Protospiel Madison 2016

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

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

Get Your Badge

Badges may be purchased at the door, but only via cash. No checks or credit cards will be accepted at the door.

Food & Drink

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.

Hotel

Our hotel block has sold out. Here are some other options.

Parking

Parking is free at the Sheraton, and there are hundreds of available spots.

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

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.

Publishers

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:

Unique mechanics

Light to medium games, 20-60 min

Family friendly

High replayability

Not Looking for:

CCGs, RPGs, wargames

Zombies, Horror

Party and trivia games

Twists on classic games

Generally not interested in fully co-operative games

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.