Hey Reader!

AnnaMaria Phelps here.

Open Call for designers in the San Jose area! This year marks the third Game Market West - an event for small publishers and designers to present their games to the public. Last year’s event boasted 30 designers and almost 400 attendees. Games presented included everything from contemplative solo games to food-themed card games and even zombie driven tabletop adventures!

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A diverse group of designers was featured, and many mentioned how warm and welcoming the audience was and that the Grindhouse was an outstanding venue for demoing and sharing their passion for games. The organizers reached out to Protospiel Online directly to invite designers to the event, saying “Protospiel has great indie designers who may not be aware this is a viable option for their games.”

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You can find the form for the next event (September) here! Questions can be sent to Johnny Chin.

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Tariffs (and how they’ll affect you as a game designer)
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​There has been a lot of discourse about tariff increases in the US over the past few weeks. A number of publishers and game news outlets have published blogs and articles on how they may affect our industry. This week, Cardboard Edison included an insightful article in their newsletter, which includes some thoughts on how these changes may affect designers directly.

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Brooks Barber’s trick-taking game Sykes-Picot is being released by Hollandspiele this month! Check out Amabel's release announcement video for more details. ​ The next installment of Scattered Nexus, Eli Beaird's card battler featuring factions from indie comics, launched on Backerkit this week!

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📣Announcements Announcements Annooouuuncements!

Protospiel Online May 2025 badges on sale now!! Early Bird pricing available through Mon, May 5, 2025 @ 11:59pm EDT.

Our new Minigame Monday Twitch streams run every Monday at 1 PM US Eastern. Watch live or catch the YouTube replay to see which prototypes are featured in this week's puzzle!

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PNW Tabletop Game Market @ PAX West is currently taking applications for exhibitors through April 18th.

Unpub Mentorship Program, accepting applications until April 21st.

Deck Hand Game Design Contest accepting submissions until April 27th.

Kickstarter is promoting Micro game campaigns in May. Sign up to get your campaign featured!

The Game Crafter Design Contest - GeoFacts Challenge - Submissions open until June 9th.​
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​2025 IGDN Diversity Sponsorship applications open through July 11th. Visit IGDN's Diversity Sponsorship page for information on the scholarship and to donate.
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Lunarpunk Games Midnight Market submissions open.

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That's it for this week!
~AnnaMaria

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

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