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April 18, 2019Game On! P-TECH Students Design Board Games Based on Principles of Evolution
It was all fun and games on a recent Friday afternoon in the Capital Region Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) east campus. Four teams of P-TECH students at Watervliet High School designed prototypes for board games they had created based on elements of Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Each team developed a 5-minute elevator pitch to introduce their game and explain the mechanics and objectives of it to a panel of judges, including Astra Wijaya, game design instructor for Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education; Rachel Reilly, an independent game designer; and Karen Fox, director of educational initiatives for the Capital Region Chamber. Following the presentations, the three judges 
asked questions about the games and provided feedback to students.
As a judge and educator, Wijaya shared this advice for students interested in game design as a career. “Play and analyze many different games depending upon your interests. Meaning, if you are interested in being a game designer, scrutinize different game mechanics,” he said. “If you are interested in visual art for games, pay attention to the games’ art style, graphic design, and so on. The same goes for other professions in game development.”
Delivering the pitch
During their pitch, Sha-Quan Jenkins, Phoenix Tobin and Tristan Torres described their game, Evolve: The Risk for Resources, as being appropriate and fun for “ages 8 to 88.” For their game, players pick an animal, such as a snowshoe hare, a black panther, a chimpanzee, a hawk or other, roll the dice and embark on a journey through various territories on the board collecting resources, such as food and population, to avoid extinction.
Danyal Akhtar and Adonis Cyrus presented their game, Variation in Migration, based on the migratory habits of the monarch butterfly. In this game, players must complete the annual migration their butterfly species makes from its summer residence in Canada to its winter home in Mexico. On the board, which is a map of North America, there are squares that contain various environmental challenges and hazards. The goal is to be the first player to land their species of monarch in Mexico and collect the most points.
For the game Adapt It, designers Diogenes George and Colin Foster explained that players choose a character (amphibian, bird, mammal or reptile) and must travel a path to escape their habitat after it is contaminated by radiation. Along the path to safety, players pick up “chance cards” that contain various challenges that test their skills, as well as their luck.
“I liked learning about natural selection and the ways that animals adapt to their environment to survive,” said Colin. “It was interesting to learn about marketing and being able to sell your product, too.”
Survival is the name of the game created by Kendyrek Flynn, Stephen Franco and Teagan Rockenstire. In this game, scavengers, carnivores and herbivores travel around the board and must adapt to the various terrain and survive a variety of environmental challenges (storms, tornadoes) and obstacles (predators) along the way. Players must make it back to their home habitat with the most population (points) to win!
After the presentations were complete, students, teachers and judges had an opportunity to roll the dice and play the games.
Game prep
To prepare for the project, students built their content knowledge of evolution and evaluated different board game formats. Marketing was another essential component of the project. The Capital Region Chamber arranged for local business owners and entrepreneurs to visit the P-TECH classroom and work with students on developing their product pitches and marketing strategy.
Charlotte Guyton, who recently opened Bard & Baker, the area’s first board game cafe in downtown Troy, met with students in March. She spoke about what makes a successful business pitch and explained to students the different venues in which she had to make her pitches before opening her cafe. Guyton also shared her knowledge of board games and game development. “She left the P-TECH students with great information to think about as they designed their games and pitches,” said Kurt Redman, PTECH principal, east campus.
Walter Thorne, director of business development for JDog Junk Removal & Hauling, also visited P-TECH to offer his advice to students on marketing and sales pitches. “Walter has an extensive career in sales and business development,” said Redman. “It was a great afternoon of learning and feedback!”
Next up, Redman said that PTECH students plan to share their games with Watervliet Jr.-Sr. High School educators to test in classrooms with their students.
