Board Game Project: Revolt!
This was a group project during undergrad. I worked with one other person to develop this boardgame for Dr. Valante’s “Playing the Middle Ages” course. My partner and I developed the game over the course of several months. We collaborated on the design of the board, cards, and pieces in reference to the First Baron’s Revolt following King John’s failure to employ Magna Carta.
I wrote the directions and rules of how gameplay would work, and we both play-tested it before our other classmates did. We wanted to incorporate as many references to the First Baron’s Revolt, including references to Robin Hood (even though his name did not appear for another hundred years or so following this revolt!). Most references to the past involved using names of some of the barons for the game pieces, since players “act” as barons fighting to push the king out of the different territories to reclaim their land. References in the “Rex” and “Fortuna” cards include elements that would impact battle, such as a sudden flood diminishing resources or delaying a player from advancing. “Rex” and “Fortuna” are references themselves as Latin was used by the clergy and possibly learned by people of higher status. Fortuna is also a reference to the goddess who was a popular figure during the Middle Ages. The colors used for the board and pieces were matched, to the best of our ability, from illuminated manuscripts. Actual images used were taken from digitized collections on British History. We used Appalachian State’s Makerspace to 3D print the baron and King John pieces. We downloaded the 3D print files from the Lewis Chess Piece Set from the Scottish National Museum website. These references to history, even the anachronistic Robin Hood reference in-game, served to create a discussion about how the Middle Ages are perceived through games.
I have continued play-testing with people I know to refine gameplay.
In-Stall Project: If These Ducks Could Talk
This project was modeled after Dr. Wingo’s “In-Stall History” project, where history posters are created and installed…in public bathrooms! This was a graduate class project where we worked in small groups to research and create a mini exhibit on a piece of Appalachian State history. I worked with Nathan Rodney and Lauren Philips to develop these posters.
Our topics were, “Who the Hell was Kidd Brewer?” and “If These Ducks Could Talk.” We collaborated to settle on our topics, and helped each other research our topics. Lauren largely worked on the Kidd Brewer poster while Nathan and I created the poster on the duck pond on campus, but we helped each other on research and designs through multiple rounds of peer review. We used the Special Collections Research Center at App State to find the resources we needed. We also created our posters using Canva and set up QR codes that led to our poster site, where viewers could find more information.
Installation of these posters included finding relevant spots on campus for our topics. It was a renegade installation with paper, tape, and a bathroom wall.
The biggest challenge was finding a free QR code generator that did not expire without paying to upgrade. We never found one, but our QR codes were scanned by one hundred people. One poster remains, but its location will not be revealed.