The Game Crafter Press Release - SaltCON and the Ion Award Competition

From the Game Crafter Website

Being a game designer can be tough at times, especially when you are trying to promote your game or make connections with people in the industry. One important tool you can use to help you break down some of those barriers is a game design competition. 

SaltCON is an annual board gaming convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, where you can enter a game design competition specifically for unpublished games, the Ion Award competition. They also have a great game library, volunteers who teach games and various other gaming events to help attendees have fun and meet new people.

This year SaltCON is being held on March 28-30th, 2014. You can attend the convention and check out the Ion Award competition and then submit your game for the 2015 competition. The Ion Award finalists are invited to come and present their game in person to the judges, who then spend time playing the game with the designer. The judges are publishers in the board game industry. They fill out feedback forms for the finalists and the finalists get to talk to them in person. Multiple Ion Award winners have been published.

One of the other events that will also be taking place is a Game Jam Prototyping event sponsored by The Game Crafter. On the first day of the convention teams of contestants will be given the parameters, a theme, maybe a game mechanic, materials (some of which are prototyping materials supplied by The Game Crafter) and a goal. These teams will create a prototype and then present this to the judges on the final day of the convention. The guest judges will be publishers and other experts in the board game industry. There will be a prize sponsored by The Game Crafter, but the real prize will be the experience, the feedback from judges and other teams, and the ongoing discussion with other creative peers at the event. 

If you are looking for some inspiration, come check out the Ion Award, the Game Jam Prototyping event, The Game Crafter components, and possibly play the prototypes of the Ion Award finalists at Salt Con 2014!

The Game Crafter is also sponsoring a Designer’s Table at SaltCON for Derrick Duncan from Ye Olde Games. If you are planning to attend, be sure to stop by the vendor tables and meet a fellow game designer from the TGC community!