Have you ever wondered about how modern gaming got to where it is today?
Are you interested in hearing some of the stories from game conventions that have helped shape gaming to what it is today? Do you want to learn more about how your Gen Con attendance has contributed to gaming history? The new book, Gathering of Gamers, has all of this information and more!
Releasing later this summer from publisher Play Story Press, Gathering of Gamers tells the story of tabletop and other games from 1967 through 2022. The book centers this tale around Gen Con, the world’s largest and one of the most influential analog game conventions in the world, one which many of you are preparing to participate in in just a few days.
Gathering of Gamers is written by Matt Shoemaker, trained historian, librarian, and archivist with graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee who currently heads the Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio for Temple University Libraries. Matt has worked on documentaries and other histories about D&D as an archivist and researcher, created an online history project for Gen Con’s 50th anniversary back in 2017, and recently built another online project on the history of Origins Game Fair’s 50th anniversary that just took place this past June. Matt is also a boardgame designer who has published games through his company Hit ‘Em With a Shoe which you might have stopped by at the Gen Con exhibit hall in past years.
Gen Con has been an important fixture in the development of modern tabletop games. Not just for role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, but also boardgames, collectible card games, miniature games, live action role-playing games, and others. Each year over 70,000 people make a pilgrimage to Indianapolis, Indiana to celebrate and play these games. Gathering of Gamers explores the convention through a year-by-year history.
The book not only discusses the prominent games at each annual convention, it also examines the major milestones in tabletop game development over the years, how gamer culture and the perception of gamers in society has evolved, how technology has impacted conventions and the games we play, and the relationship between game conventions and the cities and other entities that host them.
It is no secret that tabletop games, such as board games like The Settlers of Catan, card games like Dominion and Magic: The Gathering, and role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and Cyberpunk, have become a popular pastime in the United States and their ubiquity is only growing. The board game market alone is valued at over $13 billion and that figure does not include role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Gathering of Gamers narrates how we got here thanks to the role that game conventions like Gen Con played in popularizing these games.
Other topics covered in the book include how gaming conventions got started in the United States; the contentious relationship some gaming conventions had with each other; how Wizards of the Coast almost did not survive long enough to release Magic: The Gathering; why Eurogames came about as a separate style from American board games; Gen Con surviving bankruptcy; and the various factors that have helped gaming and game conventions grow into the mainstream.
This history is assembled from a close reading of various publications including zines, convention programs, websites, correspondence, dozens of interviews, and social media that surround the convention. It also takes a more distant look at the convention through data analysis of game attendance and sales of the various games and events, more than 20,000 of which are currently available at Gen Con each year. This approach makes this text useful not just to those looking to learn about the history of modern analog games, but also for those looking to attend Gen Con or other game conventions.
The book’s event analysis also goes beyond the history, giving us an insight into some of the habits of Gen Con attendees around what they choose to play and how they decide on what events to attend. If you have ever wondered what the impact of event pricing has on demand and attendance, perhaps what the impact of generic tickets are, or some other insights behind Gen Con event data, check out Gathering of Gamers to shed light on these and other questions.
Sign up here to be notified when Gathering of Gamers is released later this summer!
If you are attending Gen Con 2025 and want to hear more about the book and meet the author, Matt Shoemaker, you can join him and game historian Jon Peterson (Game Wizards, Playing at the World, Art & Arcana and other works) at noon on Friday August 1st at event SEM25ND283676 “Exploring the Process and Sources for Writing Gaming History” where they will discuss all that is involved in creating histories around gaming. See you there!
Sponsored post by Temple University Library