This past weekend, my wife and I travelled to Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden, to attend GothCon, an annual TTRPG convention running since 1977.
Similar to my past post-con post-mortems (see Thought Bubble and Dragonmeet, for instance), I thought it would be useful to share my thoughts and experiences of the trip, both from the perspective of a TTRPG fan and as an indie TTRPG creator.
I should clarify a few things at the outset:
- I attended GothCon as a general visitor; I wasn't there as an exhibitor, panellist, or trader.
- We went on the first day, so my experiences at GothCon itself were limited to Friday.
- The Gothenburg trip was also a holiday for my wife and I—our first time in Sweden.
Travel to Gothenburg
We drove up to Newcastle Airport on the morning of Thursday, 17 Apr and parked in the long stay carpark. Our first flight was from Newcastle to Frankfurt and took about 90 minutes, pretty painless. We had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Germany before flying to Gothenburg with no issues.
I'd booked a hotel in central Gothenburg, close to the GothCon venue and central to nice sightseeing spots. We took the Flygbussarna (airport coach) from Landvetter airport into central Gothenburg and walked to the hotel.
Interesting side note: The main airport is Gothenburg Landvetter Airport. Runecairn and Norse mythology fans among you might find similarity between Landvetter (named after the locality) and Landvættir, the four legendary creatures depicted on the Icelandic coat of arms; I included versions of these four creatures in the Runecairn Bestiary.
Travel from home in the UK to the Gothenburg hotel took about 11 hours in total.
GothCon
GothCon was held at Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet in central Gothenburg. Gymnasiet is a false cognate and actually means high school. The school was a 15 minute walk away from the hotel. The school itself has an interesting history and the building is pretty impressive. GothCon takes place across a number of school buildings, and the main (North) building is spread across multiple floors. This main building is where we spent most of our time.
There's no disguising the fact that the building is a school, which is both a positive and negative. The distinct rooms and floors mean you can easily separate activities (gaming areas vs. artist alley, etc.) but having everything spread out across a big building makes seeing everything more difficult.
There's a reason why many Swedish TTRPG conventions are held in schools. I was lucky enough to spend some time with members of the Stockholm Kartell, a group of Swedish-based artists, writers, and designers behind games like Mörk Borg and Death in Space, and Dan Algstrand was kind enough to break down the history of Swedish conventions in a short video:
Essentially, Swedish TTRPG cons were started by gamers in schools that were empty during holidays. Unlike UK conventions like Dragonmeet and UK Games Expo which are more industry-led, Swedish cons are gamer-led and GothCon still maintains that legacy, with publishers and retailers only taking part in the last 10-15 years.
Dan also mentioned that one of the school buildings was closed for renovation this year, so things were distributed a little differently than usual.
The ground floor was split between gaming rooms with tables and chairs and panel/discussion rooms. The vendor tables were on the first and second floors, with tables set-up both in the individual classrooms and in the hallways between rooms. Most of the people in the gaming areas of the main building were playing card games, from what I saw.
One thing to mention if you aren't local to Sweden: some con vendors only take cash or Swish payments, with no way of taking international card payments. I can't remember if there was a bank machine at the school, but bear this in mind if you're looking to buy some cool stuff from the tables.
Some highlights of walking around GothCon:
- Chatting with the folks from Bläckfisk Publishing and grabbing an advance English pamphlet of their next game, Windsoul. I've followed their work since the brilliant Blood Feud and Windsoul looks absolutely beautiful.
- Getting recognised as By Odin's Beard RPG by a pair of folks who'd seen my YouTube videos and played We Deal in Lead. Great to meet you, Frederik and Karl!
- Seeing all the incredible games that are currently only available in Swedish. Jag talar lite svenska men inte tillräckligt för att spela rollspel.
- Flipping through the incredible collections of old RPG books, some in amazing condition and many in English.
- Seeing all the families and young kids engaging with tabletop games.
Stockholm Kartell
After the con on Friday, my wife and I met up with some of the Kartell folks for drinks and a meal. We had an amazing time and we both felt so welcomed and lucky to be there. Even though the majority of folks were Swedish, they spoke English around us and we all had a great night.
Gothenburg
We spent most of our time in central Gothenburg, near the university and Haga district. Things were pretty quiet because of the Easter holidays, but I'd rather things be too quiet rather than too busy. There were lots of great pubs and cafes, with loads of amazing food.
My Swedish is pretty basic but practically everyone we encountered spoke perfect English, so don't worry about the language gap. We had zero issues with card payments (using UK cards) and didn't need to worry about taking out cash at all.
Some highlights of our three days in and around the city:
- Eating one of the famous kanelbullar for breakfast in the Haga district.
- Worshipping herring at the Feskekôrka (fish church).
- Visiting the Science Fiction Bookstore and seeing my books on the shelves.
- Risking life and limb in the ancient hotel lift.
Returning to the UK
The coach back to the airport was quick and easy and the first flight from Gothenburg to Frankfurt was a delight. We had the whole row to ourselves and the flight attendants gave out Easter chocolate.
The Frankfurt layover was fine, though they brought us the wrong food and we only noticed halfway through the meal. I'm still disappointed I got cold Vienna sausage instead of grilled rindswurst and sauerkraut.
The last flight from Frankfurt to Newcastle was a chore, mainly because we were tired and cramped. Thankfully the drive home was easy enough.
Costs
I booked the flights and hotel through Expedia, so I paid one price, but thankfully the payments went through separately so I can give a more accurate idea of flights and hotel costs.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Flights (two people) | £492.24 |
| Hotel room (3 nights) | £232.24 |
| Friday GothCon tickets (two people) | £55.00 |
| Airport parking (80 hours) | £74.99 |
| Total | £854.47 |
As usual, I'm not including the costs of meals or drinks. Depending on where you go (and how strong your local currency is), Gothenburg can get expensive. There are also options for staying at the GothCon venue, if you're looking to save a bit on hotels by sleeping on the high school floor.
Summary
Will we be back for GothCon 2026?
All being well, I'd love to include GothCon in our regular con rotation; if not every year then every 2 years.
Would I book a table at GothCon?
For a sole trader in the UK, things get really complicated when you look to sell goods in the EU, even at a small event like GothCon (thanks, Brexit).
I don't think I'd look to sell my books directly, but if I was looking to increase my Swedish audience or push some Swedish translations of my books (hit me up, Swedish publishers!), I might hire a table to have a presence.
What would I do differently next time?
- Join gaming sessions, either pre-booked or in a pick-up-group in the general gaming spaces. I left it too long to book any games this year, some of which are available in English, but I'd love to play some Swedish games.
- Participate in a discussion panel, either in the audience or as a speaker.
- Add an extra day to give more flexibility for the con or other activities (see below).
- Plan some day trips around Gothenburg. I've heard the archipelago has beautiful towns so I'd love to check them out.
- Schedule more chats with Swedish game designers. I really enjoyed making the video with Dan Algstrand and I plan on doing more like that at future cons.
Should you go to GothCon?
Yes, if any of the following apply to you:
- You want to learn about tabletop gaming in other countries.
- You want to meet Swedish TTRPG creators and check out cool Swedish games.
- You love games from Free League and Stockholm Kartell.
- You want to play games with a passionate group of people.
- You love trying different types of pickled herring.
- You're willing to brave the flight, hotel, and convention costs.
