Proto Alley FAQ

Have a question not answered here? Email us at protomanager@terminalcitycon.ca. We’re happy to help!

We cannot guarantee that attendees will visit and playtest your game, but Proto Alley tables are positioned in the middle of the venue and see a lot of attention. In 2026 we had over 2,300 unique attendees and we’re expecting even more for 2027 – plan for breaks accordingly!

You can schedule your own Proto Alley experience. Some designers are at their tables when Proto Alley opens at 10:00 am until Proto Alley closes at 6:00 pm every day; some take breaks to see the rest of TCTC.

You are allowed to continue demoing games outside of the 10-6 pm Exhibitor hours if you choose. Just remember that it’s a long weekend – pace yourself!

How you want to run your playtests is your decision, and what you will be looking to get feedback on is also your decision. You can focus on one aspect that you need to test, or the full game. You can focus on reaching a new audience, or testing your rules. Please keep in mind though, you are in a large, potentially loud convention hall with attendees that may play your game, and some that will just want to learn details. Plan accordingly, and feel free to ask our Proto Alley Manager or in the Terminal City Tabletop Convention Discord for designers’ experiences in Proto Alley.

Your table comes with 2 exhibitor badges; additional badges are available for purchase if needed.

Proto Alley exhibitors are not expected to have any sort of banners, vertical signage, or large signage around their table.

If you do choose to have signage, please ensure it doesn’t take up space you do not have or affect your neighbours. Keep in mind that you will be at a 6’ table with more 6’ tables immediately beside you, and set up in a small space.

Your table comes with a black tablecloth. If you have one you use yourself, you can use that instead.

We provide 3-4 chairs per table, 2 on either side.

You are welcome to decorate your own table as long as it doesn’t block the aisle or negatively impact another designer’s table.

Tables are rectangular, 6 feet x 30 inches. They are arranged end-to-end in rows, so you will have at least one neighbour; possibly two.

Publishers who attend TCTC are under no obligation to listen to pitches, present themselves as publishers, or purchase games. Exhibiting in Proto Alley does not guarantee that your game will be purchased by any publishers who come to TCTC.

If you want to pitch your game to a publisher, we recommend putting together a sell sheet and pitching to publishers through their websites – publishers who are “in the market” for a new game will typically have a place for you to submit designs online. Every publisher looks for something different – here and here are two somewhat elaborate examples, plus a very helpful master list from Pam Walls Game Design.

Within Proto Alley, pitch your game to anyone who stops by your booth as if they were someone who could buy your game, and treat all players as if they could be a publisher. It’s great practice!

Keep your pitch concise and clear. Follow the ABCs – Accuracy, Brevity, and Clarity. Leave out generic adjectives like “fun” and “exciting” – your game is unique, your pitch needs to show it! Try to keep your table pitch to under a minute or 2-3 sentences that cover your theme, the mechanics, the number of players, and time expected.

Practice your pitch regularly (you can also run it by our Proto Alley Manager for feedback). Remember: attendees may only stop at your table for a moment; you have to make that moment count!

It can, really. Practice pitching yourself an already-published game, then go check its website or BGG page to see what its official tagline or hook is – those are types of pitches, meant to entice players to pick up their games! If you need any assistance with a pitch, reach out to our Proto Alley Manager (protomanager@terminalcitycon.ca) – they can assist you with your pitch!

The core purpose of exhibiting at Proto Alley is to gain feedback about your game under development. You should have a clear idea of what you are looking for with testing the game. Are you testing player count limits? How turns play out? Specific mechanics?

You should share as much information as you are comfortable sharing about your game, but at minimum this should enough for someone to be able to play your game and give you useful feedback. Are you looking for art feedback? Rule feedback?

Imagine yourself on the player side, looking at your prototype, and what you would need to hear to engage with the game.

While it is true that some bad actors out there do this, most game designers are more interested in designing their own work. Plus – if you never talk about your game for fear of theft, you won’t be able to market it either. Take the leap!

Photography is allowed at TCTC as a whole, and official photographers will be roaming to document the weekend.

That said, attendees should be respectful and ask for consent before taking pictures, and you can request that they not photograph your prototype.

If you have concerns about photography at your Proto Alley table, please talk to a volunteer or the Proto Alley Manager right away.

You never need to, but if your game has progressed far enough in its development that you are considering crowdfunding, it’s a good way to stay in attendees’ minds. Some examples have been:

• Extra cards that go with your game
• Small stickers or temporary tattoos that match your game or theme
• Small toys or trinkets that match your game
• A handout or postcard with information about your game, any fundraising coming up, or a newsletter sign-up link

Please do NOT hand out:

• Candy
• Drinks
• Food
• Choking hazards

It depends on the intent of your handout. If you are looking to speak with publishers to buy your game, you will want a Sell Sheet (Fluxx’s Sell Sheet, for example). This should be one page, and include all your key information such as game name, tagline or hook, a brief overview, core mechanics, players, required components, and designer information. It should be easy to read and engaging.

If you have crowdfunding upcoming, your handout should include information about where and when that will be. Think about what you want people to take away from interacting with your game, and send that with them.

It only needs to be playable. That can mean handwritten cards in sleeves with a chipboard backing making them more rigid, or a game board made of taped-together printer paper. It just needs to be a playable prototype!

You are not competing with your neighbour.

It can feel tough to have a paper and pen style prototype when someone next to you is at their Art Pass phase, but keep in mind that we have designers and games at all levels of prototyping – someone’s Mechanics Test doesn’t look the same as someone else’s Art Pass.

Your game should be playable, regardless of how it looks. Our judges are established industry professionals who are capable of seeing the vision of the game and judging it fairly in regards to what is presented and what its potential is.

Generally speaking, a Golden Arbutus entry should focus more on polished mechanics – your rules should make sense to someone reading them without you helping, your game should be in a state that can be played with little to no assistance from you, and your pitch should be a concise 1-2 minutes max.