GameHole Con 2026 - What to expect?

[bsss]

There's a lot about Gamehole that's reminiscent of Gen Con back when I was younger. GM a certain amount of time and you get your badge refunded, games cost money for the tickets - both things I experienced at Gen Con in the 1980s and 90s. Gamehole fits pretty comfortably within that paradigm.

Absolutely, the same for me. Gamehole Con has almost totally replaced the feeling of needing to go to Gen Con, and it's in my backyard.

 

[SteveC]

All I know is all the cool kids are going to be there.

But seriously: great con attendees, lots of gaming. Okay food. Deluxe custom sodas are spectacular. There are a ton of different games running, and a lot of the people who make them show up.

As we get closer, I'm sure there will be a thread about who is coming. Well, this guy is, for one. If I don't entirely annoy you online, I'd be glad to give that a go in person.

 

[Mannahnin]

I'm going to put Adepticon on my list of cons to hit before I die.

Adepticon sounds cool. I've thrown around the idea of going to Adepticon one of these years, or another big wargaming con. Always looked cool but I'm not a big tourney gamer. But if the guys I wargame with ever made the decision to all go up there as a group for something like Bolt Action then who knows.

Adepticon is amazing. I went regularly for 8 or 10 years when I was still doing a ton of tournament wargaming, and that's the centerpiece, but the casual side has been built up a ton. Even if you don't play in the big tournaments there's more than enough fun stuff to do, and you can still stroll through and marvel at all the awesome terrain, armies, and army displays for the big events.

 

[Mannahnin]

Every single scheduled event I participated in cost extra money. In the grad scheme of things, given that I spent $1,000+ on my hotel, it doesn't amount to a whole lot. I think the events were all between $4 and $18. It would have been nice to get a little something extra for having to pay those fees. Chaosium and Free League both gave out little coupons for 10% off books purchased from their vendor's in the dealer's room.

The nominal charge is to ensure people who sign up actually show up. Apparently people who pay even a small event fee make more of an effort to show up.

Another thing to note is Gamehole Con has a very generous GM reward policy. If you run a scheduled event, you get access to a lounge for other GMs and Special Guests that has snacks and drinks (and is a place to rest for a moment). If you run 12 or more hours of scheduled games, they refund your weekend badge. 12 hours is tight for me but I'm still thinking about it anyway. There's also a raffle.

There's a lot about Gamehole that's reminiscent of Gen Con back when I was younger. GM a certain amount of time and you get your badge refunded, games cost money for the tickets - both things I experienced at Gen Con in the 1980s and 90s. Gamehole fits pretty comfortably within that paradigm.

I remember $2 event tickets when I first attended organized cons back in the 80s and 90s, yeah. The small ticket fees both helping incentivize players to show up, and helping fund GM rewards and prizes.

That being said, not all conventions do them. Rising Phoenix Game Con, which I'm attending in about a month, has no extra event ticket charges except for the Shadowdark RPGA-style tournament, which has a buy-in to cover prizes and for all attendees to get a limited edition copy of the module.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

So how easy it event registration for GHC? Since they don't Tabletop Events website. Do they just have something similar they host?

 

[bsss]

So how easy it event registration for GHC? Since they don't Tabletop Events website. Do they just have something similar they host?

Yes. When the events are open for registration, there'll be a search page where you can search by name, date and time, game system (for the popular ones, anyway, I think), and see the date and time, description, desired experience level, and cost. You can make an ordered wish list of what you're interested in, and then process it, and the system will tell you which ones have open seats and don't conflict with other things in your schedule, and put them in your cart. It's pretty easy.