Gem State Gaming Convention

07/02/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended GSGC 2026!

Play to Win Game & Giveaways have all been notified by email -- you can pick up your prizes at Phoenix Fire Games!

Send a message to learn more

06/26/2026

Don’t forget — we are in Caldwell this year!

There is a parking lot across from the venue, and overflow parking in the grass next to it, as well as down the street!

We are so excited to be moving out to The Center this year!

Not only will this give us some outside space to play with this summer, but our RPG tables will now be in the same building! The Center has several large meeting rooms across the hallway from the main expo hall, where our RPG games and panels will be taking place.

The main hall will host our Realms & Relics Merchant Marketplace (a fantasy and gaming themed marketplace, open to the public!), and all of our non-RPG gaming -- TCG's, wargames, board games, party games, and more! Our Play-to-Win Library is being assembled as we speak, our demo library is being updated, and we're collecting everything for our VIP Swag Bags as we speak!

We'll share some more photos after our next visit to the venue. Let us know if there's anything in particular you'd like to see!

06/23/2026

Weekend Gamers Get a Game!

OP Games has generously sponsored this year's convention and provided us enough copies to give to every Weekend* and VIP Badge!

To our dedicated, Weekend-long gamers: Thank you for your continued support!

To our dedicated VIP gamers, who love getting the extra swag -- we have great news for you! In addition to a copy of Tap 4, you'll also receive an ADDITIONAL board game in your VIP Swag Bag! These will be games we haven't given out before, and are being provided by Phoenix Fire Games

Choose your VIP game from a variety of options at check-in when you pick up your Swag Bag!

*While Supplies Last; Does not include One-Day Badges

06/19/2026

We are super excited to be bringing back so many lovely vendors and event hosts this year, and to be welcoming new ones!

This year we'll have:
- 30+ Fantasy, pop culture, artist, and gaming Vendors in the Vendor Hall (which is free to shop!)
- Phoenix Fire Games returns as our primary convention sponsor! And will be hosting a painting workshop, amongst other board game events!
- The Mystic & The Mage is bringing MTG, Riftbound, One Piece, and YuGiOh events to the TCG Arena! There will be a Marvel Super Heroes Draft, high stakes tournaments, and weekend long Commander Bingo League!
- ProSoul Games is hosting Lorcana, Flesh & Blood, and board game events!
- Roll & Respawn & Idaho Melee have teamed up to host our Video Game Room, with PC, Switch, and Smash Bros Melee events and Free Play
- Questline will be hosting bunch of quests for free and badge attendees. Complete quests to receive both physical and digital rewards, and see your character's name rise to the top of the leaderboards!
- Envoy has provided us with a variety of games for our Play to Win Library, and each one will be given out by the end of the weekend!
- Anime ID Convention is hosting a Cosplay Contest on Sunday!
- Also on Sunday, our annual Board Game Swap Meet happens! We encourage our attendees to register for a swap meet table and bring in board games they want to buy, sell, or trade from 12pm - 3pm. Vendor Hall shoppers can pick up their favorite new and used board games from fellow gamers!

And don't even get us started on all the incredible RPG and board game events that our attendees and volunteers are hosting this year -- check out the schedule and buy a badge today!

06/11/2026

OUR VIP BADGES ARE SOLD OUT!!

We are so delighted to have you all, and will be putting together the Swag Bags as everything arrives over the next few weeks. Thank you so much for supporting GSGC!

Regular Weekend, One Day, and Family Badges are still available! Grab one from the link in our bio!

04/27/2026

Hi, gamers! Based on feedback from our community, there will be no combat robots at GSGC this year.

We know the noise from the fighting robots has been a big point of friction (and in some cases, even a deciding factor) for some of you in returning to GSGC. Creating a comfortable and enjoyable environment is a top priority for us, so we're taking steps to address that.

We are currently exploring other, much quieter, ways to work with the Idaho Robot Combat League moving forward, and will share that when we're able!

While the League may still make an appearance in some of our media or info areas, we won't be hosting a tournament until we can find a suitable sound management solution.

If you enjoyed the robots or are interested in STEM or robotics, we absolutely encourage you to check them out and support their future events and workshops!

https://ircl-io.github.io/

Thank you for your feedback and for helping us continue to improve GSGC 🤖💚

04/21/2026

The GSGC site has received a bit of a makeover!

Our new logo and more information about the Realms & Relics Merchant Marketplace are now up for your reading and viewing consumption! We hope you like them as much as we do!

Vendor applications for the Realms & Relics Merchant Marketplace -- our vendor hall of fantasy, rpg, and gaming-themed vendors -- are still open! We'll be sending out notifications to those who have applied already by the end of this week, so apply now to throw your name in the hat!

The Marketplace will be FREE TO ENTER for shoppers without a badge this year, and we're promoting it both separately and in conjunction with the convention to expand our reach!

04/16/2026

The board game library will be receiving a much needed update this year! Give us your ideas in the comments!

What are some of your favorite games, or convention go-to's?
If you've attended GSGC recently, what games were we missing that we absolutely need to add?
What games should we add to the Play to Win library?
What are some of your favorite games of 2024 + 2025?
What are some of your favorite games this year, so far?
Is there anything coming out in May/June that we should make sure we get a copy of?

Let us know in the comments! We'll be combing through this post to create our shopping list :)