All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions

It's not quite 8 days to Gary Con XVIII in Lake Geneva, WI—here's what you want to know. The Opening Ceremonies (Flaming Polyhedrals Optional)The Gary Con ShuttleFriends of Bill at Gary ConCAR WARS! Shadowdark in Space!Trouble at Mossbeard Mill!RPEX: the wise man's True Dungeon! Tickets for Dawn PatrolA Gygax Society?!?Puzzled Pint (drinking optional)The judging and plain ol' walking events for the cosplay schedule Tour the Gygax family homeGet signatures from Jeremy Crawford, Jon Peterson, Luke Catgax, and maybe even Kelsey Dionne!Of course, it wouldn't be a Rushmore convention without the chubby on the food scene by Quarex. And don't forget to check out TAVERS: the Meow Wolf Roleplaying Game — on Kickstarter right now! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/exaltedfuneral/tavers-the-meow-wolf-roleplaying-game

On this episode, we're talking with three creators who are bringing new games to crowdfunding while they attend Gary Con and Adepticon. Yoav Niv is bringing books 2 and 3 his 5E adventure series The Lichseed Trilogy to BackerKit during Gary Con. Join the launch party so you can know when it goes live!Not only will Eric and Cody from Buer Games have the physical product from 1490 Doom at Adepticon, but the Gamefound for their cataclysmic dinosaur skirmish game, Carnivore, has already funded! Check out Booth 1490 in the Booth 1406 slot at Adepticon and get in on the project!Erik Frankhouse and Storyteller's Forge are going to start crowdfunding for The Black Ballad conversion for the official unofficial RPG of the pod, Shadowdark! You won't want to miss it!

On this episode, your hosts Quarex and Ben help you get over your Lottery Day blues and figure out how to get the room of your dreams by the time Gen Con rolls around. Tools:The Gen Con Hotel site: https://www.genconhotels.com/ — this will come online in the next few days. The GitHub script: https://github.com/mrozekma/gencon-hotel-check

As the Gen Con housing lottery for 2026 has come and gone, you undoubtedly have feelings. We're here for you now—solutions come on Tuesday.

On this episode, we're getting you prepped for Gary Con XVIII from March 19-22, 2026! You'll want to be sure to: Buy that badge! Book that hotel! Park that car!Take that Trolley! Buy those event tickets!Eat that food!Have a Spotted Cow!... to say nothing about figuring out how to fly or drive to Lake Geneva! But if you can't make it to Gary Con, why don't you consider coming to Unpub Festival in Maryland from March 12-15? Play unpublished games, win published prizes, and best of all -- it's free to attend!

On this episode, we talk with Gregoire Boisbelaud, the Events Director for Origins Game Fair! Listen in as Get your badge for Origins 2026 (link) — only the Premier badges have sold out! Submitting events for Origins 2026 (link) — they're still accepting late submissions!Teasers for the Featured Programs at Origins 2026 (link) — we heard some unofficial spoilers, and they're going to knock your socks off! But don't forget: you can still submit nominations for the 2026 ENNIEs at this link!

Gen Con Badges go on sale on Sunday, February 8, and the Gen Con Housing Lottery kicks off at 12 pm ET on Sunday February 22. Only one podcast helps you understand and maximize your chances at winning! (That's us. It's this one.) Listen in or lose out.

Listen in to hear all about the conventions we attended in the last third of the year, like EuroQuest, Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, Tabletop Central, Quad Con Dubuque, and even Hanucon!

Quarex and Ben don't often attend the same convention at the same time, so when you can find them at the same convention in the middle of January, you gotta know it's something special. On this episode, we review our time at the 2026 Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo in Oaks, PA. It's a fast growing convention that's just a delightful time sitting in a spot in the calendar where conventions are needed. Check out some of the great things we saw and played, like: ARKYVR, a zine for the Mothership RPGMAZES City of Skull, an RPG in the style of ElricSneaky Burrito, which is neither a food nor a small donkey And don't forget: you can already buy badges for PAGE 4 in 2027, and you can prepare to attend the new baby brother convention Concoction from May 29-31, 2026 in Vineland, NJ!