Protospiel Madison 2024

Protospiel Madison 2024

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.

Tell Me More

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.

Badges & Pricing

Click here for the badges and the prices for attending Protospiel Madison.

Badges may also be purchased at the door if we haven't sold out, but we sell out every year, so your best bet is to get your badge early.

Food & Drink

We will be offering basic refreshments such as water, coffee, and fruit. And there are a number of restaurants and bars in a short walking distance (a couple blocks).

We'll also have a cash bar at Protospiel Madison on Saturday night from 6pm to 9pm.

Schedule

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

6pm-10pm Saturday - Cash Bar

Midnight Saturday - Doors close for the day

9am-11am Sunday - Registration open

4pm Sunday - Convention ends

Sponsors

These great companies make sure you have the best possible experience at Protospiel Madison.

Mad Bingo Sponsors

Publishers

We have lots of publishers in attendance at Protospiel Madison. Many are there scouting games, but even if they aren't looking for your game, the have a wealth of knowledge from the industry and their feedback is invaluable.

Alderac Entertainment Group

AEG publishes all sorts of innovative board, card, and dice games.

Paverson Games

Paverson Games is an indie board game publisher focusing on rich, thematic and aesthetic game experiences rooted in medium-weight mechanics and strategy. With titles such as Distilled and Luthier, the studio is seeking similar designs that would stand out as unique offerings representing the Paverson Games brand.

Prolific Games

Prolific Games is seeking gateway board games in the $30-40 MSRP and 30-45 minute play time ranges, and card games in the $15-20 MSRP and 10-30 minute play time ranges. Games with at least one extremely distinctive gameplay or marketing feature are especially sought; that’s what it takes to stand out in the current marketplace of tabletop releases. Re-theming of acquired designs is highly likely. If you wish, email jeff at jefftidball dot com in advance of Protospiel if you’d like to set up a scheduled time to discuss a particular prototype.

Thunderworks Games

Thunderworks Games is a small board and card game publisher that is dedicated to designing and publishing original and innovative games with amazing artwork and high-quality components.

Play to Z Games

Zev Shlasinger has been in the hobby game industry for almost 30 years. After helping to bring huge hit titles like Pandemic and Agricola into the market, Play to Z is his most recent venture. Play to Z is looking for "Games for all gamers".

World of Game Design

World of Game Design is the creator of the RPG Zweihander Reforged. They are looking for board games that can be rethemed to support the Zweihander, Hannibal, and Ultraman RPG projects.

Renegade Game Studios

Renegade will be looking for family-family+ weight games at Protospiel. No party games and nothing heavy.