TTRPGkids Gamehole Con 2025 Recap
If you’re curious about what Gamehole Con is like, weren’t able to attend in-person this year, or want a different perspective on the event, check out my recap here where I go through some of my highlights!
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Vendors and games at Gamehole Con 2025
The vendor hall at Gamehole Con was moderately sized, so it didn’t feel overwhelming (which was a nice contrast to how things kind of felt at GenCon) AND I knew a lot of the people there! It was kind of cool walking through the vendor hall and seeing both folks that I knew in every aisle and spotting so many games from friends. I have photos from a few here (and logos from a couple that didn’t seem to save on the phone):
I also came home with some awesome games from Monte Cook Games, Wet Ink Games, Bright Bard Games, and Dump Stat Adventures! Kiddo did a happy dance as I was unpacking everything, and we’re excited to get to check these out:
In addition to games in and from the vendor area, I did get to play a game as well! I was mostly at Gamehole Con to go to talks and meet up with folks, so I hadn’t really signed up for games in advance… and I’m kind of glad I left space because I was invited to an amazing game of Blood on the Clocktower that formed up as the con was happening!
Blood on the Clocktower is a social deduction game, with some similar vibes to Werewolf but way more tricky, and I had a blast. I’m really glad I was able to be part of that, and the game getting down to the end where we had to guess who the demon was and the final reveal… that was amazing! Many thanks to the facilitator and the whole group for the awesome game.
Talks I attended at Gamehole Con 2025
Gamehole Con was packed with talks from industry leaders and people generally just doing some very cool work in the TTRPG space. Because of that, one of my main goals with the con was to attend talks that I thought would help me shore up a few areas that I felt I needed help with as a designer, writer, and business owner within the TTRPG space.
I went to talks on self publishing, building a brand, hiring other creators for projects, project management, freelancing, publishing passion projects, and creating inclusive spaces within the community. From each of these, I had some amazing take aways from the panelists, ranging from actionable advice to hopeful vibes and meaningful one-liners to a very solid confidence boost.
Looking at how many talks I went to… it ended up being like taking a college credit in TTRPG creation and community from folks who were both highly knowledgeable from their experience but also very willing to talk earnestly about that and help others. I really enjoyed getting to learn from them and appreciate the time they spent both in running the talks and in setting all that up.
Talks I was part of at Gamehole Con 2025
I was on three panels at Gamehole Con:
Adventure Design and Worldbuilding for Kids, moderated by Anthony Joyce-Rivera
Adventures in Parenting: Raising the Next Generation of Nerds, moderated by Kat the Dungeon Mom
Tabletop Gaming With Kids: More Than Just Picking an Age Rating, moderated by me (Steph Campbell)
I have more details on these here from my pre-Gamehole Con post, so I just want to say that it was cool getting to chat with folks about all-ages TTRPGs here. Especially after getting a feel for the kinds of talks that happen at Gamehole Con and the folks who were typically presenting, I definitely had some nerves, but as soon as the panels started, it felt pretty good to chat with everyone… and I always love an opportunity to nerd out about my little niche in the TTRPG space.
The audience at Gamehole Con was great and engaged, asking some on-point questions and sticking around aftwards for more in-depth discussions. I also really enjoyed getting to sit side-by-side with the other panelists. I met some cool new people from both sides of the table, and I also got to be in talks with known friends like Kat the Dungeon Mom (who I always like hanging out with) and Jaclyn Lewis (who I have met and worked with several times and finally got to be in the same talk together!!).
Overall, presenting here was a fantastic experience as well, so, if you have a panel idea that you’d like to submit for next time, I highly recommend giving it a shot.
The people and the vibe at Gamehole Con 2025
So, for this part of the recap, I don’t typically list names because I know not everyone likes having their con details out there, and I’m going to stick to that here too. That just means, I’ll be a bit general, but I think the meaning should still come across.
A lot of times, when I go to cons, I either try to make sure I know a con-buddy who I’ll run into several times and/or I will set up TTRPGkids interviews with folks (which… it’s a structured Q&A with pre-set questions where I mostly listen, so the social pressure is low).
For Gamehole Con, everyone had told me it was a pretty chill vibe, so I felt comfortable trying something a little different and further outside my socially anxious comfort zone that I keep pushing further out, and I’m glad I did.
I knew a few people who were going to be there, but I also knew their schedules were packed…. and I didn’t want to rely on my template so much because it was starting to feel like I was getting a bit stuck on that one-sided interview format and not really connecting as people.
SO… I reached out to some folks who I felt would be fun to hang out with and just asked to get coffee or take a meal break so we could hang out.
Nearly everyone that I asked said yes, and it all worked out really well.
I got to have some lovely 1:1 chats, was pulled into a wonderful group for a day, had a meal with some awesome folks who I’ve met several times but never really sat down to chat with, and was invited to the Blood on the Clocktower game that I mentioned earlier.
We geeked out over cool mechanics or future games we were toying with, talked about what it was like leaving office jobs to get into TTRPGs, chatted about how our tabletop-gamer kids are wonderful (and sometimes frustrating) creative little goblins (both in game and out), and generally just got to be people in the same space.
Which… that might all sound like just normal conversation, but for me, this felt important. I got to be a geeky TTRPG gremlin, and folks were cool with that, and it was really nice.
Where I’m going with all this is… I’m very grateful to have connected with the individuals that I did… AND the whole general vibe of the convention was like that too. It’s all just about TTRPGs, so whoever you turn to is usually up for diving into that. It felt comfortable chatting with folks across the board, and everyone I talked to seemed really happy to get into TTRPGs as games, as a field, etc. as a starting point, and that common ground was cool to have.
This felt like a good space to be in, and, to those of you who I hung out with, thank you for helping make this con a wonderful experience. I think I could have still had a good time going to just the planned con events, but it was made something particularly special and memorable because of getting to be around y’all. I’m glad to have spent time with you.
Where to next?
Onward to the next convention!
You can catch me next at U-Con, a local convention in Michigan, from Nov 14-16 where I’ll be boothing.
Then, you can find me at Pax Unplugged from Nov 21 – 23 where I’ll be part of a talk or three about TTRPGs x EDU and running A Construct’s Nature and StoryGuider in the Access Forward Gaming Lounge!
See you then!
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