IGDN Networks at GAMA Expo
GAMA Expo is the annual business-to-business event for the hobby games industry put on by the Game Manufactures Association. For years, the event was in Reno, NV and felt very far away from my Midwest mind. In 2024 it moved to Louisville, KY—my own city—and I was finally able to justify going. I know I really talked up the positive experiences I had there. It’s pretty incredible to be around so many other people who make games—but without thousands of other people who come to cons “just” to buy games or play games. Even though representatives of the biggest companies are there, they are mostly approachable, because we all know we’re all in the industry. The seminars are presented as peer-to-peer events, and it doesn’t feel to me that that is just what they call them. People speak up from the audience to share (mostly) relevant information.
This year, the event was even bigger than last! I am informed the Expo is nearly 60% bigger this year than the Reno years. Of course, part of this growth is simply because so many more people from big cities like Chicago, Cleveland, and Baltimore feel able to drive to the event. I particularly want to mention, the Creator Track was much expanded this year with sessions on design, improving pitches, marketing, and designing for specific markets such as teachers buying games for the classroom. Most of the people I spoke to felt it was a good show overall.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses, though. There was a real feeling of soft sales and “market uncertainty” among us publishers in the face of rising printing costs, with tariffs on top of that.
Should you attend GAMA Expo? If you’re serious about being in the industry professionally, yes. Should you get a booth at GAMA Expo? My recommendation is start to think about it when you have four products and you are prepared to sell them into retail (generally at 50% of cover price). I am just one person—so I asked some other IGDN members who attended this year to share their thoughts as well.
Spencer Reichley – Budstuff Games
This was our first convention selling We Can Be Heroes, and our experience had its ups and downs.
First and foremost, I had a great time hanging out with everyone from the IGDN. That was easily the highlight for me—each of you provided guidance and valuable insight into this industry.
From my limited experience with gaming expos, the show was well organized. It was our first time showcasing a product at our booth and our first time talking to retailers outside of door-to-door sales.
Unfortunately, we barely sold anything. Over the 1.5 days on the floor, countless people stopped by to talk about the game, some with great interest and compliments. However, that interest didn’t seem to translate into orders. As far as ROI goes, we are pretty deep in the hole.
Unless we see a tidal wave of direct sales in the coming weeks, we likely won’t be exhibiting again next year.
While our name is out there and we’ve built relationships, losing the first-time exhibitor rate makes this cost prohibitive, in my opinion. I’ll be at the show next year, but I’m deterred from exhibiting.
Jason Ward – Accidental Cyclops
Accidental Cyclops attended GAMA for the first time this year. We had a booth, nestled between powerhouses Monte Cook Games and Exalted Funeral, near the back of the convention floor. It was an altogether great experience! We met some great folks, as folks in the table-top gaming world tend to be. We made amazing connections in distribution, retail, and design/writing. We even managed to sign a contract with consolidators, Studio2! The seminars we attended were helpful for new members, though not exceptionally informative for people who have been in the industry for a few years. We managed to get dinner with some of the great IGDN members as well! Perhaps the only downside to the convention was a lack of activity on the second day of booth-dwelling, which, anecdotally, seemed universal and unique to this year.
Craig Campbell – Nerdburger Games
I attended GAMA Expo for the first time this year. I found the vibe to be quite different from a typical convention, more laid back, at least for me, once I got past my initial anxiety. I attended over a dozen seminars over two and a half days, learning all sorts of things that I didn’t know before as well as confirming I was doing some things right already. I even crashed a retailer-oriented seminar titled “Bringing Indie RPGs Into Your Store” and the hosts let me tell the room about the IGDN.
Twelve hours manning a booth in the exhibitor hall with my teammate, Ginny Loveday, put me in touch with many dozens of retailers, many of who expressed a lot of interest in our games. They went home with our handy “delivery menu” which outlines all the ways a retailer can get our games, so I expect it to take six months or more for me to determine how successful the foray into the exhibitor hall was.
I forged a number of possible in-roads into international distribution and sales, but we’ll have to see how that goes. The work and money required to make such things happen can be tough for a small publisher doing this whole thing on the side. And in between, there was much networking to be had. And I had some excellent conversations with aspiring RPG designers.
All in all, I found it a pretty great experience. Being a one-man, small press design/publishing studio, it’s tough to know if I’d benefit from it every year, but I’ll certainly attend in the future. If nothing else, I’m better prepared to make sure I do some things I neglected to do this first time.
Graham Gentz – Mythworks
The GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association) Expo is completely insane. It stands apart from others in the con circuit because it's not a con-vention—it’s a con-ference. It's not a weekend event; it's during the week and a week long. There's no public-facing stuff, which is the norm with other cons. With something like GenCon, you have product you're hoping to sell directly to con-goers. The “industry people” here are distributors (the big fish warehouse folk), publishers like Mythworks or Louisville’s Own Wet Ink Games, FLGS retailers, and the manufacturers. People are straightforward and open. They ask for what they want, and whenever you ask them about anything at all in “The Business”, they will explain their troubles, what they’ve learned, and what they've been working on. When folks are closed-lipped or cagey, it immediately raises an eyebrow. I’ve learned a ton from my times here. I think it’s a must-go if you’re looking to really understand the sea we all swim in. And the Horizons Fellowship might just be the in you need.
Another difference from the convention/conference dichotomy is the party atmosphere. Free alcohol and drink tickets flow constantly. Every industry has a conference. Last year the Concrete Men were here, too. This year it was the Brick Boys of the Brick Forum. GAMA folk seemed wary of them but they were really just dudes. Dudes named things like Dale or Alan. (“Bricks are rectangular prisms made of sierra clay.”)
Big Wigs are talking about moving GAMA out of Louisville next year, which is unfortunate. I do think it's my favorite city for these kinds of shows in the South and Midwest (Louisville is kinda cuspy).
Fingers crossed for Minneapolis!
[Matt back here to elaborate on Graham’s final statement. Dates for 2026 and 2027 in Louisville have been announced. The space is already feeling too small, so GAMA is looking for new venues. The current finalists are Baltimore, Chicago, and Minneapolis.]
This IGDN blog article was assembled by Matthew Orr of Wet Ink Games. If you want to get in touch with the contributor he can be reached at wetinkmatt@gmail.com or visit their website at wetinkgames.com.