The Gamers was a wargaming company founded and run by Dean Essig in Homer, Illinois. Their distinction was the focus on a few series, with special rules for each individual game. This made it easier to play new games within a series that was well known to the players. Homercon, a convention for The Gamers games was held each September in Homer, IL from 1990 until 2012. This company was bought out by Multi-Man Publishing in 2001 who continues to publish new materials for the original Gamers series and new games and game series designed by Dean Essig.