It used to be, back in the day, there were only a couple of gaming conventions. Gen Con and Origins. And, you had to travel to get to either of them. At least I did.
But now there are conventions all over the place. These are great, small conventions like GameHole Con, Gary Con, Con of The Lakes, and so many more!
I haven’t been to Gen Con since 2015. It’s a great convention. But it’s big! Really big. It takes planning, almost a year in advance, and a chunk of change to attend. Every year I would come back pretty exhausted! It’s almost grueling to have that much fun.
So I started looking for local conventions that were close by that I could attend. Facebook, Internet searches, and TableTop Events have turned up lots of great, local Midwestern gaming conventions that are within a couple of hours.
The great thing is that these cons are more compact than a convention like Gen Con. While the depth and variety might not be the same, I can actually attend a smaller convention and play games all day long!
Of course, these smaller local cons cost less money, mostly because I can reduce, or nearly eliminate, travel and hotel expenses.
Finally, as I began compiling a list of gaming conventions I found that there is at least one great convention every month of the year.
So, here’s a link to the spreadsheet I’ve been working on with a schedule and additional information about all the cons that I come across. Feel free to use the Contact Me page to request an addition to the spreadsheet. I’ll see you at the next con!
