Protospiel Bay Area 2026 Recap

200+ Attendees | 45+ Designers | 3 Days of Playtesting, Learning, and Community

PROTOSPIEL BAY AREA 2026 was a board game design and playtest convention held June 26-28 in Redwood City, California. It was the first large scale independent Protospiel in the area since 2020, drawing attendees from as far as Arizona and Oregon to participate.

This was a weekend of chill vibes, good company, and most importantly fun board games! The turnout was unexpected and overwhelming, and overly positive.

Board game designers showed up and set up their unpublished games. Games varied from early stage (e.g. pen and paper) to near-production quality, getting ready for Kickstarter. Signs provided information regarding the types of games to try along with playtime. Anyone who wanted to try out a game (known as Playtesters) could show up, play a game, and offer feedback. As a reward, playtesters received 1 ticket for every hour of playing and could put those tickets in drawings to win board games. The event is casual, social, and above else, welcoming.

Other activities included Game Design Basics: Make Your First Game!, where attendees learned basic concepts in game design, made a game, then got feedback from veteran designers on where to take that game next. An Ask Me Anything (AMA) Industry Panel gave attendees the opportunity to ask questions to real professionals who work in the board game industry. Industry veterans were also present, offering casual talks and open office hours to to share their knowledge, along with directly playtesting games.

Other highlights:

Having a large number of Attendees brand new to Protospiel.
A Playtester excited with how many prizes they won.
A Playtester bought a Designer’s prototype (the only copy) because they enjoyed the game so much.
A six-and-a-half year old came on Friday, then again on Sunday with her own game.
A lot of kids and teenagers participated in Make Your First Game!

Everyone really appreciated an easy-going weekend of playing games, combined with free snacks and bagels, with couches to relax. The steady stream of attendees meant there were always games happening on a table.

Very excited to see the local community engaged and have such a great time. Looking forward to continuing this for years to come.

Many thanks to Sports Basement for providing The Grove, a great space for hosting events.