Hey Reader!

Emily Vincent here.

I know many of us are looking for help in getting our games out there, whether it's connecting to a publisher or self-publishing. There are a couple of cool opportunities in the next month that might help you on these journeys, so today I'm sharing these opportunities in case you missed them!

​Panda Next Big Game Giveaway (Gen Con)

Panda is looking to manufacture the Next Big Game. This is a contest that's specific for folks who are attending Gen Con, since the ask is that you visit the Panda Lounge during Gen Con to tell them about your game. This then enters you into a daily drawing, where each selected winner will receive $1000 off of manufacturing from Panda.

Visiting the Panda Lounge is a great way to talk to someone about how you could manufacture your game. Panda is also hosting a number of free seminars on key manufacturing topics during Gen Con. The Panda Lounge is located in the Westin 1st Floor and is open from 9 AM - 6 PM daily.

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​UnPub Online Speed Pitch

There's also a major Gen Con event that doesn't require attending Gen Con! The Unpublished Games Network is hosting two online speed pitches on August 29th, one for Medium/Heavy games and one for Light/Party games. This is an opportunity to pitch your game to 10-12 publishers from the comfort of Discord and after the craziness of Gen Con itself is over.

I've participated in one of these and it was an amazing experience. You only get about 8 minutes with each publisher and it's highly timed, so it's a great idea to have no more than 3 minutes of "pitch" and then be ready to have a good (and quick) conversation. I made a number of helpful connections from the event and have a larger network of publishers that I can reach out to about my games.

Interested designers must submit their game by Aug 23rd and no more than 12 designers will be selected from each category. Because of the size restrictions, entry is competitive.

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​PAX Rising Applications are Open

For those attending PAX Unplugged in December, the PAX Rising applications are now open! PAX Rising is a curated collection of games selected by the PAX Team and highlighted on the show floor. It is also sponsored by Kickstarter. This is a cool opportunity for new games that are being self-published to get massive exposure with free demo space on the show floor and badges for the event. It's highly competitive and has an entry fee of $50. Applications are due September 6th.

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📣Announcements Announcements Annooouuuncements!

GenCon is this week! If you will be there, a few of our Discord community members shared how you can find them and/or their games while attending:

Jamie Sabriel:​
I'll be working at the Friendly Skeleton booth #2343 all weekend in the event hall, demoing some games!

JeffGrisenthwaite:​
​I'll be demoing Positano in the SlugFest booth #1219!
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This was the first game that I brought to a Protospiel Online about 18 months ago, and everyone was so helpful with their feedback. The Kickstarter will be in late August or September.

Connor Wake:​
Hedge Mage is being demoed at the Floodgate booth #439, and you can sign up for Hedge Mage events here.

Jonathan Chaffer:​
Grand Gamers Guild at booth 2829 will have Ovation by Kirsten Lunde, Tír na nÓg by Jason Slingerland & Isaac Shalev, and my Holiday Hijinks games.

Jaime Browne:​
I'll be at the First Exposure Playtest Hall with both games I've brought to Protospiel Online. I'll also be in the Indie Game Alliance booth for an hour a day.

Mattie Schraeder:​
I'll be with Indie Game Alliance most the convention!

Jack Rosetree:
​I'll be at the Op exhibit hall booth #135 most of the time.🙂

David N. Ross:​
My husband and I will be there with a cooperative story card game we co- designed, Pax Ad Astra. I'll also be covering the Adventure-A-Week Games booth #374 briefly (I'm an RPG rules developer for them).

Shanti Pothapragada:​
I will be there! Mostly looking for Witches' Quarrel playtesters in the open gaming areas, hoping to find people to go through the entire legacy campaign 😛

Emily Vincent:​
I'll be at booth #403 with Flatout Games demoing Knitting Circle 10 AM - 2 PM each day. You might remember Knitting Circle from Protospiel Online last year :-) Then I'll just be hanging out and playing games!

Dylan Coyle:​
Check out Charming Games at booth #2960. Come try Doom Cat, Park Life, Otter (a cute climbing shedding game), and maybe get a peek at Wandering Monsters 2 and Dragon Tech. Look for the big Doom Cat poster in the Entrepreneurs Avenue!

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That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more awesome events, community opportunities, and updates about games tested at Protospiel!

~Emily

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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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