Protospiel Bay Area 2026 has come to a close.
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Protospiel Bay Area – June 26-28, 2026
Sports Basement’s Community Space, The Grove, in Redwood City at 202 Walnut Street Redwood City, CA 94063.
PROTOSPIEL BAY AREA is a multi-day family-friendly public convention for unpublished tabletop board games. This independent event is run by Golden Gate Gamemakers.
THANK YOU TO OUR AMAZING SPONSORS
DESIGNERS: get your prototype on the table, get feedback, and meet other designers!
PLAYTESTERS: see up-and-coming games in progress, make an impact on their development, and see how games are made! Earn raffle tickets to win awesome board games. No experience needed to be a playtester.
- DESIGNERS: $20 registration. You must register as a designer to run any prototypes. You get up to 6 hours of scheduled testing (2 hours each day). You can also use any tables that are currently unreserved for open testing, sharing their time with other designers.
- PLAYTESTERS: $0 free! Registration still required.
SCHEDULE
FRIDAY 11am-8pm
– ALL DAY – OPEN PLAYTESTING (play games and give feedback)
SATURDAY 10am-7pm
– ALL DAY – OPEN PLAYTESTING (play games and give feedback)
SUNDAY 10am-7pm
– 11:30am-12:30pm – GAME DESIGN BASICS: MAKE YOUR FIRST GAME
(Come and make your first game! Learn basic concepts in game design, come up with ideas for a “playable” prototype, get feedback from experienced designers. Great for first-time or new designers.)
– 2pm-2:30pm ASK ME ANYTHING INDUSTRY PANEL
(Ask questions to board game professionals. Great for anyone who wants to learn more about the board game industry.)
*Also: Lookout for evening events at nearby places (hotels, restaurants).
EVENT DETAILS
- The format is a combination of scheduled testing with designers being given timeslots to run their games, and open playtesting among tables with unreserved times which are shared among all designers. We will provide signs to designers to visually inform playtesters of the time for your game (including teach and feedback). We encourage designers to play other games as much as they run theirs.
- Raffle tickets are earned for every 1 hour of playtesting. Raffle tickets can be used to win published game prizes.
- Game Industry Veterans will be on hand happy to share knowledge and answer game design questions.
VENUE DETAILS
- Sports Basement is located in a plaza (lots of parking) with various food options. Food IS ALLOWED inside the venue space.
- Downtown RWC and CalTrain ~15 min walk.
- Lodging options include: (5-15min walk or 5min drive)
- (CLOSEST) Courtyard Marriott Redwood City. 600 Bair Island Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063. Click Here to book through our discounted Room Block.
- Good Nite Inn Redwood City San Francisco. 485 Veterans Blvd, Redwood City, CA 94063.
- Kasa Niche Hotel Redwood City. 868 Main St, Redwood City, CA 94063.
- Redwood Creek Inn. 1090 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063.