All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions

On this episode, Quarex and Ben give our patented previewsode treatment to the thirteenth edition of Gamehole Con in Madison, WI!

Here are the links in the show notes, in order of appearance:

• Adventures in the D&D Studio
• Escape from Dork Tower
• Interview with Vampire RPG
• Anvil Run: Shadowdark Breachers
• RPEX Events from Studio 6d6
• Dialect: A Game About How a Language is Born and Dies
• Secrets of the Creation of 5E
• Beyond I Assist: Designing Real Group Mechanics in RPGs
• The Secret Origin of DCC RPG
• Building a Better Table: Telling Bone-Chilling Stories of Horror
• Supporting Executive Functioning using TTRPGs
• Intellectual Property Seminar: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4

And don't forget the the Charity Collector's Auction!

And if you're not going to Gamehole Con, why don't you check out Arcane Con on October 16-17 in Northampton, MA?

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On this episode, Quarex and Ben talk with three folks whose wares you will want to sample at Gamehole Con 2026!

• First, Katie from Luma Imports tells us about all the board gaming fun they are bringing to the Badger Mitzvah! Check out the numerous ticketed events, including learn to plays and even tournaments. (If you're more a Quarex, you can try out Cat Rescue... while if you're more like Ben, you will want to try out Frosted Blooms. If you're a Kurt of the Pod, you would want to check out Compile.)

• Next, Janelle from Wardens of the Eastern Marches tells us all about this great living D&D campaign that is debuting its second season at Gamehole this year. Many events are sold out, but you can still sneak into numerous events on the Gamehole website.

• Finally, Mickey from Polyhedral Knights, who will be in the demo hallway with their 9 games (including Southern Gothic). You can also join Mickey to play in their ticketed events or even learn how to make RPGs on a prison wine budget. Heck, you might be able to make play a pickup game all four days!

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On this episode, the dreamers really step up and spread their wings to help interview cool folks attending Gen Con and Necronomicon 2026, like:

• Jonah with Goodman Games at Gen Con 2026, who was hawking Mutant Crawl Classics, X-Crawl Classics, and the One True DCC... Dungeon Crawl Classics!
• Adam from Archon Games, who had been running non-stop demos of their games Eschaton and Nexus Infernum at the best four days in gaming!
• Sarah from Gamewright, who were showing off upcoming releases like Sushi Go Party: Chef's Special and Forbidden Legacy!
• Andrew from the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, who brought everything and the kitchen sink to this celebration of weird fiction!
• Dale from Duck and Crow Press, fine publishers of the Dick Wizards zine (where you play as magical gumshoes) as well as distributors for many more!
• Fiona from the Weird Providence bookstore, who has contributed to a number of RPGs in addition to working the Lovecraftiest bookstore in greater Providence!

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On this episode, Quarex and Ben talk about the conventions that we attended (and those we wish we could have attended). Listen in to hear about our time at:

• Anime Magic in Chicago
• Michigan Retro Gaming Expo
• NOVA Open
• Tad and Craig's Excellent Party

... and listen in to hear our very special coverage of Necronomicon!

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On this episode, we're getting you ready for the thirteenth version of Gamehole Con 2026, held in gorgeous Madison, WI!

Referenced on this episode is:

• Dane County Regional Airport
• The Badger Bus from MKE
• Housing and campgrounds around the Alliant Energy Center
• Get your tickets to Faster, Purple Worm: Kill, Kill!
• Take part in the Mad Orc Fun Run
• Play in one of the learn to play and tournaments that Luma Events is bringing to Madison!
• Snag a ticket to Zombie Reign, the Shadowdark-meets-zombie movie!
• Demo Boss RPG out in demo row!
• The Mike Carr of Gen Con, Mike Carr, is running a giant game of Ford vs. Ferrari Le Mans!
• Try out the latest thing in roleplaying: Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG
• Try out the latest blend in roleplaying: the D&D x WOW preview event
• Pick up the last ticket to Ben's playtest event on Thursday evening

And best of all: Royce and the Gamehole Con have rolled out a great new app!

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On this episode, Quarex and Ben are talking about the importance of budgeting for a summer of gaming conventions in 2027.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, you can attend five of the seven G7 conventions, to say nothing of the many larger US conventions during that period... including a new entrance that is holding its first convention in late June 2027!

And if you want to see where the tea is spilt, join our Discord server!

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Are there too many conventions! Hardly, even if our convention roundups are routinely our longest episodes!

Conventions in September (after Labor Day) are plentiful and include: 

• Strong Tower Con 
• Council Con 
• Tabletop Central 
• CuseCon 
• Justacon 
• Dice Tower Retreat 
• GAMEMason
• Hawkland Gaming Festival 
• Southern Front 
• SkålCon  
• Barrage 
• BR&WL-CON 
• Cap Con 2026 
• SIBcon 
• Atlanta Game Fest
• MegaMooseCon 
• Pro or Con 
• Shirecon 
• The Ettin 
• Geekway Micro 
• Camp Wagoncon 

Conventions in October include: 

• Virtual Greyhawk Con 
• Pittsburgh Gaming Expo
• Con on the Cob 
• FriendCon 
• Arnecon 
• Congress of Gamers Fall Session 
• Gamehole Con 
• Carnage 
• Asheville Scarefest 
• Board Game Academics Conference 
• MañanaCon
• Geek Girl 
• YouMaCon 
• Spiel Essen  

Conventions in November include:  

• Metatopia 
• Mystic Con 
• Metagame
• Northeast Wisconsin Gameapalooza
• San Diego Historical Games Summit (SDHistcon) 
• Game Con Junction  
• CarConPA 
• Meeple-a-thon 
• KublaCon Fall 
• Acadecon  
• EuroQuest 
• Mepacon  
• BGG.CON  
• Philcon  
• Chaosium Con New Zealand 
• Bakaretsu Con 
• HanuCon 
• Effing Con 
• Dragonmeet 

December conventions include:  

• PAX Unplugged 
• Krampusnacht Gaming 
• Shorehammer 
• Yamacon 
• Play Test Play Fest 
• Everwinter 
• CNY RPG Game Day 
• Nerdronomicon 
• Gorgoncon 
• NoriKon

Did we miss a convention? Tell us all about it on our Discord!

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