List of Tabletop Conventions
Below is a list of San Francisco Bay Area conventions with a tabletop / board game element.
For game conventions across the US, check out sites like tabletop.events/conventions which maintain extensive lists.
List last updated January 2, 2026.
| SacAnime Winter | Jan 2-4, 2026 | Sacramento Attendance: 20,000 Anime, pop culture, and gaming convention. |
| DundraCon | Feb 13-16, 2026 | Santa Clara Attendance: 1200 Tabletop convention including board/card games, miniatures, RPGs, seminars, vendors, and Protospiel playtesting. |
| GDC | Mar 9-13, 2026 | San Francisco Attendance: 30,000 The Game Developers Conference is the premiere video game industry event. Lectures, panels, discussions, expo, and community spaces. Has had a board game lounge, and some design talks have relevant advice. 2025 had an Unpub playtesting event added. |
| CarrierCon | Mar 21-22, 2026 | Alameda Attendance: 3,000 The USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum is proud to present CarrierCon, a convention celebrating cosplay, tabletop gaming, and Western and Japanese media. CarrierCon is an opportunity for people of all ages to share their love of cosplay and pop culture media while supporting a local museum. Includes tabletop gaming. |
| Game Market West Spring 2026 | Mar 22, 2026 | San Jose Attendance: 400 A tabletop game market where independent designers show off and sell their newest board/card games. Free to attend. – Browse and Buy dozens of super creative limited-run games – Enjoy the GMW Play Zone to play games you purchase and locally made games – Learn How Games are Made – Designer Hangout and Playtesting immediately following event |
| KublaCruise | Apr 11-21, 2026 | San Francisco Attendance: 100 Gaming on a portion of a cruise ship. Departs from San Francisco. Play board games and enjoy other cruise activities. |
| BABSCon | Apr 18-20, 2025 | Burlingame Attendance: 200 Bay Area Brony Spectacular. A convention for the My Little Pony fandom and community. Has a gaming library and area. |
| KublaCon Prime | May 22-25, 2026 | Burlingame Attendance: 3600 Tabletop convention including board/card games, miniatures, RPGs, seminars, vendors, Protospiel playtesting, and special events. The current largest analog game convention and protospiel in the Bay Area. |
| FanimeCon | May 22-25, 2026 | San Jose Attendance: 30,000 A massive anime convention with cosplay, panels, celebrity guests, artists, and many vendors. Has an open game library and a few game events, mostly TCG tournaments, plus some arcade and video games. |
| East Bay Board Game Con | Jul 11-13, 2025 | Oakland Attendance: 400 Started in 2024. Board game convention with a large focus on open gaming. Includes Protospiel playtesting. |
| OffKai Expo | Jul 24-26, 2026 | San Jose Attendance: 6,900 A v-tuber and anime convention. Has a board game library and demo area. |
| Game On The Table | Jul 2025 | CANCELLED Attendance: 200? Small one day board game and tabletop games convention. Cancelled for 2025. |
| Games of Berkeley Con | Jul 16-19, 2026 | Berkeley Attendance: 100 Local Game Convention with special events and locally grown game demos and playtesting at the Games of Berkeley store. |
| MAGWest | Aug 14 – Aug 16, 2026 | San Jose Attendance: 1600 MAGWest is a nonstop weekend event with console gaming, arcades, tabletop, LAN, live video game cover bands, chiptunes, guests, and more. |
| GalaxyCon | Aug 21-23, 2026 | San Jose Attendance: 25,000 Large comic con style convention with celebrity signings, comics, art, anime, cosplay, wrestlers, exhibit hall, gaming, and special events. Has a tabletop gaming room. |
| SacAnime Summer | Aug 29-31, 2025 | Sacramento Attendance: 20,000 Anime, pop culture, and gaming convention. |
| Pacificon Game Expo | Sep 4-7, 2026 | Santa Clara Attendance: 1000 Tabletop convention including board/card games, miniatures, RPGs, seminars, vendors, and Protospiel playtesting. |
| Game Market West Fall 2025 | Sep 21, 2025 | San Jose Attendance: 400 A tabletop game market where independent designers show off and sell their newest board/card games. |
| Sonoma Con | Oct 24-26, 2026 | Santa Rosa Attendance: 300 A comics, gaming, and pop culture convention at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. |
| Clockwork Alchemy | Oct 24-26, 2025 | Redwood City Attendance: 150 A steampunk themed convention with panels, crafts, martial arts, dancing, and artists/authors. Has a gaming and role-playing area. |
| Big Bad Con | Oct 2025 | CANCELLED Attendance: 1200 Big Bad Con announced in March that the 2025 convention is cancelled, and did not announce any further details. Tabletop and live action gaming convention with a focus on indie and small press games, especially RPGs. Known for being very welcoming and inclusive. GGG has had a small Protospiel in the past, with no current plans to continue. |
| Board Game Extravaganza | Nov 22, 2025 | Modesto Attendance: 150 Tabletop game convention with proceeds going to charitiy. |
| Kublacon Fall | Nov 13-16, 2026 | Burlingame Attendance: 1200 New board game convention from the same team as KublaCon. Has open Protospiel playtesting. |
| FanExpo | Nov 27-29, 2026 | San Francisco Attendance: 35,000 A fun-filled fan culture convention with comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, video gaming, and cosplay. Has a board game library. |