Spotlights: Unpub and Awesomecon
TWO amazing tabletop events are happening March 13-15 – you can’t go wrong going to either one!
Unpublished Games Festival 2026
March 12 (designers)
March 13-15 (everyone)
Lithicum Heights, MD: Marriott BWI
Play the games of tomorrow, today! And help make them better with your feedback. It’s the nation’s premier event for board game prototypes, featuring both award-winning and up-and-coming designers. Our region’s very own Connie Vogelmann (Apiary, Wyrmspan) will deliver the keynote. Play games – give feedback – win prizes – join a pro-am game jam – get excited about the art and the craft of tabletop game design! Free admission for players.
Awesome Con 2026
March 13-15
Washington, DC: Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Washington, DC’s Comic Con, Awesome Con is a 3-day celebration of geek culture. This year, Game Kastle (College Park) hosts the Tabletop Arena, and local designers will be there to demo our games alongside “Speed Friending” and “Board Game Speed Dating” events:
Arcana by Level Zero Gaming: Fri 1pm & 5pm
Army Men by High Level Games: Sat 10.30am & Sun 1pm
F#$% I am a Sucker for Hexagons in Space by Mothspire: Fri 6pm
Ghost Pirates by Tim Rodriguez: Fri 1pm
May I Enter by High Level Games: Fri 4pm & Sat 4pm
Nightbringer by Hartley Llosa: Fri & Sat
The Old Ways Must Go by Mothspire: Fri 6pm & Sat 1pm
Tarot x Gamer by Samphire: Fri 1:30pm & Sat 1:30pm
Other happenings
Sat, Feb 21, Mar 21
Break My Game: public playtesting event
Frederick, MD: C. Burr Artz Public Library
12:00-3:00pm
Sun, Mar 8
Break My Game: public playtesting event
Manassas, VA: Crossroads Tabletop Tavern
3:00-6:00pm
Mon, Mar 9
Local Indie Tabletop Playtest
Washington, DC: Fantom Comics
6:30-9:00pm
featuring:
Arcana
Dog Samurai
Tales of Ellastra
Last Stand Against the Darkmaw
Mon, Mar 9
Break My Game: public playtesting event
Baltimore, MD: Creative Alliance
6:00-10:00pm
Wed, Mar 11
Wingspan Americas Release Party ft. Elizabeth Hargrave
Celebrate the new Wingspan expansion: Americas! This expansion includes birds from Mexico, Central & South America, and the Caribbean. Designer Elizabeth Hargrave will be on-hand to sign copies and chat about all things Wingspan! This is a free event with no registration, but tables to play Wingspan will be first come, first serve.
6:00pm-9:00pm
Thu, Mar 12
Indie Board Game Showcase
Washington, DC: Dacha Navy Yard
6:30-10:00pm
Sun, Mar 15
Break My Game: public playtesting event
College Park, MD: Game Kastle
1:00-6:00pm
Sat, Mar 21
Break My Game: public playtesting event
Washington, DC: Labyrinth Games & Puzzles
11:00am-5:00pm
Sat, Mar 28
Break My Game: public playtesting event
Richmond, VA: One-Eyed Jacques
12:00-3:00pm
Mark your calendars!
May 23-24
GameFace Con: Baltimore’s biggest annual indie tabletop game convention.
Baltimore, MD: Peabody Heights Brewery
DMV-based crowdfund campaigns
Arcana by Level Zero Gaming: Shape new realities through the science of spellcraft
ZineMonth: F*** I am a Sucker for Hexagons in Space by MothSpire: Leave your home. Travel through Space. Leave behind a logbook of your adventures. Roll some d12s.
ZineMonth: NULL_SPACE by Binary Star Games: survive as freelancers in the interstices of the 24th-century solar system
🔜 Soot and Charms: Boston by Graftbound Press: Fight for justice in this alternate history, urban fantasy TTRPG for fans of Mistborn Era 2, Shanghai Noon, & the Dresden Files.
Still want more?
Follow the Tabletop Designers of the DMV starter pack on BSky.
Check out the Designed in the DMV Summer 2025 catalog of as many games made by DMV-based designers as we could find. (A new edition will be out very soon!)