November 5–7, 2026
Orlando, Florida
Where Community and Code Collide! This collaboration reflects the heart of both organizations: to build and inspire a thriving community of Christians impacting gaming and digital culture. By coming together, we’re creating a bigger and more impactful space for developers, creators, pastors, and innovators to connect, grow, and bring Jesus to new frontiers.
2026 Conference Highlights:
Game developer and creator-focused workshops
Mingle with gamers, cosplayers, and streamers and celebrate community, have fun, and gain the industry skills you need to make your mark!
CGDC Publisher Pitch Panel
Play new and unreleased games in the Demo Grounds
Worship, prayer, and community spaces for networking
55 Inch TV/Monitor Giveaways at the end of the conference!
Inspiring CGDC Sponsored Speakers:
Tom Vasel: “Tabletop Gaming”
Tom will share how tabletop games create meaningful relationships, strengthen communities, and continue to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the gaming industry. Whether you’re a lifelong board gamer, content creator, or aspiring designer, you’ll gain valuable insight from one of the hobby’s most respected leaders.
Tobias Heussner: “Archetypes, Flow, and Paper Maps - Level Design Approaches for Video Games and Tabletop"
Developing maps for roleplaying adventures and computer games is challenging and often involves communicating a specific vision to a group of players or other professionals from different areas of expertise. As designers, we are called to not only ensure that a vision is clearly executed and understood but also that it fits well into the bigger picture of the entire game and its mechanics and/or within the story told by the campaign. During the presentation, we’ll discuss how archetypes help us develop a common language among designers, other developers, and players to define spaces, their functions, roles, and mechanics. We’ll discuss how these archetypes and game mechanics need to work together to provide the expected flow for the game/story we’re making, and how flow shapes players’ perception of a space and its connection to other spaces. Finally, we will look at paper maps.
Nathan Blair: “G4L - Charity is your Cheat Code”
Streaming has never been more crowded: 6.2 million channels went live on Twitch in a single month. Meanwhile, creator-led charity campaigns raised over $100 million in 2025 alone, and the creators behind them grew faster, earned more, and kept their communities longer than anyone else. This is not a talk about being nice. This is the data, the playbook, and the exact numbers behind the most underrated growth strategy on the internet and how to utilize it for growing YOUR platform THROUGH purpose.
Mike Madden: ”Designing Like a Shepherd: Guiding players with intention”
Like a shepherd who leads rather than drives, great level design guides players without controlling them. Learn how sightlines, landmarks, environmental storytelling, breadcrumbing, and risk/reward branching let you shape a player's path, so the right way forward feels like their own choice.
Michael Herrera: “Plea for Innovation”
Christian games weren’t meant to be of the world; instead they were meant to include innovative mechanics that allows God to interact with the Player. In his talk, Michael gives detailed examples and shows areas of growth for both developers and streamers.
Brock Henderson: “AI Game Dev Panel”
Brock Henderson will share his experiences with AI and whether there is a place for it in gaming.
Phil Conrod: “AI Game Dev Panel”
Phil Conrod will share his experiences with AI and whether there is a place for it in gaming.
Speaker Bios:
Tom Vasel is one of the most influential voices in the modern tabletop gaming industry. As the founder, president, and chief reviewer of The Dice Tower, he has spent more than two decades helping millions of gamers discover, understand, and enjoy board games through trusted reviews, podcasts, videos, and live events. Since launching The Dice Tower in 2003, Tom has reviewed thousands of board games and built one of the world’s largest and most respected tabletop gaming media platforms. His YouTube channel, podcasts, and conventions—including Dice Tower East, Dice Tower West, and the Dice Tower Cruise—have helped shape the modern board gaming community while introducing countless players to new games and designers. Beyond reviewing games, Tom is passionate about fostering community through tabletop gaming. He is also the founder of the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance to members of the gaming community facing hardship. A former missionary and pastor, Tom continues to serve his local church while leading The Dice Tower full time. At ReachConf, Tom will share how tabletop games create meaningful relationships, strengthen communities, and continue to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the gaming industry. Whether you’re a lifelong board gamer, content creator, or aspiring designer, you’ll gain valuable insight from one of the hobby’s most respected leaders.
Tobias Heussner is a Principal Game Content/Narrative Designer and Producer. He has been working in the game industry for over 25 years and has successfully developed and published more than 20 titles along with his teams, including the award-winning AAA RPG Drakensang, the Action-RPG Drakensang Online, Fortnite, and NBA Playgrounds. He has worked in various design roles and has led teams as both a designer and a producer. In 2015, he published the Game Narrative Toolbox with FocalPress, co-authored by Ann Lemay, Toiya K. Finley, and Jennifer Hepler. In 2019, he published the sequel to the Game Narrative Toolbox, called The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox, with CRC Press. An updated, second edition of the Game Narrative Toolbox was published in 2024, and a second edition of The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox will be published in August 2026. He is currently working as a Lead Level Designer. His personal website and CV are available at http://www.theussner.com.
Nathan “Jetti” Blair is an award‑winning entrepreneur, philanthropist, and innovator across tech and entertainment. Founder & CEO of several endevors including Games for Love, a 501(c)(3) building long‑term support for kids and families in hospitals. Under his leadership, Games for Love holds Charity Navigator’s Four‑Star rating and recognition as the #1 organization in the children‑and‑gaming category, Top 14 in the world for AI In Healthcare, and the current reigning champion of Battle for Charity. A mentor to founders and a former independent recording artist turned builder, Nathan has consulted with Microsoft/Xbox, Nintendo, and Glassdoor; he is a Top 100 Healthcare Visionary and a two‑time challenge‑coin‑awarded civilian. “I am an advocate, fighting to the death for these kids, as they are fighting for their lives.”
Brock Henderson believes the world is a better place when we play together. As co-founder and CTO of PxlPug, he is excited to share that message with the world. PxlPug’s purpose is to create a healthy community where individuals are valued for who they are and are encouraged to grow into who they were created to be. The studio does this by crafting games that bring people together. Brock is a designer, developer, and entrepreneur. He has a passion for creating video games and a proven track record with over 25 shipped titles and 3+ million downloads. Before entering the games industry, he co-founded the design firm Paper Tower where he served as its creative director for over a decade. In that time, he designed interactive experiences for clients like Coca-Cola, Motorola, and Harvard. Brock currently resides in a small town in Iowa with his beautiful wife Vanessa and their six children—where he loves to read and blog.
Phil Conrod was one of the first pioneers in the Christian Video Game Industry. Phil developed his first Christian video game in 1980 and co-founded BibleBytes with his parents in 1982. Since then, Phil has published dozens of apps and games over the past 40+ years. He has also authored, co-authored and edited over two dozen technology related textbooks for the academic market which can be found in online bookstores like Amazon, Walmart and ChristianBook.com. His co-developed applications, games and textbook tutorials have been downloaded and used by over 1 million people. Phil currently serves as the CEO of Kidware Software and BibleByte Books & Games. In his spare time, Phil also serves as an adjunct professor at Northwest University teaching Video Game Design & Development courses.
Michael Alan Herrera was born in Anaheim, California next to Disneyland, which he always maintains was a divine signal that he belonged in the entertainment industry. His interest in video games began during his childhood, just as video games were emerging as a popular new form of entertainment; his first video game was the original King’s Quest by Sierra Online. Prior to entering the game industry, Michael obtained a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies at the University of Maine Fort Kent and spent five years in management and supervision while working for the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization located off the coast of Southern California. This experience helped him obtain the management and people skills necessary for video game production. In 2011, Michael obtained a second Bachelor degree (Bachelor of Art) in Game Design at Collins College and, in 2012, moved to the Seattle area to pursue working in the game industry. A few years later, he discovered the Christian Game Developers Conference and became involved in building and managing the community online along with assisting in the organization of the conference in Portland, Oregon. In 2015 - 2018, Michael presented the annual “Year in Review” which is an account of new, announced, and continuing projects in the Christian Game space. Michael has served on the Board at various times and assists with Conference organizing. He is also the co-owner of Clopas LLC, a video game studio, and On His Shoulders Media, a non-profit digital game ministry. Michael lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two corgis. He’s a strong advocate for innovation which he looks forward to discussing in his talk.
Mike Madden brings over 20 years of AAA game industry experience to the stage, having shaped some of gaming's most iconic worlds during his time at Treyarch and Infinity Ward on titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Black Ops. Across seven AAA titles and numerous independent projects, Mike has built a career on crafting immersive single-player, multiplayer, and open-world levels, with an expert eye for flow, pacing, and player engagement. As Lead Level Designer at Templar Media, Mike is now channeling two decades of craft into uncharted territory: building expansive worlds that bridge the gap between Biblical accuracy and compelling gameplay. It's a challenge that pushes level design into new creative and narrative territory, and Mike will bring the lessons learned from AAA shooters to bear on it. Attendees can expect a talk grounded in real production experience, practical, candid, and full of insight for anyone looking to level up their own design career.
CGDC Publisher Pitch Panel Winners Announced at the Conference:
Tied for First Place:
Runner Up:
Demo Grounds Games:
