Welcome to Game Convention Central, the community-run directory built by gamers, for gamers. For more than a decade we have tracked the pulse of hobby gaming events across the globe: a sprawling, ever-growing listing of well over 600 game conventions spread across six continents. Whether you roll dice at a kitchen table, command painted armies across a wargaming board, or line up at midnight for the newest video-game release, there is a convention out there with your name on it, and our mission is to help you find it.
Gaming conventions are where the hobby comes alive. They are the weekends when strangers become lifelong friends over a shared campaign, when a designer's prototype finds its first hundred players, and when a regional scene discovers just how big it really is. Game Convention Central exists to make that discovery easy, no matter where you live or what you play.
Every Kind of Game, All in One Place
The gaming hobby is wonderfully broad, and so is our directory. We catalogue events across the full spectrum of tabletop and interactive play, including:
- Board games — from family-weight favourites to heavy Euro strategy and sprawling adventure epics.
- Role-playing games (RPGs) — organized-play campaigns, one-shot adventures, indie storytelling games and old-school dungeon crawls.
- Collectible and living card games — tournaments, drafts and trade halls for the competitive card crowd.
- Miniatures and wargames — historical, fantasy and sci-fi tabletop battles, plus painting competitions.
- Video and PC games — expos, esports, retro-gaming lounges and hands-on demo halls.
- Anime-gaming hybrids — the pop-culture crossovers where cosplay, card games and console tournaments share a floor.
Some conventions specialise in a single niche; others, like the marquee summer shows in Indianapolis or the giant board-game fair in Essen, gather every branch of the hobby under one enormous roof. We list them all, big and small.
Organized the Way Gamers Actually Search
Finding a convention should be as simple as pointing at a map. Our listings are broken down by US region and by international country groupings, so you can zero in on events within a reasonable drive, or plan a gaming pilgrimage to the other side of the world.
Start with our United States hub, which divides the country into ten regional guides covering everything from the Pacific coast to New England and the Great Lakes heartland. Travelling abroad, or lucky enough to live there? Explore our guides to Canada, the UK and Ireland, continental Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and the wider world across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Can't travel at all? Our online convention guide covers the fast-growing world of virtual cons.
An Evergreen Guide, Kept Current by Real Gamers
Convention dates, venues and line-ups change from year to year, so rather than freeze a single calendar in time, our regional pages are written as evergreen guides to each area's gaming-convention scene: the flavour of the local hobby, the kinds of events you'll find, and what makes each region special. We always recommend confirming exact dates and details on an event's official website before you book, but our guides will point you to the right corner of the hobby every time. For a broader overview of the calendar, the community-maintained list of gaming conventions and the events hub at BoardGameGeek are excellent companions to our directory.
New to Conventions? Start Here
If you've never walked a convention floor, the scale can be dazzling: open-gaming halls stacked with thousands of titles from a lending library, tournament rooms humming with focus, artist alleys, designer-led seminars, and vendor booths where you can finally handle that game you've only seen online. Most events offer single-day and full-weekend badges, family-friendly programming, and learn-to-play tables staffed by volunteers who genuinely want you to have fun. Our regional guides explain what to expect from the conventions in each area so you can pick the event that fits your style, whether that's a cosy 200-person retreat or a 60,000-strong mega-show.
Add Your Convention to the Map
Game Convention Central grew from the grassroots, and it stays current because gamers like you keep us in the loop. If you run or attend an event we haven't covered, we'd love to hear about it. Listings are free, so just head to our convention submission page and tell us about it. Organisers looking to reach a dedicated hobby audience can learn about promotional options, and players hunting for a regular group can visit our find-players guide. However you play, wherever you roll, welcome to the table — dig into the story behind the directory, browse your region, and we'll see you at the next con.