Hey Reader!

Heather Newton here.

Can you believe Protospiel Online first became an open-to-the-public online convention 5 years ago?

If I didn’t have our date-planning spreadsheet open in one of my (many) browser tabs as we speak, I might not believe it either. But it’s true! Our 5-year anniversary of the first open-to-the-public Protospiel Online playtesting convention was last week, July 17th, 2025.

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So many things have changed and so many have stayed the same since July 2020. It’s wild to look back on it and gratifying to think about all the people I’ve gotten to meet, playtest with, and bring on as helpers for Team PO.

Dealing with all the background tech and coordination can be an enormous headache, but all the games, conversations, and fun times it allows me to have with all of you continues to pull me forward. 💜

For those who don’t know my husband, Will, he’s a data scientist with a PhD in math. Since 2022, he’s worked behind the scenes to allow us to collect lots of cool stats. Here are some 5-year numbers worth celebrating!

Since July 2020:

• $5403.03 given to our 6 fundraiser charities
• 2,685 playtest sessions
• 1,811 badges sold
• 927 community newsletter subscribers
• 711 Discord members

A PO team member recently said they believe our community has an above-average kindness quotient.

My personal, un-provable theory is that most people are looking for opportunities to be kind. Sometimes the only thing they need is for someone to be kind to them first. I love being a part of a space where kindness is prioritized and allowed to build on itself.

Thank you to all of the PEOPLE who make our PLAYTEST community the fun and friendly online space our attendees love coming back to!

Would you like to celebrate with us? Come on over to Bluesky and share a memory from a past Protospiel Online convention!

If you don't already have an account on Bluesky, you can join through our starter pack to automatically follow some Protospiel Online Alumni + the 🎲✂️ feed (🎲=game ✂️=design), where there's been lots of active tabletop design conversation lately.

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📣Announcements Announcements Annooouuuncements!

Badges for Protospiel Online Aug 22-24 2025 Now Available 🎉

Ready to get back together with the community for some PO playtesting?

Badges are on sale now with early bird pricing available through Aug 11, 2025 @ 11:59pm EST.

If you're inviting a friend, don't forget to visit the Referral Coupons section of your account page while logged in to the PO website to find your personal sharable link.

See you there?

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Here are some currently open opportunities for the tabletop industry:

• ​Applications open until July 31 for GAMA's Horizon Fellowship! DEI folks getting started publishing tabletop games, running a retail store, or generally looking for mentorship are encouraged to apply to receive:
  • Monthly educational sessions
  • 1:1 mentorship
  • Travel stipends to GAMA Expo & Origins Game Fair
• Indie Games Night Market @ PAX Unplugged: Applications open until August 1st https://www.newmillindustries.com/ignm-app​
• Lunarpunk Games Midnight Market is coming November 2025 ​
• Panda GM 25 in 25 manufacturing sponsorship submissions open ​
• The Game Crafter Cast of Characters Challenge, submissions open through Sept. 29th ​

Happy gaming!
~Heather

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P.S. If you have something you'd like to see featured in our Community Newsletter, you have 3 options -- either submit an official feature request, reply to this message, or, if you're a current attendee or alumni, post in the #🙌share-your-wins channel in the Protospiel Online Discord server to let us know the details. We'd love to celebrate you!

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