METAGAME 2025
|

A conference about game design, strategy, narrative, and play. Join us September 12-14 in Berkeley, California.

GET YOUR TICKET

What is Metagame?

Metagame is a weekend conference devoted to games. We mean games in the broadest sense of the word: any experience that is designed to be played, as opposed to passively consumed. This includes board games, card games, videogames, tabletop games, LARPs, puzzles, rock climbing routes, and more. If building it involves asking the question "what would the consumer of this experience choose to do next?", it's a game.

My guess is the event will lean extremely toward the "communal, chaotic, unconference-y" end of the professionalism spectrum, with a lot of the [sessions? experiences? internal plot devices?] designed by attendees.

This is not a 🟡coincidence, because nothing is ever a 🟡coincidence.

September 2025
S
M
T
W
Th
F
S
Lighthaven

Run something

We will provide the venue, the resources, and the very eager audience, and you can run whatever experimental game concept you've been toying with.

Need a weirdly shaped space to build a gradient descent themed escape room? Want to run a game design tournament where you provide the board and pieces and contestants come up with the rules? Looking for hundreds of willing subjects for a social deception experiment that isn't quite ready for prime time?

Metagame is the conference for you.

Dooooo it

Speakers

Loading Speakers...

Sponsors

Gold

Sovereign logo

Silver

RECON logo
Morty logo

Grab a ticket!

Player

Full access to the event, including participating in the megagame

$580

Day Pass

Single day pass - choose a day

$150-250

Volunteer

Volunteer for 1-6 shifts for a free or reduced price ticket. May preclude participation in the megagame.

$0+

Student

Student ticket

$275

Financial Aid

Financial assistance

$0-290

Supporter

We will name a game after you

$2048

Sound fun? Want to take part?

Thinking about sponsoring us, or maybe partnering with us? Something else in mind?

GET INVOLVED!