Protospiel Indy 2025

Protospiel Indy 2025!

The world's best game design convention is returning to Indianapolis for its sixth year!

If you are a tabletop game designer seeking professional-level feedback, this is where you want to be. You'll learn from dozens of other designers as they playtest your designs and you playtest theirs. You'll make friends with fun and interesting people and help each other succeed.

If you're a gamer who likes to try new things, Protospiel is amazing. You'll try out dozens of new designs in a single weekend. And your input will help shape them before they hit store shelves or launch on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter.

How Does It Work?

Protospiel is a casual event where you bring your board or card game prototype to be playtested by amateur and established game designers, playtesters, and publishers in a supportive, cooperative environment. It's the best possible way to find where your game needs work and how to make it even better. And collaborating with other game designers to improve each others' games is the best possible way to grow your skill as a game designer.

Don't worry too much about the appearance of your prototype: it isn't as important as how it plays. Some prototypes you'll see will be polished and nearly ready to publish. But others will be thrown together on the spot from free prototyping materials provided by The Game Crafter. Either way, add your game to the Prototypes list and we'll help you make it great!

What makes Protospiel work is for designers to share their time and expertise by playing each other's games. For example, if three designers playtest your game, you should try to play three other designer's games before the event ends. This isn't a formally enforced rule, but the event works best when people follow it.

Other than that, there's not much structure: Show up, introduce yourself, sit at a table, play some games. There are no scheduled events, just a room full of tables for people to share. Check the Prototypes list for designs that you particularly want to try, but be prepared to try anything. Take some time to chat, and grab a meal with some other folks whenever it's convenient. Go to sleep when you're tired and come back the next day.

If you want to help designers improve games in any state of development, Protospiel is for you. If you want lots of informed insight on how to improve your game design and grow as a game designer, Protospiel is for you. If instead you are more interested in promoting your completed game and getting market feedback, you're probably thinking of a different event.

Additional Info

The Current community news published an article about Protospiel Indy's fifth year.

Here are some of our best playtesting tips.

Stan Kordonskiy has created a couple of informative videos: What is Protospiel? and Protospiel Feedback.

The Published Protospiels list on BoardGameGeek lists over 150 published games that were playtested at Protospiel events.

Protospiel.events has info about various regional Protospiels.

The Protospiel group on Facebook is a great place to connect with Protospiel enthusiasts.

Also, if you're in the Indianapolis area, join the Indy TableTop Game Creators! We meet to playtest at least once a month, usually on the third Saturday afternoon.

Policies

At sign-in you will be required to indicate that you agree to comply with the policies of the convention. You must read these convention policies before you buy a badge.

Badges & Pricing

Here are the prices for attending Protospiel Indy:

• Designer 3-Day Badge - $65, or $50 if you register by April 13th!
• Playtester 3-Day Badge - $15
• Publisher Badge - If you have published a game which you did not design, contact us to request a free badge.
• Sponsor Badge - Contact us about opportunities to promote your brand.
• Press Badge - Contact us to request a free badge.

Tabletop.Events fees will be added to all badge prices.

A limited number of badges will be available for purchase at the door with cash or credit card. Checks will not be accepted.

Venue

Protospiel Indy is hosted this year by GravityDrive at Launch Fishers in Fishers, Indiana. Outside food is allowed. Alcohol is not permitted. Parking is free.

Schedule

The event will run according to the traditional Protospiel structure, which is open design, collaboration, and play testing:

• Friday 8am-6pm - Registration open
• Friday 11:45pm - Doors close for the day
• Saturday 8am-3pm - Registration open
• Saturday 11:45pm - Doors close for the day
• Sunday 8am-1pm - Registration open
• Sunday 4pm - Convention ends

Sponsors

These great organizations make sure you have the best possible experience at Protospiel Indy.

GravityDrive provides UX research, design, evaluation, and support services to help your products drive a great user experience. They are hosting Protospiel Indy this year at Launch Fishers.

The mission of The Game Preserve is to delight their customers and attract new ones by operating game stores which offer outstanding selection, expertise, and organization, and which practice kindness as their most important value. They are a returning refreshment sponsor this year.

Kolossal Games delivers immersive, high-quality board game experiences that captivate players with stunning artwork and engaging gameplay. Known for their visually striking productions, Kolossal focuses on creating thematic games that blend strategic depth with accessible mechanics. From sprawling miniatures games to intricate card-driven designs, Kolossal's portfolio spans diverse genres, appealing to both seasoned gamers and newcomers alike. They prioritize creating memorable moments around the table, emphasizing player interaction and narrative-rich experiences. Their dedication to premium components and innovative game design has earned them a reputation for producing games that are as beautiful to display as they are enjoyable to play. Kolossal Games consistently strives to elevate the tabletop experience, offering a wide range of titles that promise hours of entertainment and strategic challenge. They are a returning refreshment sponsor this year.

OffDutyNinja is a dedicated team of marketing professionals with a specific focus on the wonderful world of tabletop games! Whether it be a targeted crowdfunding campaign, establishing and building an engaged social media community, or planning out your marketing efforts, our team is your team. They are a new sponsor this year.

The Game Crafter (TGC) is the world’s first web-to-print game publishing company and offers a print on demand game publishing service. TGC empowers game designers around the world by allowing them to make a board game, card game, and custom playing cards through a website. They are a long-time supporter of many Protospiels.

Blue Luna Design is a specialized design studio serving tabletop game designers and publishers, offering illustration, component design, video, and visual design services. They are a new sponsor this year.

Indy TableTop Game Creators is a group based out of central Indiana that helps game designers and playtesters create great tabletop games together. They organize Protospiel Indy.

Publishers

TBA