The spring semester may be over at CMU, but the CLGS is as busy as ever! Catch up with our recent news items and learn more about opportunities to join us!
1. 20Sided Gamified Campus Visit
At the end of April, we had a blast hanging out with Jared Fishman and Michael Canterino from the 20Sided Gamified LLC Design Team as they visited CMU! Our tour included a visit to the “Magic Circles: Society through Game Spaces” exhibit at the CMU Museum, a guest appearance at HST 560: Mind Games, and culminated in a great game night! Thanks to Jared and Michael for a fantastic time and showing us your game, Challenge to Power!
2. Second Annual Student Game Capstone Showcase
On May 7th, the CLGS was proud to host the Second Annual Student Game Capstone Showcase at the Student Activities Center. Professor Jon Truitt’s HST 560: Mind Games class brought a selection of historical tabletop games to present to attendees, while Professor Liling Li’s ITC 383: Computer Game Design students brought video games. CMU Esports kindly supplied pizza for the event, which was enjoyed by all. Students in the Game Design Thinking Minor are required to finish their experience by taking either an analog or digital capstone class. The plethora of games on display was a testament to student teamwork, inventiveness, and dedication!
3. Mason County Central High School Family Game “Knight”
Last Tuesday, a team from the CLGS took a road trip to Mason County Central High School in Scottville for a special outreach trip! Earlier this year, the coordinating teacher for the esports team and game club invited the CLGS to participate in their Family Game “Knights”. The CLGS team was delighted to spend some time playing games – including some CMich Press titles – and chatting with the MCCHS students. Plans are in the works to make this a repeat event and arrange a trip to campus! (Image below courtesy of the MCCHS Facebook page!)
4. Game Design Thinking Alumni Collaboration
Two recently graduated Game Design Thinking minor students, Tak Moran and Samantha Krayniak, are loaning their talents to CMich Press to create unique materials which expand the world of The Blue Way. Tak is designing a map with a timelapse creation video to represent the game world, while Sam is creating a digital exhibit related to topics in The Blue Way. These materials will provide new, engaging material to use in online promotion. The CLGS is proud to continue supporting graduated students in any way possible, especially with resume-building collaborations like this. Watch for Tak’s and Sam’s creations as we get ready for the launch of the crowdfunding campaign for The Blue Way on June 16th!
P.S. For more content related to The Blue Way, follow our prelaunch “launch party” here or check our website for updates! This week, we released a special Designer Q&A with The Blue Way’s artist, Samuel Araya! Go to this page to read more.
5. Canopy Archive: 235 bloom Podcast
Jordan Lee Thompson and Paul Privitera, in their podcast Canopy Archive: 235 bloom, reached out to let us know that they are using Dog Eat Dog as part of their larger storytelling journey. Give their show a listen here!
6. Coming Up: Game Nights Up North!
We are so excited to continue building partnerships across the state to introduce CMich Press games to more audiences! Our friends at the National Writers Series kindly connected us to a cool spot called Tank Spacein Traverse City, which hosts game nights, and a group called Tabletop Underground, which facilitates events like these at different sites. If you are in the Traverse City area, we will be hosting a game night in collaboration with Tabletop Underground at Tank Space on June 5th at 6PM! Join us for a fantastic evening!
Speaking of awesome partnerships, we have recently been in conversation with Mackinac Connect, a fantastic organization on Mackinac Island which hosts programming for local and seasonal folks. Next Wednesday, at the historic St. Anne’s Church, we will be playing Monumental Consequence – the perfect pairing! We can’t wait to share photos with you next month!
Those are the highlights — for now! As always, feel free to message us with questions or thoughts. Have a wonderful rest of your month!