Gamehole Con, held at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin last weekend, has been experiencing steady growth, and bills itself as “the largest majority-RPG gaming convention in the world.” With over 6000 attendees this year, up from around 5500 in 2024, the show draws fewer attendees than the biggest tabletop gaming shows, Gen Con, Pax Unplugged, MagicCon, and Origins Game Fair, but more than many smaller shows.
The Gamehole Con RPG focus is a great fit for Wisconsin, the birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons. Gary Con, organized by E. Gary Gygax’ son Luke Gygax is held each spring in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, drew over 3500 attendees this year (see “ICv2 Interview: Luke Gygax“).
Organizer Alex Kammer expressed surprise at this year’s growth given the drop-off in international attendees this year (a phenomenon that was also visible at Gen Con). “Attendance is up, which is great given the real-world challenges we’re all facing,” Kammer told us. “We’ve lost many, many international attendees that come every year and they’re not here this year. We’re very happy to be up any margin, and the fact that we’re up 10% is delightful and very surprising, quite frankly. Kammer said other countries with fewer attendees this year included Canada and Italy.
The number of exhibitors has also been growing, although the organizers cap them in proportion to the number of attendees, whittling the number down from the number of applications, which is typically two to three times the number of available slots, Kammer said. In addition to managing the number of exhibitors, organizers also seek a good mix of exhibitor types and have solid representation from board game and miniature game companies.
In addition to the exhibit hall and gaming, the convention also featured around 25 guests, including internationally known names.
Gamehole Con was founded over 10 years ago, and is named for the basement where the organizers used to play, with a nod to Tolkien and his reference in The Hobbit to a hobbit-hole, which he wrote “means comfort.”
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