LinCon 2026: Part One

Thank you for a fantastic LinCon 2026! 

LinCon is a yearly gaming convention in Linköping in Sweden taking place each year during the Ascension Weekend. For four days the University of Linköping is transformed into a gaming paradise where gamers from near and far come to hang out and play games with new and old friends. 

I attended again this year with my kids and we had a blast.

The oldest and I joined Martin Rundkvist's High Society Tournament Friday. Neither of us had played this Reiner Knizia classic before and while I did poorly, my kid took the first prize and won a copy of the game. Beating several seasoned players after watching a YouTube tutorial was preparation time well spent. I liked that we got to play — and talk — with everyone during the tournament. My son also played his very first game of Magic the Gathering. 

My youngest made new friends and enjoyed showing off her many pins and trading for new ones. She also joined drop in games that she enjoyed. Both helped me out at the events I organised. Not long before they will run their own events?

This being LinCon, we also drank a good deal of tea and had a traditional LinCon burger.

Running games

I hosted and played five of my own games over the three days we attended. Neither Draw Stranger nor Gotlandia qualified for the SAGA finals. I still think they are great games and both games found an audience at LinCon. Not qualifying meant that I could focus on running my own games. It was great to see how people engaged with and enjoyed the games. New this year, I also sold a few games.

I’ve been out of a full time day job for almost one year now and I want to move from games being a hobby to games being also a source of income. I truly enjoy creating, running and playing games. I would love to keep doing this and keep having fun doing it while also having a bit of income for the family expenses.

So demoing Petroglyph and Draw Stranger at LinCon and seeing people paying for a copy and walking away happy was important for me. It shows that not only can I create games that people enjoy playing, but I can also frame our meeting such that people will be happy to compensate me not only for my expenses but also for my time and skill.

Gamers' paradise

I will deep dive into the board games and story game events I organised and my reflections in two later posts. But I also had time to browse some of the many amazing games offered at LinCon. So let me start by sharing some pictures that illustrate how truly awesome LinCon is and why you should swing by next year if you can.

Read Part Two and Part Three.