Analog Game Studies

This article examines tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) activities at Gen Con, the original, longest-running gaming convention in the world with 70,000+ annual attendees as of 2023 to document two key characteristics of Gen Con RPG events over 50 years: 1) a long-term and increasing transmedia presence, and 2) an overlooked educational function as a format to teach and learn about gaming. By examining TTRPG events at Gen Con between 1968-2017 against a backdrop of 160,000+ convention program offerings, this analysis demonstrates the "knowledge work" and transmedia nature of theoretical and ethnographic scholarship about fandom.