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All Year I Dream About Gaming Conventions

Episode 26: The Man Writing the Book on Gen Con

Ep. 26

This week, we interview game designer, archivist, author and (most importantly) OG dreamer, Matt Shoemaker about his years of attending Gen Con and the book he's writing about the history of Gen Con.


  • You wanna know what year Matt thinks is the most pivot for Gen Con and the gaming industry as a whole? You gotta listen.
  • You wanna know whether Matt thinks Indy is better than Milwaukee? You gotta listen.
  • You wanna know how to horde cards for the game Spellfire in 1994? You gotta listen.
  • You wanna know where Matt really was when the French armies invaded Algeria in 1857? You really need to listen.
  • You wanna know who else was on the grassy knoll in Dallas? We don't talk about that one.


You can find Matt's games for sale at his gaming company's website: https://hitemwithashoe.com/

You can find his Gen Con game history project work at https://www.best50yearsingaming.com/

You can read his academic bio on the Temple website: https://sites.temple.edu/tudsc/about/current-staff/matt-shoemaker/

You can find the Loretta C. Duckworth (OBM) Scholar's Studio blog where Matt sometimes posts updates on the Temple University website: https://sites.temple.edu/tudsc/


And don't forget to buy your badges for Gen Con by Friday at midnight!!!

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