Trailer Trash:
Although I was bummed about our kickstarter campaign not getting funded, I somehow felt free at the same time; free to work on other games. I did get my start in game design with educational high school math games, but I started to branch out and create other types of games. I created a pre-school game for my 4-year-old called GEMS and another game called Trailer Trash, which I'm going to tell you about.
I was poking around www.thegamecrafter.com and noticed they have a link for contests. Nothing motivates me more than a good challenge. The prizes aren't anything to lose sleep over, but getting your name out there is. The contest that caught my attention was the one where you need to design a game that has a strong "take that" mechanic. And thus, Trailer Trash was born.
Trailer Trash is a tile/card game where the main mechanic is property acquisition. There is trash all over that needs to be cleaned up and drama, oh the drama, from the characters living in the trailers. My game club students love the the game and my 10-year-old son complimented me on this design. If you knew my son, you would know that he doesn't hand out compliments to me. Ever.
I have been playing Trailer Trash with my game club students for a few weeks, tweaking a rule here and a card there, and I feel like I'm on the way to a solid game. I am also play-testing with locals and hoping to gain more objective feedback since I'm not in the room when they play. The artwork is the last main component that needs to be finished since my stick figures are not the look I'm going for and Micah is working on that. Below are some images of the prototype that I've been sharing.
Game Design Course:
I've been dreaming about teaching a game design course ever since I attending my first edugaming workshop in 2011. A few months ago I took a chance and proposed my idea to my principal. He supported my idea and passed it along to the school board. I wasn't sure how the school board would react to a course about gaming, even if it was table tops game (non-digital), but they were supportive as well. Next year I'll be teaching two sections of Game Design!
Gaming Presentations:
I would love to attend Twitter Math Camp this summer, especially since John Golden (@mathhombre) invited me to co-present math games with him, however, it just wasn't in the cards for me (pun intended). BUT, he agreed to share my game Domain Rangers with all of you there. If you are going to TMC check out John's sessions and Domain Rangers and let me know what you think. I'm always looking to improve.
I have been asked to present at the level I edugaming workshop this summer at the local community college. I am really excited about this since it's where I started to learn about game design. I'm happy to have this chance to give something back.
I have also been asked by the same professors to present at their Edugaming Conference. I'll be talking about the educational game design framework that they created and how it helps me design games for my classroom. If you live in that area (Schnecksville, PA) this is a conference you should consider attending. There will be an arcade of educational games that you can check out. Click here for more information.
I have been accepted to speck at the regional NCTM conference in Atlantic City this October. In that session I'll be sharing some of the games that I created for my classroom and play a few of them. I hope to see you there. NCTM Regional Conferences.
Although I was bummed about our kickstarter campaign not getting funded, I somehow felt free at the same time; free to work on other games. I did get my start in game design with educational high school math games, but I started to branch out and create other types of games. I created a pre-school game for my 4-year-old called GEMS and another game called Trailer Trash, which I'm going to tell you about.
I was poking around www.thegamecrafter.com and noticed they have a link for contests. Nothing motivates me more than a good challenge. The prizes aren't anything to lose sleep over, but getting your name out there is. The contest that caught my attention was the one where you need to design a game that has a strong "take that" mechanic. And thus, Trailer Trash was born.
Trailer Trash is a tile/card game where the main mechanic is property acquisition. There is trash all over that needs to be cleaned up and drama, oh the drama, from the characters living in the trailers. My game club students love the the game and my 10-year-old son complimented me on this design. If you knew my son, you would know that he doesn't hand out compliments to me. Ever.
I have been playing Trailer Trash with my game club students for a few weeks, tweaking a rule here and a card there, and I feel like I'm on the way to a solid game. I am also play-testing with locals and hoping to gain more objective feedback since I'm not in the room when they play. The artwork is the last main component that needs to be finished since my stick figures are not the look I'm going for and Micah is working on that. Below are some images of the prototype that I've been sharing.
Game Design Course:
I've been dreaming about teaching a game design course ever since I attending my first edugaming workshop in 2011. A few months ago I took a chance and proposed my idea to my principal. He supported my idea and passed it along to the school board. I wasn't sure how the school board would react to a course about gaming, even if it was table tops game (non-digital), but they were supportive as well. Next year I'll be teaching two sections of Game Design!
Gaming Presentations:
I would love to attend Twitter Math Camp this summer, especially since John Golden (@mathhombre) invited me to co-present math games with him, however, it just wasn't in the cards for me (pun intended). BUT, he agreed to share my game Domain Rangers with all of you there. If you are going to TMC check out John's sessions and Domain Rangers and let me know what you think. I'm always looking to improve.
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| Domain Rangers: Set-Up Photo |
I have been asked to present at the level I edugaming workshop this summer at the local community college. I am really excited about this since it's where I started to learn about game design. I'm happy to have this chance to give something back.
I have also been asked by the same professors to present at their Edugaming Conference. I'll be talking about the educational game design framework that they created and how it helps me design games for my classroom. If you live in that area (Schnecksville, PA) this is a conference you should consider attending. There will be an arcade of educational games that you can check out. Click here for more information.
I have been accepted to speck at the regional NCTM conference in Atlantic City this October. In that session I'll be sharing some of the games that I created for my classroom and play a few of them. I hope to see you there. NCTM Regional Conferences.
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