Gamehole Con can be an invaluable resource for not only playtesting your game, but building a mailing list and word of mouth about your game. If you are not testing your game there, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. Let's talk about how Gamehole Con has helped JT and how it can help you too!
JT has been running his game designs there ever since it started. Some years JT gets in 30 hours of playtesting in a single weekend.
While they run thousands of board game events every year, there still aren't nearly enough board gaming events at Gamehole Con. Therefore, the board gamers are seeking more content, and they're very happy to give you feedback on game designs as a fledgling game designer. You pretty much always end up with a full table of gamers eager to try out whatever it is that you have. That said, they are end-consumer gamers, and therefore you should have a pretty prototype, not just some handwritten cards. It doesn't have to be full of pretty artwork, but all of the text needs to be legible and the iconography usable.
Some interesting facts about Gamehole Con:
- It is the fifth largest con in North America.
- It has roughly 8,000 attendees, half of which are board gamers and half of which are role players.
- If you run 12 hours of games at the con, your badge is free.
- Every game you run at the con gets you an entry into a raffle to win free games.
- They have an amazing row of food trucks every day at the con so that you can have lots of variety, not just arena food.
- This is a great way to get feedback for your game and some publicity for it with your target market.
This year, Gamehole Con will be on October 15th - 18th, 2026 at Alliant Energy Center, Exhibition Hall in Madison, WI.
EVENT SUBMISSIONS OPENED MARCH 29
Gamehole Con opened the Event Portal at noon Central Time on Sunday, March 29th. You can find the Event Portal on their home page under the "Run A Game" tab. You will need to log in to your account to submit games.
