Protospiel
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Protospiel is a series of unaffiliated board game design conventions hosted in a number of cities, mostly in the United States and Canada. A protospiel attendee is typically a game designer or playtester. A game designer will bring a prototype game designs to play and test with other designers and playtesters. A protospiel is typically two or three days long. Protospiels can be both in-person or virtual.[1]
The name protospiel is a portmanteau of the English word "prototype" and the German word for game, "spiel".
History[edit]
The idea of a game designer convention originated with game designer Stephen Glenn.[2] The first protospiel convention (spelled ProtoSpiele at that time) was held on July 26–29, 2001 in Charlottesville, Virginia,[3] and was organized by Glenn, Dominic Crapuchette, and Mike Petty,[4]:76 and also attended by designers Greg Diagle, and Terry Carr.
In 2002 the event was moved to East Lansing, Michigan in the lower-level of a board game store, The Fortress.[5] In addition to game designers, the 2002 convention attracted the attention of major board game publishers, including Mayfair Games.[6] Organized by Mike Petty from 2002 to 2007, the event stayed in the Lansing/Okemos area for several years. David Whitcher began organizing Protospiel in 2008, moving it to Ann Arbor and eventually Chelsea.[7] David hosted the event through 2019.[8]
Events[edit]
A protospiel typically occurs over the course of a 2 to 3 days held in a hotel or small convention center.[9] Designers and playtesters typically purchase a badge for entry to the convention for a day or for the entire event.
Generally, protospiels do not have a fixed schedule of events and do not have a playtester-designer matchmaking process. Instead, designers solicit players throughout the course the event to test their games.
Unlike other game conventions, formal seminars or meetings are disfavored. Instead, some protospiels will include an educational seminar series before an official protospiel, such as Crafter Con.[10]
Current Protospiels[edit]
Protospiels are held throughout the year in various cities including:
- Chicago, Illinois
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Michigan
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- San Jose, California
- Toronto (a.k.a. Protospiel North)
Other gaming conventions have incorporated protospiel events as part of a more general convention such as KublaCon[11] and DunDraCon.[12]
Notable protospiel games[edit]
A number of board games that were playtested at a protospiel[13] have gone on to be successful, including[14]
- Wits & Wagers[4]:76
- Say Anything
- Cartographers
- Mage Wars Arena
- Return to Dark Tower
- Evolution
- The Manhattan Project[15]
- Santorini
- Roll Player
- Pandemic: Rapid Response
References[edit]
- ↑ "Protospiel.Online". Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Stephen Glenn | Board Game Designer | BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "ProtoSpiele". www.thegamesjournal.com. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Woods, Stewart (2012). Eurogames. McFarland and Company. ISBN 9780786467976. Search this book on
- ↑ Petty, Mike (25 October 2004). "Protospiele 2002". Archived from the original on 2004-10-25. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Glastyn Games – Protospiel 2002". 2003-04-07. Archived from the original on 2003-04-07. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
- ↑ "Looking Back at Protospiel". docs.google.com. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
- ↑ Whitcher, David (May 2019). "Web Archive of Protospiel.org". Archived from the original on 2019-05-06.
- ↑ "Organizing a Protospiel Event". Protospiel.Events. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Crafter Con". Crafter Con. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "KublaCon 2022 Protospiel | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, South San Francisco, CA | May 27 to May 30". happeningnext.com.
- ↑ "Protospiel". www.dundracon.com. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Published Protospiels". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Do You Protospiel?". League of Gamemakers. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved November 28, 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The Manhattan Project". Board Game Geek. Unknown parameter
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External links[edit]
Protospiel Conventions[edit]
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