Conventions are the mountaintop moments of the gaming hobby — but the real magic happens week in, week out, around a regular table with a group you love. Finding that group can feel daunting if you're new to an area or new to the hobby, so we've put together this practical guide to help you connect with fellow players, discover organised play near you, and turn convention friendships into lasting gaming groups. Wherever you are, your people are out there.
Start at Your Friendly Local Game Store
The single best place to find players is your friendly local game store (FLGS). Most host regular game nights, learn-to-play sessions, campaign days and tournaments, and their staff and notice boards are goldmines for connecting with local groups. Simply showing up to an open-play evening is often all it takes to find a table. Game stores are the connective tissue of the hobby's grassroots, and building a relationship with yours pays dividends for years.
Tap Into Organised Play
Many games run official organised play programmes — structured, ongoing campaigns and tournament ladders that welcome drop-in players at stores and conventions worldwide. Popular role-playing games, trading card games and miniatures systems all offer them, and they're a fantastic way to meet people because everyone's playing the same content at the same time. Ask at your local store or check a game's official community pages to find sanctioned events near you. To understand the concept, the overview of organised play is a helpful primer.
Go Online to Find Local Groups
The internet has made finding players easier than ever. Community forums, social-media groups and dedicated meetup platforms let you search for gamers by location and by game. The active community boards at BoardGameGeek include regional groups and player-finder tools, while RPG.net hosts long-running forums for connecting role-players. Search for your city plus your favourite game and you'll usually find a chat server, a group or a meetup already up and running.
Turn Conventions Into Connections
Conventions are extraordinary places to find your future gaming group. Sit down at an open-gaming table, join a pick-up session, or sign up for scheduled games and you'll meet dozens of like-minded players in a weekend. Many lasting groups trace their origins to a chance meeting at a con — so don't be shy about swapping contact details with the folks you click with. Browse our regional guides, starting with the USA hub, to find an event near you where those connections can happen.
Keep Showing Up
The secret to finding a great group is simply persistence: keep showing up, be friendly and reliable, and offer to teach and learn. Communities reward regulars. Before long, the table you kept returning to becomes the table that saves you a seat. And when you're ready to plan your next big gaming weekend, we'll be right here — explore your region, or head back to the home page to get started.