Join 2D Con, Minnesota’s Celebration of All Things Gaming as they host a variety of tabletop tournaments. 2DCon hosts the largest gaming and esports event in Minnesota and a year-round active community dedicated to gaming of every type. From tabletop to esports. With a dedicated gaming event venue in Minneapolis and two large conventions each year. 2D Con has something for every gamer. Head to the Compete page for the list of tournaments, or check the Event schedule.

See all the latest and greatest coin-op and home arcade games from the biggest manufacturers including Stern Pinball, Raw Thrills, Spooky Pinball, and many others! Then, find out how to bring your favorite game to your home or arcade from the manufacturers and distributors on site!

Check out the work of established and up-and-coming artists in our Artist Alley section! If you are an artist interested in displaying and selling your work here, please visit our Artist Alley Registration page.

Atari will be at the Midwest Gaming Classic with a huge booth inside the Game Center! There they will have a variety of playable games that both innovate as well as embrace their legendary past, including a new version of Tiger-Heli! Atari will also have several collectable items for sale including six ultra-rare Atari Jaguar leather jackets, limited overstock of Butcher Billy retro art, and event-exclusive apparel.  Finally, they will also have special deals on a variety of cartridges and systems, including an Atari 400 Mini for only $80, and a FREE wireless controller with purchase of either the Atari 2600+ or Atari 7800+.  Whether this will be your introduction to Atari, or you started with Pong, this is your chance to experience the brand that helped define gaming!

Beyblade is a battling spinning top toy line and franchise developed by Takara Tomy. In Beyblade, participants compete in battles between two or more spinning tops called Beyblades, or Beys. A Beyblade typically consists of multiple parts or layers, and players can combine layers to create their own combination of layers. The parts from each iteration of Beyblade are incompatible with other iterations. Beyblade X is invading Midwest Gaming Classic! There will be hands-on demos all weekend for the general public spreading the good word of the spinning top. Saturday is for proving your skills in battle through the FREE tournament with epic prizes from our friends at Evolution Gaming to those who come out on top! Pre-register here: https://challonge.com/midwestbeybladeclassic

Curious how far modding original video game hardware can go? The BitBuilt Experience is a collaboration between the BitBuilt and Ben Heck Experience communities to show, tell, and teach about console modifications. Such mods include adding video out to older systems, miniaturized consoles such as the world’s smallest GameCube that can fit in your palm, handheld consoles made from home consoles ranging from Atari 2600 to Wii, and everything in between — all with original hardware. Stop by the experience to see these mods and chat with some of the great minds behind them.

We’re bringing Chess back to the Midwest Gaming Classic! Join some of the best players in the state as they take on visitors in unique challenges, give people tips on play, and demonstrate how one of the oldest games remains one of the best!

 Welcome new comers Chroma Club to the Midwest Gaming Classic! Chroma Club will be bringing the one of a kind Hypnocade to MGC this year. It is a unique first of its kind arcade-form-factor video synthesizer machine. Get in on the psychedelic fun of this unique gaming experience! You can  also try your hand on Sonic Spin Ball glitch and several other twisted variations in their club type atmosphere!

The Computing and Gaming Museum is one of the centerpieces of the Midwest Gaming Classic! Check out hundreds of different consoles from Pong to the PS5 and everything in between! Discover the joys of early computers, share the fun of hit games from the past, and check out the present of video games in the home! Best of all? Unlike a museum where you can just look, in the Computing and Gaming Museum, it’s almost all playable too!

Come to the show dressed as your favorite gaming character! Come Saturday for a chance to win prizes for the best costumes when we host our Cosplay tournament! On Sunday, we invite kids to come in costume and show it off!

In the Palm Garden on the first level, check out the Cosplay Stage, vendors (My Favorite Quilt Shop and Chaos Costumes), and register in our cosplay contest at Cosplay HQ!

Have you ever been curious about what it would be like to try and sneak around as a stealthy rogue and steal valuable treasures, or conquer the playing field as a strong and brave warrior? Maybe combat isn’t your thing, and you would like to dress up in your favorite garb and simply roleplay in person as a dashing bard or cunning merchant! Give it all a try in Deeplight LARP’s Adventure Room! We are looking for brave adventurers like yourself to run through a variety of Live Action Role-Play scenarios or embark on an adventure with capture the flag. Deeplight LARP will also be discussing how to get into Live Action Role-Playing, what to expect at events, how to repair your gear, and how to interact safely while immersing yourself in the Deeplight LARP world. If you’ve ever been curious to play some of your favorite characters in person with other players, this is where you can finally have that experience!

Hosted by Deeplight Larp

Facebook facebook.com/deeplightlarp

Crystals, espers, and heroes – Experience the art behind some of the most iconic Japanese role playing games. Get up close and personal with stunning prints, decadent colors, and elaborate designs. This mini showcase is perfect for art lovers and RPG fans.

Try out the classics of the future from various developers of all sizes! From VR to console, Steam to mobile, you might be the first to check out tomorrow’s hot new game!

Learn More

When the show opens, so does the largest arcade in Wisconsin! Featuring hundreds of arcade video and pinball machines, this is a room that you don’t want to miss!

Interested in bringing a machine to share and getting awesome rewards? Click THIS!

 

 

Game Together MKE isn’t just an incredible hang out for gamers, it is also a place to buy, sell and trade your favorite games, and they’re bringing their entire store experience to the Midwest Gaming Classic! Stop in to buy, sell and trade, as well as play in tournaments, take part in free play games, or just hang out! Find out more about what Game Together MKE is doing this year by clicking here!

The incredible Menomonee Falls-based arcade the Garcade joins us and is throwing an EPIC bash! Featuring games and lots of fun activities, come celebrate the Garcade with them! Can’t wait? Visit the Garcade in Menomonee Falls today to play over 175 games for one price!

The fun-loving Guys, Games and Beer podcast is an amazing group of guys (and gals!) that get together to discuss games and beer! They love sharing their favorite games with people, whether it is classics you may know, or extremely unique and one-of-a-kind things you may never seen! Walk into the room and become part of the G2B family and see what all the fun is about! The Guys Games and Beer room is also host to a fully networked version of Steel Battalion: Line of Contact for the original Xbox!! Open to beginners and veterans alike, learn how to pilot VTs (Vertical Tanks) from our pro coaches with up to nine of your friends and prove you’re the best pilot out there! The Guys Games and beer room is also host to some other fan-favorite LANs, such as the OG Quake running on original iMacs, showing that gaming wasn’t just for the Windows realm, Pac-Man vs. Linked with a GBA adapter or a one of a kind Vectrex system, and Cursed Halo: a comically stupid and epically entertaining spin on the FPS you know and love!

Want to put your kids into a vehicle from a popular 80s cartoon, the back of an animal, or onto a space ship? These are just some of the options that KingPin Games will have in their KingPin Kiddie Ride Menagerie at the show! Hop on (as long as you are the correct size and / or weight) and take a ride down memory lane in this fun area! If you love one of these, you can bring one home with you or get it to put at a location to share after the show is over! Want to reserve one for delivery at the show? Contact Chris at KingPin at (608) 393-2299 for current inventory and pricing!

Listen to music from your favorite video games at our specially built jukebox!

Click Here for a Full Track List

With a library of more than one thousand table top games to borrow, MilCog (or the Milwaukee Company of Gamers) has something fun for you to play with your friends! Pull up a chair and sit down at a table! Want help learning a new game? We’ll have staff on site to help teach you new things!

Stop by Redemption Row for a selection of crane, claw, cut the string, and coin pushers chocked full of fun prizes for all ages! These machines are Show owned and help support the show directly. Whether you’re looking for plush, keychains, rubber ducks or Pokeballs, it’s all in there!

Check out all the replica movie cars made by enthusiasts at the Midwest Gaming Classic! Whether you’re looking to travel back in time, bust some heads (metaphorically speaking), discover if something has survived, party on, or if you want to see a talking car, we might have just the thing!

Roman’s Qualifying Coliseum is where you compete in your qualifying rounds for several console games. Jason Roman is a game lover, and realtor who can help you find the new home that will have enough space for your entire gaming collection. Find them on Facebook.

MGC thanks Roman Properties, for helping us to upgrade our tournament area!

The world’s largest LED saber combat organization is coming to MGC! A global community of LED saber combat sport enthusiasts. You might think the sport itself is our secret sauce, but to us, it’s a way to bring all sorts of people together from all around the world to make friends, have fun, play with amazing laser swords, and safely challenge ourselves to learn and grow. Witness the power of the light saber in action!

Do you think you can solve the traditional 3×3 cube (like a Rubik’s Cube, for instance) super fast? Or do you know that you can’t? No matter what your skill level is, you can stop by and check it out, and even try your hand at some of the different types of cubing challenges including 2×2 cubes!

Looking for brand new and seasoned adventures! Walk up, sit down, play! From the Birthplace of the “Game that Changed the World” come join Realms of Adventure with the very first role-playing game that has ignited the imaginations of millions of gamers around the world for five decades! If you’ve never played, we will teach you the basics of the original role-playing game and give you a taste of this collaborative storytelling game that relies more on teamwork and less on competition to win the day. Ever wonder what changed the face of tabletop and video gaming from the early days of Pong and Space Invaders into the magic of Legend of Zelda and the Elder Scrolls saga? Let us be your guide and companion through amazing lands and dread dungeons to battle monstrous foes, best deadly challenges and seize marvelous treasures to forge your own legend! Seasoned adventurer? Play with some of the people who were there from nearly the start, including Wisconsin (Harold) Johnson, Tom “The Dwarf” Darga, and others for adventures in the endless Realms of Adventure.

Did you know Magic: The Gathering was revealed at the same physical location we are at (although in the previous building) in 1993? Since then, we’ve had many other awesome card games get started including Pokemon, Lorcana, Flesh and Blood, Yu-Gi-Oh, and many others!  Join friends or make new ones playing Magic: The Gathering with us! Don’t have your cards? We’ll have some of the best local game stores to play these games on hand to purchase cards from!

True Echo VR will be onsite offering 10-minute shared VR experiences for up to 6 people at a time. Games include cooking simulators, zombie shooters, bow & arrow shooters, and more! True Echo VR also offers premium, immersive VR gaming experiences for corporate events in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and surrounding areas.

Prepare to level up your photo booth experience at the Midwest Gaming Classic with Uptown Society! Dive into personalized backdrops and exclusive photo ops—all for free—ensuring an unforgettable souvenir courtesy of Milwaukee’s premier events company. Get your photo with the MGC Championship belt! Check TheUptownSociety.com for more details.

The ‘World of Nintendo’ was a store-within-a-store concept that Nintendo popularized in the late 80s and early 90s. Retailers transformed their spaces into luminous merchandising wonderlands where animated lighted signs hung from the ceilings, iconic soundtracks filled the air, and children lined up to play the latest Nintendo games on interactive displays. The author of ‘The World of Nintendo Book’ has carefully curated and rebuilt this exhibit to bring us back, or allow visitors to experience the sights and sounds of what it was like to visit these stores during Nintendo’s heyday for the first time. This will be the 3nd time the exhibit has been featured at MGC. You’ll be transported back to 1991, a time when Nintendo’s NES, Super NES, and Game Boy reigned supreme.

Join us at MGC on a quest to win tickets to Six Flags Great America, including the opportunity to ride Wrath of Rakshasa before it opens to the general public! Watch this video for details:

 

To enter, when you arrive April 4-6 at the Baird Center, there will be a QR code to scan near the entrance. After you’ve scanned it, you’ll get told where there are five additional QR codes throughout the show to scan for each day, with each scan giving you another chance to win. (Get it, six chances per day!) For each day, we’ll pull one name to win a four pack of tickets to visit Six Flags Great America during the 2025 season. We’ll then take all of the entries and pull one lucky winner who will get to go with a guest to ride it before it opens to the general public! Special thanks to Six Flags Great America!

Faceball 2000 for the Game Boy was developed by Xanth F/X and published by Bullet Proof Software in 1991 with rumored support for 16-player deathmatches, but nobody figured out how to unlock it… until now! Join programmer, modder, and VTuber Zarithya (https://twitch.tv/Zarithya) and Uncle Derek from YouTube channel Stop Skeletons From Fighting (https://www.youtube.com/@StopSkeletonsFromFighting) for a 16-player Faceball 2000 battle royale, using 16 GameCubes with Game Boy Players and a custom link cable setup!

The 3DO M2 was the follow-up to the original 3DO which famously sold to Panasonic for $100 million… and then even more famously never came out once Panasonic got cold feet!  Anthony Bacon of Video Game Esoterica fame will plan on having a rare, working 3DO M2 to talk about during his Saturday panel.  In addition, Anthony will also have a PLAYABLE 3DO M2 arcade board in the Classic Gaming & Computing Museum on Saturday running Konami’s Tobe! Polystars.  Don’t miss your chance to see and play this very rare piece of gaming history!

Party like it’s 2010 and gather ’round the jukebox at 3pm Saturday to make your 3DS’ little orange light BLOW UP! 3DS Streetpass enthusiasts from around the world will be gathering at the Midwest Gaming Classic to keep that little led torch lit and the Streetpass spirit alive.

AbdallahSmash is an award-winning Nintendo Content Creator, YouTube and Twitch live streamer, and gaming personality known for his expert gameplay, interactive challenges, and family-friendly content. At his booth, fans can meet him for autographs, snap a photo, grab exclusive merch, and even challenge him in Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! With over a decade of entertaining millions, Abdallah brings high-energy fun, competitive showdowns, and unforgettable gaming moments to every event. Don’t miss your chance to join the action!

Interact with roaming hordes of live-action role-players on the show floor. Join them on their quests, witness the action and fun to be had as part of a LARP group. Follow them to their destination, or just get a side quest from them? If you prove yourself worthy, perhaps they will invite you to join their merry band. All are welcome to learn about and join in the live-action role-playing in the Deeplight LARP Adventure Room! Just ask these adventuring parties how to get there…but beware the toll troll! Hosted by Deeplight Larp Facebook facebook.com/deeplightlarp

Former NFL great Ahman Green will be on hand showcasing his popular Ahman Green’s Gamer Lounge podcast and meeting with fans. The podcast covers the vast world of competitive gaming and eSports, as well as breaking news and the inside scoop on the biggest events in the gaming world from the real game changers in the industry.

Two of the best air hockey players in the world put their rankings on the line as they face off in a head-to-head match on Saturday April 5th at 1:00pm at the Midwest Gaming Classic!

Matt Lemoyne (world rank #31) and (world rank #77) will take each other on in an intense best-of-seven match. Stop by to see how the pros play!

Lost in the woods, you stumble upon an old cabin.  There are human remains inside, long deceased, and …clutching an old gaming controller?

Whatever happened here is about to happen again.  Something has awakened in the woods, and it’s coming for you.  Can you solve the mystery behind a cursed video game and a strange occult ritual before midnight? Or will you be the next victim of the Cackling Man?

An escape room inspired by creepypastas, the 80s, retro video games and urban legends.

SPECIAL PRICING – Friday (preview night) is half off.  Saturday at 8 pm and 9 pm is an after show, industry night special games are half off.

Click here for more information and to register! Ticket to the Midwest Gaming Classic is required. Make sure you arrive early to get your MGC wrist band well before your scheduled time.

View the trailer here.

Can you out-build a Minecraft Pro? Throughout MGC, you can challenge one of three professional Minecrafters* in a 15-minute build challenge! If your creation is deemed the winner according to our judges, you’ll take home a prize!!! (Signups open at the start of each day, reserve a time early because they fill up!) *Erik, Kestin, and Corinne are not Minecraft experts. They just act like them on the internet.

It’s Halo, but completely broken and absolutely absurd! Random explosions, confetti, and… Minecraft? Look, I’m not going to try to explain this completely random treasure trove of silliness all bottled up in the Halo game we all know and love, just swing by the Games, Guys, and Beer room to play it for yourself!

Dragon’s Sandbox offers beginner friendly pop-up Dungeons & Dragons 5e events; come crawl through dungeons, defeat creepy monsters, and possibly earn some gold during the convention. Look for the suit of armor in the Tabletop Village and we’ll get you seated.

Elusive Escape Rooms is bringing their unique experiences to the Midwest Gaming Classic!  Click below for details on their two escape rooms. The Missing Starlet Agent on the Run

• Stop by the Extra Life benefiting Children’s Wisconsin booth in the foyer located next to CARCADE to learn more about how gaming = fundraising = supporting your local children’s hospital! While there, make any cash or online donation to the cause and receive a mystery swag bag with assorted Extra Life or Children’s tchotchkes! Otherwise, any donations appreciated here as well to support the Children’s Wisconsin Extra Life team directly. Thank you for supporting Wisconsin kids!  

Come and meet Slackanater – Farmer, hiker, brewer, and master of retro gaming strategies. A dedicated member of the speed-running community, he has discovered and refined techniques that have shaped the records of top runners. He is famously known as the first player to conquer the original NES Ninja Gaiden without taking a single hit. He will be at the MGC this year showcasing FlawlessNES, where he pushes the limits of skill and precision as he beats games without ever taking damage.  To date, he has flawlessly defeated over 40 games, including some of the most notoriously difficult titles in the NES library. Come see Slackanater in the Game Center and find out more about FlawlessNES live on Twitch and YouTube!

We’ve got a bunch of awesome MGC and gaming themed photo ops that you can find throughout the venue!

Whether you are pushing miniatures, lightening the load, moving faster or removing actual lead from your collection, Get the Lead OUT 4 Fun is here for you! This is the time to brush up on your painting fun. Paints, brushes, prepped 15-40 mm resin, plastic or lead-free pewter models provided by a variety of sponsors and everything needed to go from package to finished project provided. There’s room at the table to learn new techniques, fine tune your style or swap tips – engaging for all skill levels. This free-to-attendees event accepts donations benefiting Wounded Warrior Project. Check them out on Facebook or at http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org

Get ready for an epic Halo showdown at Midwest Gaming Classic, April 4-6! We’re hosting a Master Chief Collection LAN party in the Game Together MKE room (1st floor, Community Zone). 10 Xbox Series S/X consoles, system-linked for non-stop action.  Join us all weekend + Saturday after party!

This awesome arcade located in the city of Two Rivers, Wisconsin is bringing some of their amazing collection to the show! Their location features over 150 machines ranging from classics like Pac-Man, Galaga and X-Men to modern games and rarities like a complete Atomiswave collection! Heroes Venture will be bringing some of their games to the show to share with people! Visit their location in Two Rivers and find out more about them by visiting our Heroes Venture Arcade page!

Do you have a homebrew pinball or arcade game you would like to show off at the 2024 Midwest Gaming Classic? If so, please email your name, the game’s name, and if you will bring more than one game. Space is limited so please contact us as soon as possible, the deadline to enter will be March 25, 2024.

Take a look at the “Hot Rod” Jaguar, which is actually a dental imaging device!?! Imagin Systems used the Atari Jaguar mold they purchased from Atari following its merger with JT Storage to create this unusual piece of video game history.

Networked LAN computers were a big thing in the 1990s, and games like Quake were all the rage… but how often did you ever see the game networked on Apple computers? Don’t just see it, play Quake with others in the Guys, Games and Beer room in this unique LAN network!

Midwest Gaming Classic welcomes, iplaygames Esports Lounge! Open console gaming focusing on today’s popular esports titles like Street Fighter, Tekken, Smash Brothers and MORE!

Visit Kirby Conversations producer Sean Douglass and learn about this popular biweekly podcast, which spans more than 30 years of Kirby games and related Nintendo topics. Listen to recent episodes, including historical deep-dives, inside stories from Nintendo, and panel discussions with game industry guests. Follow the show on your favorite podcast player, and you can receive a free mini art print by Kirby Conversations co-producer and Nintendo Affiliate Ky “Captain Dangerous” Parker. Kirby Conversations is also presented by collector and artist Bridget and WiKirby Editor-in-Chief Gigi.

Sit down and get ready to face off with your miniature army at the Midwest Gaming Classic Miniature War Gaming Battlegrounds! Play in awesome tournaments hosted by some of the greatest miniature game stores in town, including Warpstorm!

Relive the classics at Midwest Gaming Classic, April 4-6! Game Together MKE is hosting a FREE original Xbox LAN party with 16 consoles system-linked in the Game Together MKE room (1st floor, Community Zone). Halo 2, Star Wars Battlefront 2, Call Of Duty 3, Conker: Live & Reloaded, and Counter-Strike — all weekend + Saturday after party!

This April 4-6 at the Baird Center, we’re excited to be joined by PokeCon Minnesota! This Non-Profit Community group is dedicated to supporting the local Pokemon community! They’ll be hosting a collection of Pokemon games from old to new, talking about all things Pokemon, and catching all the action at the show, as well as at their show PokéCon next coming up August 17th 2025 and February 28, 2026 at the Eagan Community Center, in Eagan Minnesota and featuring vendors, artists, games, tournaments, a library, special guests… and all Pokémon!

Come play the games we’ve had as show exclusives in the past and this year’s new MGC Show Exclusive games. Then buy them right at the MGC Official Merchandise booth while supplies last! This includes games on the Atari Jaguar, Sega Genesis, Nintendo NES, SNES, and Switch.1 Then, if you like, you can buy them from the Merchandise booth during normal show hours. Want to get them before the show? Head over to JJGames, which we own, and get the games sent to you! Want to know more about all the games? Check out the MGC Show Exclusive History page. VIG exclusive games are not part of this experience.

Want to check out one of the largest setups of Capcom’s Steel Battalion controllers on the original Xbox in the world? Play Steel Battalion the way it was meant to be played on a full networked 10 rig setup. Check it out in the Guys Games and Beer room.

Join Game Together MKE at the Midwest Gaming Classic, April 4th-6th, in our dedicated room on the first floor in the Community Zone! We’re hosting a fun community challenge: can we collectively grab all 120 stars in Super Mario 64? Stop by the Game Together MKE Room to contribute! We’ll have a custom banner featuring 120 stars-earn a star, sign your name, and leave your mark. After the event, we’re taking the banner back to our Milwaukee store to display proudly. Bring your skills, join the fun, and let’s game together!

The TASBot community was founded in 2013 and is focused on helping our robotic mascot, TASBot, play video games perfectly for charity. TASBot content at Games Done Quick events has helped raise more than $1.3M USD for The Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders. TASBot plays back Tool-Assisted Speedruns from TASVideos.org using replay devices that typically pretend to be a controller plugged into a real video game console. Through this process TASBot verifies that emulators act exactly like the consoles they emulate. TASVideos Ambassdor TiKevin83 is a record holding TASer in Pokemon Yellow and has been helping present TASVideos and TASBot runs since 2019. TASBot, TiKevin83, and friends will show TASes being verified live all weekend!

The Virtual Boy, you say? Yes! A complete US Virtual Boy collection in box, many of the Japanese boxed games and boxed homebrew titles. Additionally, check out promotional material including pins, figures, books, and magazines. But don’t just look, play! Also on site will be a working store kiosk unit and two systems modded into consoles with two player head-to-head play.

Call of Duty, HALO, Rainbox Six, who knows what we will be playing on this massive Xbox 360 system link setup?! Maybe we get lucky and dig up 10 copies of Gears of War 3 or 8 copies of Armored Core 4! Swing by the Video Game Museum area to see what we get up to with this massive power hog of an idea!