The university course at MOME, where I taught game design, has also concluded—with two quite promising prototypes, no less.

On the last day, we listened to two presentations about processing sociological problems, fieldwork, the game design process, and group dynamics. Then we got to try out both card games.

They were surprisingly good. Naturally, I had followed the process, so I wasn't exactly taken by surprise, but the ideas and elements came together much better for the first test than I had anticipated.

Of course, the students were not far from the realm of design; it's no coincidence they attend this university, but they had never created a board game before. Nevertheless, they understood very clearly that the goal was to create a compact, feasible, and entertaining card game where the sociological issue to be processed should not overwhelm the gameplay. Both games aim to sensitize and educate the players indirectly but create opportunities for discussions, thereby fulfilling this objective as well.

Naturally, the games are not yet finished; there is still much work to be done, but it seems that the students are open to continuing the project. Representatives from the university who have the authority to advance these games also attended the presentation, and they were incredibly entertained and enthusiastic, thus motivated to support the project. A university project could not achieve more than this: a product is on the verge of being born.

I hope that in this blog, I will soon be able to showcase the published games from a store shelf and then discuss them in more detail. For now, briefly, one is a trading, bargaining card game with push your luck mechanism, while the other is a party game built on humor, mixing grotesque elements with values.

The course was a tremendous experience for me, and I am very happy that I can still help to refine the games, as well as that we are already planning the next course. We already have ideas for themes that these future games might explore. I hope that an exciting series is in the making, which might even gain international attention.