Many of you have used Meetups or Geeklists to schedule games at conventions. This system is very similar. We do have some guidelines and you can click the links below to get to the appropriate section:

• General Guidelines for Hosts and Attendees
• Hosting a Game (i.e. Submitting an Event)
• Vocabulary for Event Submission
• Cancelling an Event
• Exhibitor/Designer/Promoter Event Host
• ProtoAlley - TBD

Attendee/Exhibitor Event Submissions will open mid/late September and will close November 9.

General Guidelines for Hosts

• All attendees must acknowledge all Policies.
• All attendees must have a badge to attend BGG.CON 2026
• Event hosts seeking to promote a game in which they have a financial interest are encouraged to secure an exhibit booth or Sponsor an Event with your Exhibitor/Sponsorship application. The open gaming areas are NOT meant for official (or unofficial) vendor/publisher demonstrations. Questions, please contact events@boardgamegeek.com.
• Event hosts need to be careful of potential double booking of events. To view your schedule, go to Attend > My Schedule and you can see your schedule on a timeline view and scroll to the bottom to see events you are hosting or are participating in.
• Verify your badge is tied to your Tabletop.Events account profile
• Verify your Tabletop.Events account profile for email permissions
• Table space is a resource management game - We have LOTS of open gaming tables and should have plenty of space to play at any given time. Scheduling an event requires efficient use of designated spaces and we ask that you be respectful and consider the actual table space usage when planning your game/event. In particular, boardrooms are extremely limited resources and are not to be scheduled as "private group" rooms.

Hosting a Game (i.e. Submitting an Event)

General instructions for Submitting/Hosting an event can be found HERE

Steps to submit an event:

1. Go to Host > Submit Events, and follow the prompts to create the event.

2. After the event has been submitted for approval....Allow up to one week for approval and scheduling. You may edit the event until it has been Approved by going to Host > Submissions

3. Allow up to one week for approval and scheduling. After the event is approved, any edits can be submitted via email to events@boardgamegeek.com.

4. Hosts may review events via Attend > My Schedule > Events I'm Hosting

Event Messaging System

Hosts and Attendees may message each other using the respective buttons on the Event page. Messages should include information regarding any specifics related to your game such as game editions, rules errata, expansions being used, and so forth. Host's messaging to ticketed attendees is sent as a GROUP message.

Initial messages from the host or attendees will go through info@tabletop.events. Responses to those initial messages give permission to share your email address with the sender. For privacy reasons neither BGG Events Staff nor Tabletop.Events staff will directly provide email addresses of attendees.

Vocabulary for Event Submission

• Event Name - Game Name
• Event Type - Please choose the type appropriate Event Type.
• Preferred and Alternate Start Times - We will do our best to schedule your game based on your preferred Start Time, but please have an alternate start time available.
• Duration - This should include setup, play and cleanup for your event.
• Max Tickets - TOTAL number of seats/players for the game (INCLUDING THE HOST if the host is choosing the play).
• Spaces Needed - How many tables are required for your game?
• Reserved Tickets for Attendees - IF YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR GAME PLAYERS SELECTED via another means, choose the number of seats to reserve for those players. If possible, you can enter the individuals from your TTE Friends list to assign those seats and send them a reservation invitation. They can then "claim" the seat in their TTE profile. If an individual is not listed in your list of TTE friends, the seat will still be reserved and not able to be claimed by others, however, that individual will not see the game in their schedule. If hosts need assistance with allowing other attendees to claim seats, please contact events@boardgamegeek.com
• Age Range - Choose the age group that you are comfortable with hosting.

• Has Special Requests - May show Boardroom table, Larger Breakout Room, QUIET Games

  • Quiet Games - Games assigned to this room will be those in which the general conversation level is quieter than other rooms.

We will accommodate these requests on a first-come-first-serve availability. Please be flexible if your preferred or alternate times are not available.

Cancelling an Event

Circumstances may determine a need to "Cancel" the event. Email - events@boardgamegeek.com, so we may cancel the event and remove it from the visible schedule.

Exhibitor/Designer/Promoter Event Host

Reminder: - Event hosts seeking to promote a game in which they have a financial interest are encouraged to secure an exhibit booth or Sponsor an Event with your Exhibitor/Sponsorship application. The open gaming areas are NOT meant for official (or unofficial) vendor/publisher demonstrations. Questions, please contact events@boardgamegeek.com.

Exhibitors/Publishers with a purchased booth may schedule demos/events within their booth (using the "Exhibitor Event" event type in the Event submission) per the Exhibitor Information to keep demos/plays of games within the booth. If an Exhibitor would like to arrange a larger demo/tournament, Exhibitors should review the Event Sponsorship option.

If someone (Designer/Exhibitor) with financial interest in a game (either in development, or not yet available for public sale) would like to run multiple demos, but they do not want to purchase a booth, they may want to consider ProtoAlley (see more info here) , here and here or you may consider the Event Sponsorship.

ProtoAlley - Times and Dates TBD

We will have instructions for ProtoAlley at BGG.CON 2026 posted soon. Follow the instructions in that post to participate in playtesting, gaming and marketing your latest and greatest game design.

We're happy to introduce you to Dan Nichols, Gadabout Games, is bringing his expertise to the indie game market and game design to help with 3 events for our budding designers (See this BGG Forum Post Homegrown Games — Indie Makers' Market & Game Design Events @ BGG.Spring 2026 to see how this was handled for BGG.Spring 2026.

Homegrown Games Jam DATE • TIME

Anyone can become a game designer — and you’re going to prove it by creating a board game from scratch in the wildest 90 minutes of the week.

Get notified when registration opens

Homegrown Games Lab DATE • TIME

Indie designers are always cooking up new games. This is your chance to play their latest creations and influence the next generation of tabletop.

Get notified when registration opens

Homegrown Games Market DATE • TIME

Unique, experimental games made in small batches are sold directly by their designers in this pop-up market. Whether you’re browsing or buying, you’ll discover something new.

To get a few more eyes on your Prototype feel free to list them on the Prototypes page. (Instructions HERE)

ADDITIONAL Playtesting

If you would like to do additional playtesting outside of the HomeGrown Games Lab, you may submit your event using the instructions above for Hosting a Game.

Guidelines for Prototypes as Scheduled Events

• Games MUST NOT YET be for public sale (either crowdfunding sites or through other distribution channels) - please note the guidelines for Exhibitor/Publisher/Designer Demos
• Games can be in any stage of development
• Make sure the EVENT TYPE is listed as "Game Design Track"
• The game description must include notice that this is a PLAYTEST.
• The number of playtests is LIMITED to 2 per day of the convention outside of the HomeGrown Games Lab.

(Questions, please email events@boardgamegeek.com)