Gaming convention

A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel.

The annual gamescom in Cologne is the world's leading expo for video games. The largest gaming convention, Spiel, is a trade fair held in Essen, Germany that focuses on German-style board games and RPGs. A similarly large event is Festival Ludique International de Parthenay (FLIP), a games festival held over twelve days in France.

While games are often a large part of science fiction conventions and other hobby conventions, gaming conventions are distinguished by focusing on games and game-industry guests. The Penny Arcade Expo is the largest gaming convention in the US, with over 70,000 attendees at both its East (Boston) and Prime (Seattle) events. Gen Con has an emphasis on RPGs and features events for RPGs, CCGs, miniatures and boardgames with 56,614 unique attendees over four days in 2014.Origins focuses on miniatures wargames and boardgames with 12,902 unique attendees in 2014, but also has a large component of RPG and CCG players. DragonCon is an example of a large convention with a focus on popular culture and comics that includes a large gaming contingent and 35,000-40,000 attendees, but isn't dedicated solely as a gaming convention. A smaller genre of gaming conventions are those devoted to the hobby of historical miniature wargaming, many of which are sponsored by the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society.

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