One of the aspects of geek we’ve been paying far too little attention to here at Blast-O-Rama is the resurgence of tabletop gaming. Whether RPGs, Board Games or Card Games, they’ve experienced quite the return to importance in recent years, fueled by independent games funded on KickStarter and even popular internet shows like Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop over at YouTube’s Geek & Sundry network.

One of the biggest successes of this current resurgence is the amazing card game Cards Against Humanity - sort of a Apples to Apples for assholes (in the best of ways), which started as a very successful KickStarter program and grown to be one of the most popular items on Amazon. Even with their massive success, the team behind the game has never lost their love for the gaming community. CAH has always been offered as a free, downloadable game, and at this year’s Gen Con, they will take it to the next level with the Table Top Deathmatch!

The Table Top Deathmatch is an amazing opportunity for an independent game designer - the CAH crew, in coalition with industry leading designers, will pick one creators game, and award them $7500, towards their first printing.

The full press release is below - this is an amazing opportunity for hopeful designers and a great moment for the gaming community.

Cards Against Humanity to Host Indie Tabletop Deathmatch at Gen Con Indy 2013

Cards Against Humanity will host a one-of-a-kind independent tabletop game design challenge at Gen Con Indy 2013.

Unpublished independent game creators will present prototypes to a panel of industry-leading designers including Mike Selinker (Lone Shark Games, Wizards of the Coast, Avalon Hill) Luke Crane (The Burning Wheel, games project specialist at Kickstarter), Shari Spiro (Founder, Ad Magic), and the creators of Cards Against Humanity.

The most promising game presented will win $7,500 towards the production costs of a first print run with Ad Magic and a table on the floor at Gen Con Indy 2014. “We exhibited at Gen Con last year, and one of the most exciting things we saw at the convention was the playtest hall with these incredible cardboard prototypes,“ said Max Temkin, co-creator of Cards Against Humanity. “We’ve received so much help with Cards Against Humanity from the gaming community and we’d like to pay that debt of gratitude forward.“

Luke Crane, game designer and games project specialist for Kickstarter, said, “Gen Con is the genesis of tabletop gaming as we know it. The Gen Con Tabletop Deathmatch continues the tradition of hackery and innovation that birthed this crazy hobby in 1968.“ He added, “Please submit your games so I can judge your soul apart!“

Shari Spiro, founder of the game printer Ad Magic said, “We’re excited to partner with Cards Against Humanity for this contest. Ad Magic has printed Cards Against Humanity from the beginning and we would love to help give another game the same start.“

Eli Halpern, co-creator of Cards Against Humanity added, “I couldn’t be more excited by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to crush the dreams of independent game designers.“

Prizes are furnished by Cards Against Humanity, Ad Magic, Gen Con LLC., and Maxistentialism Inc. The Deathmatch design contest is produced by Dammit Liz Productions.

Applicants can learn more and submit their game at CardsAgainstHumanity.com/deathmatch.

Cards Against Humanity is an independent card game that was initially funded on Kickstarter. It’s now the top selling, best rated, and most wished for item on Amazon.com. The entire game is also available as a free download at CardsAgainstHumanity.com.