GameSchoolCon 2025: Full Schedule

GameSchoolCon 2025 February 20th-23rd at the Sonesta Irvine-OC Airport Hotel

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9:30am PST

Registration Desk Open

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:30am - 6:00pm PST

Foyer

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:30am - 6:00pm PST
Foyer

10:00am PST

Panel: Gaming SHTEAM

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PST

San Clemente 2

How can gaming help students gain proficiency in Science, History, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math? Learn from educators and homeschooling parents who are using games to foster passion and skill in all things SHTEAM.

Moderated by Erika Davis-Pitre

Speakers

Meg Grooms

Gameschool Academy

Meg Grooms is a long-time homeschooling mother of 6 children, ranging in age from preschool to married with kids of their own. Always a vagabond at heart, Meg and her family have embraced a slow travel lifestyle and currently call Southern California home. Your guess is as good as... Read More →

Christine Yablonski

Board Member, The Story School

Christine Yablonski is an unschooling mom and advocate. Drawing upon her career as a child therapist plus her experiences as a member, and frequently as a board member or leader, of numerous non-profit organizations that focus on the needs of children, teens, and their parents, Christine... Read More →

Dr. Vicki Meadows

Owner, Xplorstem

Dr. Vicki is a world-renowned scientist. She has made significant contributions to the field of science, publishing groundbreaking scientific papers and reviews that have impacted the direction of scientific research and discovery.Dr. Vicki holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and worked in... Read More →

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PST
San Clemente 2

Speaker/Panel

10:00am PST

Little Gamers meetup - parents and littles! Come and play with each other!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:30am PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Little Gamers meetup - parents and littles! Come and play with each other!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:30am PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

10:00am PST

BYO Laptop Games

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:45am PST

Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Video Gamers! Bring your laptop to the BYO Laptop Zone, where you can plop down, plugin, and meet other video game lovers! We will have a dedicated Minecraft server up all weekend too.

Speakers

Alex Cook

Alex Cook is a 15-year-old competitive gamer. He has been participating in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate tournaments for about 3 years. He has several notable wins as well as ranking #6 in Eugene, OR. Always unschooled, gaming has been an essential part of his educational journey... Read More →

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:45am PST
Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Video Games

10:00am PST

Exhibit Hall Open *NEW LOCATION* *SECOND FLOOR FOYER*

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 5:00pm PST

2nd Floor Foyer

*NEW LOCATION* *SECOND FLOOR FOYER!*
Bring home the FUN! There will be a game store, demos, and all kinds of fun items for purchase!
Make sure you support our fabulous Exhibitors on Saturday from 10am 5pm!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 5:00pm PST
2nd Floor Foyer

10:00am PST

Double Exposure/Envoy Free Play-to-Win Program

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 8:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Envoy's Play-to-Win is a Free program that lets you play new games and then gives you the opportunity to enter your name to win the games that you played and take them home with you at the end of GameSchoolCon!
Below is a list of some of the games that will be available:

R & R Games -

Bug Off!
The Plan

Thames & Kosmos -

Inside Job
High Score

Indie Game Studios -

Coup
Crossed Words

Bezier -

Silver Coin
Cat in the Box

Smirk & Dagger Games -

The Spill
boop.

Grandpa Beck's Games -

Reign of Dragoness
Toil & Troublez

Devir Games -

Savernake Forest
Castle Party
Walkie Talkie
Magic Labyrinth

Wattsalpoag Games -

Claim It!
Jet Set
Echidna Shuffle
Buccaneer Bones

Breaking Games -

Luck

The Op Games -

Disney Sorcerer's Arena: Epic Alliances
Smash Up: Disney Edition

JACK LABRADOR Games -

Jack Labrador

Underdog Games -

Trekking Through History

Draco Studios -

Dodos Riding Dinos: Dodo Dash
Regroup! Chicken Army

GoChuckle -

Hasty Baker

Steve Jackson Games -

Groo: The Game
Steve Jackson's Munchkin Presents Batman

Fireside Games -

Castle Panic (second edition)
My First Castle Panic

Ares Games -

Pyramidice

Brexwerx Games -

Holotype

Bad Comet -

Wild: Serengeti

Left Justified Studio -

Cooking Customers
Kill the Unicorns

Connected Clues LLC -

Connected Clues

AMIGO -

Clack
Magic Mountain
Look!

Red Raven Games -

Knight Fall
Megaland

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 8:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

10:00am PST

Board Game Room and Library Open

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

The Board Game Library and The Board Game Room are back on the first floor in the Flex Space!
Stop by GameSchoolCon's Board Game Room and Library with your Board Game Library Card and choose from dozens and dozens of games to play! Need more players? Bring a green flag to your table to signal to other guests that you have room for them to join the fun! Need rules help or a tutorial? Bring a red flag to your table to summon a friendly Gamerunner who will have you playing in no time!
Please plan to return all games to the Board Game Librarians by closing time!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

10:00am PST

Kinetic and Building Games!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:00pm PST

Kinetic Games Room - Avalon 3

Hot Wheels Speedometry, Lego, K'nex, Giant Jenga, and Bionicles!

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:00pm PST
Kinetic Games Room - Avalon 3

Physics Construction & Engineering Games

10:00am PST

Bawdy Language Room

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:00pm PST

Bawdy Language Game Room - Avalon 1

This room is for playing games that have Bawdy(foul) language and more mature themes. Parental Discretion is Advised

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:00pm PST
Bawdy Language Game Room - Avalon 1

Board Games

10:00am PST

Console Games Open

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:45pm PST

Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Come play games on various gaming consoles. Games will vary throughout the day; not all games will be available during all hours, so drop in and see what’s playing!

Speakers

Alex Cook

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 11:45pm PST
Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Video Games

11:00am PST

Operation Costa Gorda, a Marvel Super Heros Game

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 2:00pm PST

San Clemente 1

Operation Costa Gorda, a Marvel Super Heros Games. GM: Alex Smirl. You thought you’d seen the end of your criminal career when the hand of justice finally caught up with you. But fate has a twisted sense of humor. The Office of Secret Intelligence is offering you a deal—help them pull off a daring mission, and you could shave a decade off your prison sentence. This isn’t your average covert operation; it’s a high-stakes, no-holds-barred mission where super-powered misfits are forced to play heroes in a world that doesn’t trust them. Will you rise above your checkered past, or will the weight of your crimes drag you back into darkness? The clock is ticking, and your freedom hangs in the balance. Suit up, and prepare to redefine what it means to be a hero—or a villain. Ages: 13+

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 2:00pm PST
San Clemente 1

Role Playing Games

11:00am PST

Ruff, a Canine RPG.

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 2:00pm PST

RPG Room - Avalon 2

Ruff, a Canine RPG.
Ruff is a game under development where you get to play the greatest of all creatures a dog doing dog. All ages.

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 2:00pm PST
RPG Room - Avalon 2

Role Playing Games

11:30am PST

Consoles Close for Tournament

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:30am - 6:30pm PST

Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Check in for Tournament Begins.

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:30am - 6:30pm PST
Video Games Room - Catalina 1

Video Games

1:00pm PST

Panel: Gaming for Social and Mental Wellness

Saturday February 22, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm PST

San Clemente 2

Playing games can support people coping with anxiety and depression or healing from trauma, and can also help us grow our social skill set. Learn how to access the social, emotional, and mental benefits of gaming….for the children and adults in your life and for yourself!

Speakers

Meg Grooms

Gameschool Academy

Dave Mata

Chief Product Officer, Midas Brands

David is a video games industry executive, who is currently Chief Product Officer at Midas Brands, and is working on a health and wellness based mobile game.Previous to joining Midas Brands, he was Director of Product, at Beamable, focused on their live operations product for game... Read More →

Alex Cook

Jayn Holly Coburn

Jayn Holly Coburn is a 23-y/o always-unschooled gamer, artist, and filmmaker from Los Angeles.I’ve been passionate about video games my whole life, and I even have an Associate of Fine Arts in Game Design from The New York Film Academy. I also love movies and tv, reading, makeup... Read More →

Shaun Biegler

Creative Volunteer, The Story School

Shaun Biegler was raised in New England and brought up unschooled by his parents. As a child he became very interested in Pokemon cards and Yugioh with the latter of the two being extremely helpful in simple math and helped to make the subject far more approachable. A game that would... Read More →

Synetra Nunsuch

My name is Synetra Nunsuch. I am a proud member of the active games team and have helped homeschool my younger sisters for almost 10 years. Due to my own visual impairment, I am always looking for new, fun ways to accommodate people with all different abilities.

Saturday February 22, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm PST
San Clemente 2

Speaker/Panel

1:00pm PST

Learn to Play Root with Logan McLendon

Saturday February 22, 2025 1:00pm - 3:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Come battle for control of a vast wilderness. In this asymmetrical game, each player has different strengths and play mechanics. You can play the Marquise de Cat, intent on controlling and harvesting the riches of the woodland. Or the Eyrie, birds bent on regaining their ancient birthright. Or join the Alliance, organized to subvert the rule of the nefarious Cats. Or choose to play the wandering Vagabonds who can move through the more dangerous woodland paths. This game has good replayability and it's fun to learn how to harness the power of each different character. Ages 10+

Saturday February 22, 2025 1:00pm - 3:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

2:00pm PST

Really Loud Librarians with Andrea

Saturday February 22, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

In this game, your useless knowledge will win you useful points.
Think fast, not hard in this merciless word-shouting board game. Start by drawing a category card. Your team will then shout words from that category that begin with the letter on the race track. Move along the track every time you get a word right and race against your opponents to win.

Saturday February 22, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

2:00pm PST

RPG: Roll & Play One Shot Adventure

Saturday February 22, 2025 2:00pm - 5:00pm PST

San Clemente 1

RPG GM

Lily Mansfield

Gameschooling mom

Lily is an unschooling mother of two and a former level designer for video games.After a career that included level design, texture art, and quality assurance, Lily retired from the video game industry to raise her children, but she continues to utilize games and gaming to help with... Read More →

Saturday February 22, 2025 2:00pm - 5:00pm PST
San Clemente 1

Role Playing Games

4:00pm PST

Werewolf

Saturday February 22, 2025 4:00pm - 5:30pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Werewolf!

Saturday February 22, 2025 4:00pm - 5:30pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

4:00pm PST

Squid Games Live!

Saturday February 22, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm PST

Active Games Room-Catalina 2 & 3

Join August as he hosts games based on the popular South Korean TV series Squid Game.
You will compete in a bunch games (e.g. marbles, tug of war, glass stepping stones, and games based on Korean children's games) for a cash prize!

Saturday February 22, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm PST
Active Games Room-Catalina 2 & 3

Active Games

5:00pm PST

Paper, Rock, Scissors Tournament

Saturday February 22, 2025 5:00pm - 7:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

The tournament of the year - who will win?! And is it Paper, Rock, Scissors? Or Ro-Sham-Bo?

Saturday February 22, 2025 5:00pm - 7:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

5:00pm PST

Homegrown Artists' Alley and Used Game Sale

Saturday February 22, 2025 5:00pm - 10:00pm PST

Catalina Foyer

Artists! Crafters! Game hoarders! Bring your wares to the Homegrown Artists' Alley and sell them to GameSchoolCon's appreciative guests! All handmade arts and crafts are welcome, as are gently-used games ready for new homes. Please be ready to accept cash and make your own change, and keep 100% of your earnings. Tables are first come, first served, and artists/used game vendors are encouraged to share tables as needed.

Saturday February 22, 2025 5:00pm - 10:00pm PST
Catalina Foyer

Special Event

6:00pm PST

I've Always Wanted to Learn How to Play That Game!

Saturday February 22, 2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Have you always wanted to learn THAT ONE GAME? Now is your chance! Come to the Board Game Library and teach games you love and/or join games you want to learn to play.

Saturday February 22, 2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

6:00pm PST

Artist Trading Cards!

Saturday February 22, 2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Artist Trading Cards Funshop - Open to All Ages!
What are Artist Trading Cards? Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are simply pieces of art that are made out of cards measuring 2.5”by 3.5”. You can buy special paper already cut to this size, or better yet, simply use sturdy paper you already have at home. Old file folders, card stock, greeting cards – any paper that is not flimsy – can be cut to the right dimensions and used as an ATC. Think about baseball trading cards and look for paper about that weight. Or, be creative and use materials other than paper. Just keep to the 2.5” x 3.5” size. Once you have your 2.5 x 3.5” card, what you do with it is up to you. Draw on it, paint, collage, sew, embellish, write words. In an ATCs funshop, all of the participants share materials, themes, techniques and ideas with others in the funshop to make unique ATCs. And we always schedule time for trading/swapping finished cards too.

Saturday February 22, 2025 6:00pm - 8:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Special Event

7:00pm PST

Party Games

Saturday February 22, 2025 7:00pm - 11:00pm PST

Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Tonight we'll put out a selection of great games for groups to keep the party going into the evening!
Have you always wanted to learn/play a game that you need a large group-(4+) to play? Now is your chance!
Party Games - Bananagrams, Secret Hitler, What do you Meme etc...we have SO many party games, but for the best game play, you need A WHOLE PARTY! So get a group together or come down and find a group to play!

Saturday February 22, 2025 7:00pm - 11:00pm PST
Board Game Room & Board Game Library - Flex Space 1st Floor

Board Games

7:00pm PST

Candyland Themed Family Dance Party!

Saturday February 22, 2025 7:00pm - 11:00pm PST

Active Games Room/Exhibit Hall - Catalina 3

Welcome to Candyland! Where everyone is Sweet and Fun! This whole family dance is one of the highlights of GameSchoolCon and all are welcome! We'll be giving out prizes for the best overall costume, and the best group costumes! And the prizes? Why games of course! Please plan to join us!

Saturday February 22, 2025 7:00pm - 11:00pm PST
Active Games Room/Exhibit Hall - Catalina 3

Special Event

8:00pm PST

RPG: Ten Candles, a Horror Game

Saturday February 22, 2025 8:00pm - 11:00pm PST

San Clemente 1

Ten Candles, a Horror Game.
The world has gone dark. It is only a matter of time before THEY are the death of you. This game is played by candlelight, gets darker as it goes, and ALL PCs will be dead by the end of the game. Ages: 13+

RPG GM

Brian Mansfield

Gameschooling Dad

Brian has worked in medical imaging for the last 20 years, but more importantly he has been a lifelong gamer, including his first game of Dungeons & Dragons when he was 8 years old. He’s the proud father of 2 unschooled kids (one is now an adult).

Saturday February 22, 2025 8:00pm - 11:00pm PST
San Clemente 1

Role Playing Games