diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2fe09d2..7cb7314 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -41,4 +41,7 @@
 /Launcher/Release/
 
 # Visual Studio
-/.vs/
\ No newline at end of file
+/.vs/
+
+# never ignore anything in packages directory
+!packages/
\ No newline at end of file