It took me forever to start these updates, and here we are at the fourth one. Yay!
If I am honest, this one has been the hardest to find time to write. Post-Gen Con has been a blur. The week after, we were pretty comatose, which was followed by a mad rush for us to get ready for the academic year.
The flow of our year is quite different from that of most game companies. Our year is academic, and almost everyone in our center teaches classes, so our work in the center is reduced during the academic year. Additionally, as the school year gets ready to start, we go into full-blown welcome mode for incoming and returning students.
This year, we were a part of Leadership Safari, and Co-Director Tracy Davis led a series of play-throughs of our upcoming game Commonality.
In total, approximately 1200 new students played the game. This was our first attempt at these kinds of numbers. A lot was learned, but it was overall a great success.
We were also present at MainStage, a recruiting event for student organizations, majors, and minors. It is focused on letting students know who we are.
The return to campus life is, overall, a weird flow of bursts of energy. This moment also sees a shift for Liv as she starts her MA in creative writing, and our logistics intern, Lauren, has returned to full-time coursework in her junior year at CMU. Both Lauren and Liv remain ridiculously busy, and we wish them both great success on the year (you will still hear from Liv occasionally).
A couple of things for you all that are coming up:
- October 1st is the launch of Art and System and the three amazing games that are the initial push of the series. Check it out here if this is the first time you are hearing of it.
- Break Our Games is back at Park Library on the second Friday of each month from 3-5 in room 211. Come join us!
Lastly, something less exciting but important. Generally, I try to tell you the cool things that we are up to because it is fun. But I also think it is important for our fans and followers to be aware of some of our challenges. At the very least, if you know about them, you will know why we are cheering when we overcome the challenge.
Anyone connected to the hobby game industry, even a little bit, is aware of the impact tariffs are having on game companies. We are weathering them so far, though they are taking their own bite out of the income we bring to our corner of the university.
Beyond that, because we are at a university, there is the enrollment piece. Foreign students traditionally make up a significant portion of the graduate students at a lot of universities. This is true at CMU as well. This year, recent changes in policies around student visas have had a significant impact on the foreign students able to attend CMU. This, in turn, creates a financial crunch for the university, which in turn is creating a financial crunch for us. Fortunately, we have a year before this becomes dire. We have time to sell our games, host events, and take part in fundraising efforts at the university.
We will be doing this more this year than in the past, and I want to apologize now. I realize you are here for updates, and there are lots of people in need. But I would rather you know where it is coming from and why. Hopefully, you will bear with us and keep reading in the future, despite the occasional ask for support (ignore it and stick around if it is not something you are interested in).
So you all can follow along, our goal for the year is to bring in $250,000-$300,000. Ideally, we would like to hit that upper number, but we will take the lower if we can get it. Currently, we are sitting at $39,000. Let’s see if we can do this.
Alright, on to the bio piece, which features me (Jon) this round.
Fire Up, everyone, and thanks for joining us on this journey!
September Spotlight: Jon Truitt, Co-Director
By Liv O’Toole
Jon Truitt wears many titles, some formal and some self-bestowed, though he seems equally at home with either. Officially, he is Professor of Latin American History and Co-Director of the Center for Learning through Games and Simulations (CLGS). Unofficially—though perhaps more tellingly—his colleague and fellow Co-Director Tracy Davis has dubbed him the “Chaos Bringer.” The name fits.
He describes himself as constantly curious, rarely still. Outside of work, he is an Eagle Scout, a parent of two teenagers who keep him grounded, and the partner of a “superhero” spouse whose veterinary work literally saves lives. In his own words, his hobbies range across swimming, running, camping, juggling, traveling, and, of course, gaming. Not just gaming in one lane—Jon is an “omni-gamer,” shifting easily between long, intricate board games, storytelling-rich RPGs, quick party diversions, and even puzzle games. If it involves play, he’s interested.
Jon’s role at CLGS reflects the balance of structure and improvisation suggested by his nickname. As one of the Center’s founders, he has worked alongside Tracy to shape its direction from the beginning. He manages budgets, develops games, builds curriculum, leads workshops, and often serves as the public face of the organization by mere virtue of being “the least introverted” of the team.
What really defines his leadership, though, is his juggling. At CLGS, projects move fluidly across hands, with each member tossing ideas, resources, or responsibilities into the air. Sometimes unexpected elements—”dynamite, raw eggs”—are added for the thrill of it. For Jon, this exchange captures the energy of working in such an experimental, collaborative space.
If there’s one thing Jon wishes more people understood, it’s the sheer complexity of making games. Using book publishing as an analogy, he emphasizes the difference. “When a book goes to press, it is closer to finished than when a game does,” he explains. Games require a long, iterative process of development—testing, retesting, putting a design in front of different audiences, and gathering feedback until it can withstand the scrutiny of diverse players. Editing exists in both worlds, but the shape of it changes; with games, playtesting is the copy-editing, only with many more steps.
That process, however, also fosters some of his favorite outcomes: the friendships that form with designers along the way.
Jon’s path into game-based learning started early in his career. During his first semester of teaching at Hamline University and St. John’s/St. Ben’s, he was introduced to the Reacting to the Past pedagogy. At the time, there wasn’t a game covering Latin America, so he began writing one himself on the Mexican Revolution. By the time he arrived at CMU, he was already invested in the method. From there, it was the enthusiasm of students and colleagues that catalyzed CLGS into existence.
“What brought me to CMU, a job as a Latin American Historian,” he notes. “What brought me to the CLGS, amazing colleagues and awesome CMU students.”
When asked which other disciplines feed into the work of CLGS, Jon doesn’t hesitate: “All of them.” To him, games are models—frameworks flexible enough to absorb insights from any field. Anyone with creativity and a willingness to explore can contribute meaningfully to the work.
This conviction circles back to his self-description. Whether in the classroom, at the Center, or around a campfire with a scout troop, Jon Truitt thrives in the momentum of curiosity, motion, and collaborative play. And if things occasionally veer toward chaos—well, that seems to be part of the design.