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All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions
Episode 213: Getting Unpublished at Origins Game Fair 2026
Ep. 213
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On this episode, your hosts talk with game designer Ian Zang, who is a board member of the Unpublished Games Network!
- Check out the Unpub Network!
- Get involved at Unpub Festival or any of the the conventions Unpub has a presence!
- Become involved in either side of the Unpub Tabletop Mentorship Program!
- Check out the Unpub space in the GCCC at Origins Game Fair this month!
Don't forget to check out Ian's games, including:
- Please Fix the Teleporter!
- Genotype, a Mensa Recommends Award Winner!
- Kingdoms of the Deep!
And launching at Gen Con this year is A Familiar Find, a charming brand-new card game in the Critical world of Exandria!
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226. Episode 226: Don't Sleepwalk through Gen Con 2026
10:57||Ep. 226On this episode, Quarex and Ben return to a very special topic that should be near and dear to the heart of every dreamer: proper sleep practices at gaming conventions. In the past we've spoken with Kevin Kulp, sleep specialist and RPG designer extraordinaire. This time, we're going through how you feel, hour by hour, as you go without sleep.
225. Episode 225: All the Flavors of Event Tickets at Gen Con 2026
08:54||Ep. 225On this episode, we discuss two great topics to get prepared for events at Gen Con 2026!This year, Gen Con has pushed for more electronic ticketing, which means your event ticket envelope is understandably lighter! Given the different types of tickets, you'll want to be sure to have different types of tickets to play the events you couldn't get into before the convention!Listen in, listen up, because you don't want to get caught with the wrong kind of ticket around your lanyard! And don't wait... buy some generic tickets right now!
224. Episode 224: Eating Like a King at Gen Con 2026
12:58||Ep. 224This prepisode is our kinda early and not entirely complete because where is the food truck list, Mr. Hoppe! However, it is the first of our episodes that approach the topic of food and drink at Gen Con, cus you'll need repeated and rapid infusions of liquid and calories to ensure that the best four days in gaming is number one to the max! Listen in for our sneaky good recommendations about fast food, healthy food, and even booze as a food in and around the convention center. You won't want to miss it!!!
223. Episode 223: The Gen Con 2026 Travel Episode
22:08||Ep. 223On this episode, Quarex and Ben talk about all the ways that you get into Indy, around the city, through the conventions spaces, out to dinner, and back home with all your games. You won't want to miss it!
222. Episode 222: Packing for Gen Con 2026
25:59||Ep. 222Everything that you wanted to know, and probably a few things you hadn't considered when it comes to packing for the best four, five, or even eight days in gaming: GEN CON 2026Happy Gen Con advent to all who celebrate! (For dreamers dying to know: this is the list of things that you can bring onto an airplane.)
221. Episode 221: In Memoriam
15:08||Ep. 221On the event of our third anniversary, Ben and Quarex Cosmo Joe of Studio 6d6, RPEX, and Phoenix Con fameTim Kask, the curmudgeonly TSR editor and public school teacherLou Zocchi, the entrepreneur who pioneered distribution of adventure game and the manufacture of dice Jodi Black, an editor, author, and pioneer of gaming tablesAll are gone too soon, and each will be missed.
220. Episode 220: A Fair Review of Origins 2026
32:38||Ep. 220On this episode, Quarex and Ben give our unvarnished—but still pretty positive—opinion about our time at Origins 2026. Whether we're yammering about our travel and lodging, the badges and event tickets, the Your Origins 2026 app, the apparent volunteer staffing shortage, the ticketed events we did, the layout of the exhibit hall, the new games we tried out, or the people we got to play with... we're letting you know what we think. Stick around for the end of the episode, where Ben and Quarex discuss the heart and spirit of Origins, and what 2027 is already looking like it's shaping up to be. We also used Origins to release our new sistercast: All Year I Dream About Game Reviews, coming to a podcatcher near you!
219. Episode 219: Even More Exhibit Hall Interviews from Our 2026 Travels
31:07||Ep. 219On this interview episode, Ben, Quarex, and Ben interviewed designers at conventions earlier this year! Stuart from Warcradle Studios, who was showing off Armoured Clash at Adepticon!Yochai from Cairn Press, who designed Cairn 2e, records the Between Two Cairns podcast, and is hosting Between Two Cons the weekend this episode releases! Sean from Relic Blade Studio, the engine behind the Relicblade miniatures game! Matt Fantastic from Forever Stoked Creative, former GAMA director, and current director of Unpub! Check out Matt's latest game, GOAT from Dolphin Hat Games!You won't want to miss it!
218. Episode 218: More Exhibit Hall Interviews from the Origins Exhibitor Hall, Part 2
22:37||Ep. 218On this episode, it's chatting from the Origins exhibitor hall about RPGs and merch!Kelly with Red Raccoon Games, who was the lead at the Origins Merch Booth on Saturday!The better of the two interviews we conducted with Gabe and Le of Weird Place, publishers of Fluff 'n' Fury who were demoing their new game Chaotika!Alan from Tuesday Knight Games, publishers of the Mothership RPG, the explosive social deduction game Two Booms and a Room, and their latest offering... Fatherfog. Check them out!