Starting in 2022 Meeple Mountain made an internal commitment to attend the yearly GAMA Expo trade show. This is an industry event, meaning that it’s not open to the general public. It’s a place where board game publishers rub shoulders with retailers, distributors, designers, and media (like us). The great thing is that it’s a much smaller show (only 3,800 attendees), you get quality time with the people you want to speak with, and publishers showcase the titles they’ll be releasing in the North American market for the upcoming year.
Come along with me as I chat about the things I experienced on March 1-4, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky.
TL;DR – loads of name recognition for Meeple Mountain, and even specific team members. Small box card games are the hotness right now—almost every publisher has one or two, and everyone I pointed that out to commented that it’s in response to the U.S. tariffs. And of course, like every year, friendliness and camaraderie was on high display.
Sunday
I drove in from Nashville on Sunday afternoon and hung out with team member Kevin Brantley for an hour or two. It was a bummer he couldn’t stay the whole time, but he did a presentation and was also asked to join a panel which needed someone with his experience. I got to spend time with industry folks at dinner on Sunday, and then afterwards at an impromptu hallway hangout. These “drive by meetings” (as I like to call them) are the soul of GAMA Expo, as you run into people you might never have met before, strike up a conversation, and might end up working together—all because they were talking with someone you knew.
Monday
The beginning of the week at GAMA Expo focuses on education and networking. GAMA staff spend months beforehand arranging and scheduling presentations, training, seminars, and panels that help every attendee grow in their area of expertise. Speakers include industry leading publishers and retailers, and even a presentation by yours truly; this year my presentation was on Automation. I was thrilled to have a packed room (probably 40-50 attendees) and I showcased work I’ve done to help smooth over repetitive tasks needed by the Meeple Mountain. It generated lots of great discussion, and I was able to chat with attendees for close to an hour afterwards.
Standouts for the day were my meeting with Kids Table Board Games / Burnt Island Games to play Pack & Paddle with Grant Lyon. This is an upcoming lighter family game with an outdoor camping trip theme and some really nifty gameplay.
I also got a chance to attend the Allplay media lunch and see their 2026 releases before anyone on the vendor floor. I’m really excited for Mountain Goats Legacy—I even backed it on Kickstarter.
GAMA Expo closed out the day with the Media First Look and Game Night events. The first is only open to media, and gives us a chance to chat one on one with publishers in a small setting, and demo their new releases, and even some sneak peeks. The latter is open to all attendees, takes place every night of GAMA Expo, and features a rotating cast of publishers and demo tables. Some of the standouts were:
Las Vegas – The venerable dice chucker returns! With a fresh look, and the addition of modules from the Las Vegas Boulevard expansion, Las Vegas is set to retake its rightful place at the top of the world of dice games!
Earth Express – if you’ve ever wanted to play the hugely popular tableau building card game Earth in 15 minutes.
Estate: Raise the Realm – First-time husband and wife design team released a fantasy-themed worker placement tableau building game. This one looks excellent; look for a review soon-ish,
Quebec – Capstone Games is reprinting the 2011 title from Spielworxx. Killer graphic design and greatly improved artwork make this a title to look out for.
La Cosecha – A heavy roll and write, also from Capstone Games, set in the world of La Granja, designed by the team behind The White Castle.
Gaudí – In memoriam of the 100th anniversary of the death of Antoni Gaudí, a renowned Catalan architect. Gorgeous artwork, and some really clever tile gameplay.
Symbiosis – a light card game for 4 players. Score points for cards in your pond, while also scoring points for cards in your opponents’ pond. Super easy to learn and clever to play.
Wee Folk – a light 2 player card game from Scott Brady, with a Candy Crush vibe.
Tuesday
If the beginning of the week at GAMA Expo is focused on education, the remainder of the week is all about meetings and the vendor hall. Folks with Media badges get in early so we have the opportunity to speak with publishers before the rush of retailers trying to order product and find out what games to stock in their stores.
But before I headed into the vendor hall, I took time to attend a lunch with the crew from Hachette Games, where I found some nifty new titles: Symbiosis, Leaf It, and Canal Houses.
I was also invited to participate in a “Collaborating with Content Creators” panel. The goal being to encourage discussions between content creators and publishers. Talking about best practices, meeting expectations, etc. Communication is always important!
And then into the vendor hall! While it’s not as big as Gen Con, there were still hundreds of booths and 176,000 square feet of space. Due to a scheduling mishap during GAMA Expo 2025, I wasn’t able to walk the vendor hall at all. So I committed to making up for lost time this year. I walked the entire vendor hall on Tuesday afternoon, which absolutely wrecked my feet. But I saw loads of great people, and upcoming games.
I reconnected with WizKids and got commitments to send lots of titles. Keymaster announced PARKS Europe, which looks great. Paverson Games showed off Class of ’89—a somewhat lighter game than Luthier or Distilled—that will be an insta-buy for me because that’s the year that I graduated high school! I stumbled across a really great looking old school racing game called Lacorsa. I got to meet Steve Jackson and took a picture just for my teammate K. David Ladage. I got to chat with Cole Wehrle and Kyle Ferrin from the newly formed Buried Giant Games, who told me that next year they have a “heist game” coming out. Exciting!
After a long day I went back to the hotel room and crashed!
Wednesday
Because I knew I was leaving on Wednesday afternoon, I wanted to chat with a few more people. I went back to the hall and spent time with Aron West of Elzra Games who showed off some exciting news from their studio; announcing Catacombs Alpha, meant to be a starter set for Catacombs. I also got a firsthand look at Digging for Dinos, an upcoming light tactical tile laying game from Andrew Stiles, designer of Wine Cellar.
I spent much of my remaining time going through the Asmodee booth and looking over their upcoming releases. If you like poker and Balatro, then All In: Predictions should be something you keep your eyes on. And from social media, people are raving about Cozy Stickerville, a light cooperative and town-building stickering game—there really is something for everyone.
Finally, I was fortunate enough to pick up a Relic Gaming Table that a member of our team had been asking about. I was given a tour of the features, and this thing is stunningly well engineered. The unit I brought back is made from solid walnut and is held together with super strong magnets. It’s meant to be used to elevate a gaming surface so that you can also use your primary table for other things. This would be perfect for eating and gaming at the same time, for anyone playing RPGs where you need space to spread out your materials, or anyone who loves gorgeous and useful furniture.
This is the last year for GAMA Expo in Louisville, next year it’s off to Baltimore. Next year you might see new faces as we have a number of team members for whom Maryland is local.
GAMA Expo Takeaways
As always, the vibe at GAMA Expo is one of fun, passion, and friendliness. It’s common to get pulled into conversations with people you don’t know, only to realize it’s someone you wanted to meet anyway. I spoke with several first-timers who were a bit nervous about how they’d be welcomed. Shance and Talulah, if you’re reading this, I hope your week was awesome.
From an industry perspective, small is in right now. The number of light card games, cozy tile laying games, and titles with lightweight components was high. That’s to be expected because publishers are uncertain about the state of tariffs in the United States—will they go back down, will there be refunds, etc. The great thing for me is that I LOOOOVE lighter games. I know from past experience that it’s easier to get my family engaged if there’s not too many rules, if the play time is short, and we can chit-chat while we play.
And if the few games I brought back with me are any indication, this year is going to be big (even though the games are small). If you’re in the industry and are on the fence about attending GAMA Expo, give it a shot. You’re sure to be welcomed with open arms…and will probably have those arms filled with games on your way home!
