Origins Game Fair

Nominate your local game store for the Power Retail Awards!

GAMA and the Retail Division take great pride in honoring the best in retail innovation and creativity with the Power Retail Awards. Each year, these awards recognize the most innovative retailers in a variety of categories.

Winners are announced each year during GAMA EXPO. Winners receive a complimentary one year membership to GAMA and recognition in the online GAMA database and the Spring issue of Around the Table. Deadline extended until 12/25!

Tell us about a store that:
Welcomes new players
Builds community
Runs great events
Helps you discover amazing games
Does this sound like your favorite local store?

Nominate today! https://bit.ly/2RL0DA3

Why Game Store Day is Great for the Community

"Game Store Day is a great way to get your community focused on the in-store experience of an flgs, draw attention to your location and kick-off giving people the idea of using board games as their go-to gift for the holidays.”
-Neil Goldberg, Main St. Board Game Cafe and Gatsby’s Game Cafe, Long Island, NY

Retailers: Join Game Store Day today and be featured by GAMA!

Who inspires you?
GAMA Inspirations Awards are designed to honor and recognize members of the tabletop gaming community- both GAMA members and non-members- who are working to make our industry a better, more welcoming, more inclusive space. Some candidates may do so by producing amazing work as historically excluded people; others may directly work to diversify the space and include new voices.
Submission deadline is October 31.
Nominate today: https://buff.ly/vZhPuu0

Game Store Day Store Feature!

"For 2026, Oddwillow's is partnering with our local library, the Mukwonago Community Library, for Game Store Day! MCL will be in store for a button making station using materials from their makerspace, MetaSpace 511.
Also in honor of our library, and to offer a fun activity for younger children, we'll be having a character actress portraying Princess Belle! Princess Belle will be taking photos, playing games, hosting storytimes, and mingling with guests! In addition to these activities we'll be hosting a miniature paint, game demos, gift basket drawings, and encouraging kids to check out our in-house children's organized play program for Dungeons and Dragons, the Halfling Adventurer's Guild (HAG)!"
-Oddwillows Game Haven, Mukwonago, Wisconsin

If you are in the Mukwonago area, make sure to visit Oddwillow's Game Haven on November 7!
Retailers: Join Game Store Day today and be featured by GAMA!
Visit gamestoreday.com for more info.

A special moment at Origins Game Fair 2026.
Mike Pondsmith, creator of the Cyberpunk universe, pauses to watch James Portnow demo his game, Cyberpunk Legends at Origins, a game inspired by the world Mike created.
Seeing one creator stop by to experience another's work is what makes moments like these so special. Games have a way of bringing people, ideas, and creators together around the same table. Moments like this are what make Origins memorable.

One of those special places. A destination for 5 days in June! Join us this year. The possibilities are endless! powered by The Game Manufacturers Association - GAMA

Every June, downtown Columbus turns into a city of dice, cards and painted miniatures as tens of thousands of players take over an entire convention center. Origins Game Fair has been anchored at the Greater Columbus Convention Center since 1996, and it has grown into one of North America's largest tabletop gaming events. The 2025 edition drew more than 19,000 attendees across five days of play.

Run by the nonprofit Game Manufacturers Association, the fair covers board games, roleplaying games, miniatures, wargames, trading card games and live action roleplay, plus tournaments, seminars, workshops, a film festival and live performances. Cosplayers roam the halls, publishers demo games that have not hit shelves yet, and designers and industry pros are genuinely accessible. The annual Origins Awards ceremony, honoring the best new releases in the hobby, also takes place here. The event traces its roots to a 1975 gathering in Baltimore before finding a permanent home in Ohio. Whether you are a lifelong wargamer or someone who just discovered modern board games, there is a table waiting. Have you visited Origins Game Fair?

⭐Origins Game Fair
📍 400 N High St, Columbus, OH 43215

Who inspires you?
GAMA Inspirations Awards are designed to honor and recognize members of the tabletop gaming community- both GAMA members and non-members- who are working to make our industry a better, more welcoming, more inclusive space. Some candidates may do so by producing amazing work as historically excluded people; others may directly work to diversify the space and include new voices.
Submission deadline is October 31.
Nominate today: https://buff.ly/vZhPuu0

It’s National Arts in Education Week and arts education can’t wait.
This week, we joined the call for Congress to fully fund the five federal arts education funding streams, maintain funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and protect access to the arts for every student and every community, from PreK-12 through higher education.

Arts education helps students build creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and confidence. These skills extend far beyond the classroom and help shape the next generation of creators and innovators.

At GAMA: The Tabletop Game Association, we see the power of education and creative learning and its impact on the tabletop game industry. From GAMA’s Education and Professional Development programs and GAMA Expo education and seminars to Origins Game Fair’s classes, workshops, and Game Based Education & Therapy Conference, tabletop games provide opportunities to learn, connect and create.

When you invest in arts and education, you invest in the creative communities of tomorrow.

📣 Take action and urge lawmakers to support arts education:
https://buff.ly/KV9RPYe

We’re grateful to the publishers participating in the Game Store Day Publishers Box and helping us celebrate the retailers at the heart of the tabletop gaming community. Your support helps make this celebration even bigger!

The Publishers Box is packed with over $650 MSRP worth of games, promos, and more!

The momentum is building, with more than 200 stores already registered for Game Store Day 2026!
Retailers, don’t miss your chance to be part of it! Join stores across the U.S. and Canada on November 7.

Register your store today and join the growing Game Store Day community! https://buff.ly/2nHkIIO