Tabletop Games in the DMV

September & October events in your backyard

Author

Gene Koo
September 18, 2025

Every month Designed in the DMV highlights events featuring tabletop game designers based in the DC - Maryland - Virginia region. We’re an artist collective helping game designers improve our craft and connect with our audience.

September spotlight: Indie Tabletop Day

Meet local designers, play our games, participate in our panel discussions, and buy our stuff!

📆 Sunday, September 28
🕙 10am-8pm
📌 Pure Panic Comics & Games
🗺️ 8317 Fenton St, Silver Spring MD

Featuring:

October spotlight: Indie & Local Tabletop Games Fair

A rain-or-shine outdoor market followed by a panel discussion with local game designers.

📆 Saturday, October 18
🕙 12-5pm
📌 People’s Book
🗺️ 1014-A Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park MD

12-4: Indie market featuring locally-designed zines, role-playing games, and board games

4-5: Panel discussion about small-format games, featuring Andy Looney (Fluxx); David Chalker (Get Bit!); and Angela Bell (How Much Do You Really Know?)

Other happenings

Sep 21 (Sun)

Break My Game: public playtesting event
College Park, MD: Game Kastle
3-7pm

Sep 23 (Tue)

Break My Game: public playtesting event
Charlottesville, VA: The End Games
6pm

Oct 4-5 (Sat-Sun)

District Hunt: a socially-themed treasure hunt
Dupont Circle, DC: Kickoff at Keegan Theater
Every 25 years, eight symbolic objects are chosen to define the culture of Washington, DC. Reports about this ritual also suspect a connected treasure, which has been quietly protected for centuries by a trusted network of individuals. But in 2025, something’s changed. With misinformation on the rise, the protectors are wary of whom to trust and have called for help. Teams are invited to demonstrate whether they are worthy of preserving history.

Oct 11 (Sat)

Break My Game: public playtesting event
Frederick, MD: C. Burr Artz Public Library
12-3pm

Oct 12 (Sun)

Break My Game: public playtesting event
Manassas, VA: Crossroads Tabletop Tavern
3pm

Oct 18 (Sat)

Break My Game: public playtesting event
Capitol Hill, DC: Labyrinth Puzzles & Games
11am-5pm

Nov 1 (Sat)

DC Zinefest: Explore Journaling Games with Designed in the DMV
Gallery Place, DC: MLK Library
11am-4pm

Crowdfund campaigns by DMV designers

⭐ Open for pledges: Glatisant by Graftbound Press: A duet game of purpose, pursuit, and guidance.

🏅 Funded and open for late pledges: Moonshine by Ben Goldman: Step into the Roaring Twenties with Moonshine, a thrilling TTRPG that combines the glamour of the 20s with a touch of the supernatural.

🔜 Coming soon: Gorgon’s Garden by Mothspire: A cooperative social deception game. Help mortals defy their fates and escape the attentions of Zeus and Hera.

🔜 Coming soon: Legends of ShenZhou by Z-McFive: A tabletop adventure blending Chinese mythology with dynamic combat and distinctive miniatures.

Jams hosted by local designers

Come make new games with us! Game jams are open to anyone and a great way to get started in our hobby:

🚀 Get Your Ship Together with Jamie Station

😱 Non-Investigative Horror Adventure Jam with Lyme and phasmophage

New releases

New in retail

👹 Misunderstood Minions by Judith Harmon

🔮 Magica Mechanica by Liam McCrickard, M.A. Guax

🌳 The Bonsai Diary by Gene Koo

🎴 Moon Rings playing cards by Junk Food Games

New to download

🍟 Tiny Mall Wizards by Grint

👁️ First to Awaken by Phoecoena

🎭 The Show Must Go Wrong by Elliott Peterson

👰 Oath of the Altar 5e supplement by Freelance Ginger

🏴‍☠️ The Pirate Game by J.T.

🏗️ Hostile Architecture by Grint

📚 MetaFiction by Marne S.

🏡 Never Left Home by Gene Koo

Still want more?

Check out the Designed in the DMV Summer 2025 catalog of as many games made by DMV-based designers as we could find.