich alle Frosted-Spielerunden exklusiv stattfinden. Wir wollen euch zudem auf unserem Discord auf dem Laufenden halten und für Rückfragen zur Verfügung stehen. boardgame.digital – Die virtuelle Brettspiel-Convention boardgamearena.com discord.com/@frostedgames
Unsere Events (Auswahl/Links führen zu discord!!)
FREITAG
Auftakt auf der Discord-Bühne mt Michael, Dennis, Jens und Co ab 18 Uhr – wir spielen WUSELIGE WIESEN und TIR NA NOG
Geekway has been on my bucket list for years and years. A well-regarded board game convention only a handful of hours from my home in Nashville, and the birthplace of the “play and win” library? It seems like a no-brainer. I was finally able to attend, and now I’m adding my thoughts to those of Kevin Brantley, who attended Geekway in 2025.
Full disclosure: in addition to being a gamer, I’m also a convention organizer with ten years of running Nashville Tabletop Day under my belt. While I did want to do some gaming, my main reason for attending this event was to observe the Geekway team and processes to find ways to improve my own event. So be aware my thoughts about the event are going to be colored by “event organizer glasses”.
Arrival and Initial Thoughts
Geekway runs from Thursday morning to Sunday evening, although I could only attend Friday afternoon to Sunday. After arriving in St. Louis, checking into my hotel, and driving over to the St. Charles Convention Center, I arrived at the gaming hall around 1pm.
Registration
Registration was smooth, with pre-printed badges displaying a barcode (more on that later). The badges were full-color, double-sided, pre-printed, laminated, and came with a high quality lanyard. By the time I arrived on Friday, they were already…
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