The annual Board Game Jam challenges participants to build a board game in 24 hours, and occurred from Friday, February 10 at 6 p.m. to the following evening. This event is geared not only towards game design majors, but to all those who have a passion for gaming.
Hosted by members of the Game Design Cub and supervised by game design professor, Randall Case, five teams participated, creating a variety of games based on the theme “Sabotage.”
“A Board Game Jam is a great way to get people developing games and designing them, without having the technical skills to make a video game,” senior James Cowin, the president of the Game Design Club said.
The jam encompasses any participant of any major who is willing to try their hand at creating a game of their own. “The Board Game Jam allows those who aren’t familiar with video games to be able to hone in on things such as the mechanics of a video game and game dynamics while learning to create good board games, and then good video games,” Case said.
“Developing a game can be more complicated than some think,” junior Kevin Bettis, a student in the game design major, said while competing in the Game Board Jam. “It is a journey, depending on the theme and the ideas.”
Bettis’ assessment was accurate, as the games created ranged from games of skill to games of improv.
Bettis’ teammate, junior Alicia LeBlanc, said, “We improve every time we do a Game Jam.”
The event’s 24 hour run time allowed for many students to try their hand at game design.
