The country's best game design convention has come to Madison, Wisconsin. Welcome to Protospiel!
If you are a game designer looking to get professional level feedback from other designers there is no better place to get that feedback. With around 100 other designers in attendance you'll have the opportunity to play test your designs many times through-out the weekend. And the friendships you'll make will last a lifetime.
If you're a gamer who likes to try out new things, then Protospiel is also likely the best experience you'll have. You'll get to see dozens if not hundreds of new designs in a single weekend. Plus you'll get to shape them before they hit the shelves of stores or the pages of Kickstarter.
Protospiel is an event where you can bring a board or card game prototype to play with other designers, play testers, and publishers. It's a great way to break your game and to fix it. It doesn't matter what level of polish your game has. Many games are made right on the spot at Protospiel using the free prototyping materials provided by The Game Crafter. But there are also many games there that are just doing final testing just before they are published or put out on Kickstarter.
If you want to play games in any state of development, then Protospiel is for you. If you want to get your own designs played, then Protospiel is for you. If you are looking to come to promote a complete game and never play anybody else's game, then Protospiel is not for you.
Here are the prices for attending Protospiel Madison 2015:
Designer 3-Day Badge - $50
Designer 1-Day Badge - $25
Play Tester 3-Day Badge - $10
Publisher / Press Badge - Free
Badges may be purchased at the door, but only via cash. No checks or credit cards will be accepted at the door.
We will be offering basic refreshments such as water, coffee, and fruit. There is a restaurant in the hotel for meals. And there are a number of restaurants and bars a short drive away.
Our hotel block has sold out. Here are some other options.
Parking is free at the Sheraton, and there are hundreds of available spots.
This will run like the traditional Protospiel, which is open design, collaboration, and play testing:
9am-6pm Friday - Registration open
Midnight Friday - Door close for the day
9am-Noon Saturday - Registration open
Midnight Saturday - Doors close for the day
9am-11am Sunday - Registration open
4pm Sunday - Convention ends
These great companies make sure you have the best possible experience at Protospiel Madison.
We are open to light strategy, gateway games, and all types of family games. While this isn't an official rule, games that run longer than an hour are usually not in our wheelhouse.
We are looking for card games and light board games with modest components in the vein of Gloom, Three Cheers for Master, and Lost in R'leyh. So we're looking for smaller games that could be retailed for less than $40.
PieceKeeper Games is currently soliciting new game submissions.
Send submissions to games@piecekeepergames.com
Looking for:
Not Looking for:
Looking for meaty euros and titles that appeal to today's market, like co-ops.
We looking for adventure games, particularly with a euro feel or that we can apply asymmetry too. We need designers to work on a few projects we are working on too.
Madison, Wisconsin
Sheraton Madison Hotel
706 John Nolen Drive, Madison, WI 53713, United States
(608) 251-2300