Welcome to the Big Leagues

If you’ve never run a tournament at Gen Con, let me tell you—there’s nothing quite like it. The Indy Convention Center is buzzing, with throngs of gamers rolling dice, flipping cards, and showing off their best cosplay. BloodRunes was right there among the action, turning heads and filling tables with both seasoned rune-casters and bright-eyed newcomers ready to try their luck and become the new Viking King.

We launched the BloodRunes tournament scene at Gen Con with high hopes and it turned out to be one of the most memorable events for our community so far.

Setting the Stage: Organizing the BloodRunes Tournament

The Gen Con floor is like an organized tornado (if that tornado smelled like board game punchboards and nachos). Getting our spot required months of prep: signups, scheduling, and coordinating with the Gen Con show runners to make sure everything was set. People came from all over the country to be crowned the new Viking King!

The hardest part, as with most things, was getting the word out. I found out the hard way that passing out flyers is not allowed. 😬

Tournament Structure: How We Did It

Tournament format can make or break the experience, so we kept ours accessible but competitive. We gathered enough folks for 2 rounds: 4 games in round 1 and then the 4 winners face off in the final!

Each game takes about an hour to play, so with 2 rounds i gave us 3 hours total and it worked out perfectly. ⌛

Meet the Players

What makes BloodRunes tournaments extra special? The community. We saw returning champions, casual fans, and total first-timers all sharing war stories, deck advice, and even snacks.

The New Viking King

For all the effort and ferocity, there can only be one Viking King.  And the here is our celebratory, very official, majestic coronation.

Prizes, Promos & The Curse of the Gods Hype

Prizes at Gen Con tournaments need to be special, and BloodRunes delivers.  The Viking King gets his/her choice of rune stones, norse jewelry like rings and necklaces, card sheethes, and more.

• Expansion Teasers: Everyone who participated got an early peek at a couple new cards from Curse of the Gods. People immediately flocked to the Kickstarter preview page to follow the campaign and be first in line for launch day.

We even ran live “designer Q&A” breaks, where I answered questions about the new expansion, its Norse god inspirations, balance tweaking, and how they might affect game play.

Lessons Learned (and What We’ll Do Next Time)

Running my first big BloodRunes event at Gen Con taught me a lot:

• Prep Early, Overcommunicate: It’s impossible to send too many reminder emails, follow up emails, and coordination with the staff. Sign up for events months in advance!
• Demo Tables Make Converts: Keeping walk-up demo spots open turned tons of looky-loos into future BloodRunes fans. Next year, we’ll double the space!
• Market early and target your audience: Next time, i need to find a way to target specifically convention goers and guide them to the tournament page for sign up.

If you missed Gen Con, don’t worry—there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

And if you’d like to run a tournament of BloodRunes where you live, email me here and we’ll put it together!

The Road Ahead: BloodRunes in 2026 and Beyond

The success of previous tournaments proves one thing: this community is hungry for more epic showdowns. Whether you came for the Norse lore, the luck-vs-strategy tension, or just wanted to try a new tabletop game with friends, you’re part of what makes BloodRunes tick.

And if you didn’t score a seat this time, get ready: with the Curse of the Gods expansion dropping in November on Kickstarter, we’ll have more promos, more tournaments, and more surprises at cons all year. Make sure to follow the expansion and see what’s coming next—the gods themselves wouldn’t want you to miss it.

Final Thoughts

It may have been our first official Gen Con tournament, but thanks to you—the fans, the players, the curious convention wanderers—it definitely won’t be our last. Thank you for bringing the magic to the table, literally, and making BloodRunes tournaments the highlight of our summer.

If you’ve got questions, stories from the tourney, or want to be the first to know about the next event, hop into our community or drop us a line. See you at the next rune-casting!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Curse of the Gods Kickstarter preview to get notified when we launch and score those exclusive first-day rewards!