Every October a Pittsburgh indie games group called Bit Bridge hosts a Halloween Showcase event for game makers. It’s an expo-style tabling event that’s free to the public and gives game designers and artists a chance to get feedback on their work and meet other developers, and I thought it would be a great place to showcase some Game Not Included projects. It was a blast!!
But the Bit Bridge Showcase is typically for video game demos. Game Not Included is a game design *curriculum*, but not a playable game. I wanted to have some interaction at the table, so I settled on a zine-style booklet called the “Swatch Maker”, along with a couple of design worksheets. With a fistful of colored pencils and a showcase splash page on the website, I was ready to pitch to whoever got too close to my table.
-*-*-*——- Swatch Maker ——-*-*-*-
I wanted a quick pick-up-and-go demonstration of the core concept behind Game Not Included. Something people could take with them and maybe even use after the showcase is done if they like it enough. Here’s what I came up with:
The Swatch Maker tackles the concept of brainstorming through identifying your emotions. It’s a sort of handbook that takes you step-by-step through building a visual motif. Like everything in Game Not Included, I wanted the lesson contained in this booklet to be approachable and playful, so the first couple pages function like a tutorial. Each step is illustrated with written instructions accompanied by a conceptual demo. Then the rest of the booklet cuts you loose, encouraging you to fill up each section with your own set of emotions. The front of the book is also left mostly blank to give you space to decorate it however you see fit, that way it feels more like your own work, even a personal journal of sorts.
The results? Big success! I had a steady stream of all ages come by to learn about the brainstorming process. Some even sat at the table to work on it on-the-spot, and one kid in particular was captivated by the process. Here are some pics of what they came up with:
I thought it was pretty cool how quickly people were able to grasp the concept of emotion visualization. I was worried the instructions might be a bit too dense and intimidating, but even (and maybe even especially) younger audiences could break down emotions into visual motifs. The kid who filled the project out at the table even told me it was “the coolest thing here!” and sat down to make a second motif, though I didn’t get pictures.