After School Clubs

Our 6 to 8 week clubs offer a deep dive into board game design. Each week covers a different critical element of design.

Breakdown of our After School Clubs

We cover a lot of topics but each is an important part of the overall game and it's playability. And if the game isn't playable, what was the point?

We have lesson plans, group work, and individual design time for these critical design topics:

Theme & Backstory┃The Board ┃Components┃Rules┃Playtesting┃Artwork┃The Pitch

Theme and Backstory

The theme and backstory help narrow down the focus so that things can start falling into place.

The Board

The board is based on a critical element in our backstory. We teach that the board is used to show progress of the game.

Components

These are the bits and pieces we use in the game. From the dice to the cards. Where the board shows progress in the game, the components are what let us make progress in the game.

Rules and How To Play

Players must know how to play your game otherwise they might play it wrong and become frustrated. Teach them how to play so they can enjoy your awesome game.

Playtesting

Sometimes our awesome ideas don't pan out as well as we expected them to. We use playtesting to discover problems with our game and fix them so that our games play as we intended.

Artwork

When we add artwork we go over the importance of color palettes, making your game playable for color blind gamers, and what information needs to be included on the box.

Presention

With over 6000 games published each year, you need to sell your players on your game. Why should they play your game over another? We use presentation to talk positively about our creations so others can experience what we've made.

Embracing “Organized Chaos”

Having a group of creative minds bustling about can come across as a wild experience. Each session is organized into three parts. The Lesson, The Activity, The Design. Each section acts as a funnel for our designers. New information is reinforced by a group game or activity. The Builder applies the new material to their game with the teacher readily available for any questions they may have.

Perfect For Late Elementary to Early Middle School

Through encouragement and assurance, we believe that little creators are capable of great things. Because of this belief, we aim to provide an environment that gives our creators room to design without hindrance or fear of failure.

Develop Problem Solving and Public Speaking skills

Throughout the 6 or 8 week program your little designer will be overcoming obstacles to their board game and on the final week they will present their newly created game to friends and family.

One of a Kind Experience

On the final week of the program, we invite you and yours to come to the pitch meeting where your little designer will present to you the game they’ve been working on, and afterward, you can play it with them, or go out to celebrate their fun creation.

Fall 2023 After School Clubs

St. Anthony's Private School

Fridays starting February 2nd from 3:25 to 4:30. Click Here to register!

Urbandale

TBD

Waukee

Thursdays starting March 21-April 18th 3:45 - 5:15 at Brookview Elementary

Knoxville

TBD

Ankeny

Wednesdays at 6pm. Registration opens soon!

Don't see your area or school listed above?

Let us know so we can get the ball rolling and run our club this coming Spring! Often times we need parents to tell the school there is interest before we are approved to run our program.

Once a district knows parents are interested in our program, everything falls into place quite quickly.

Get In Touch

Want to know more about this program?

Check out our informational brochure for more!

After School Club Brochure