Think Outside The Box And Invite Creativity To Play!

Q: Why did you make a board game about comics and how did you come up with it? 

A: Well, being a comic creator it seemed fitting to make the game about that and I’m always trying to show people how cool it is to make comics, and how it’s such an underestimated method of communication, expression and ideas. I’ve always loved board games too, when you grow up in the country you find all sorts of methods to entertain yourself; I used TV, board games, reading comics, making comics and writing scripts and short stories as a way to beat boredom in my youth. 

 

While making my web comic I lived in a large house on the outskirts of Toronto with my younger brother, his girlfriend and a bunch of male roommates. There must have been about 6 of us living there at a time. The house was massive and we would have lots of parties, some were board game nights in which we’d gorge on junk food, and invite friends plus our roommates to bring board games that were a little more unique than the same old games we always play. I loved this idea and it got me thinking about what kind of game I’d make to bring to the table. So eventually in 2009 I came up with a very easy original version of this game on the computer and printed it out to test play it with a group of friends and roommates. It wasn’t tremendously competitive at the time and that was one of the complaints during the test but people seemed to have fun none the less. I had people who called themselves cartoonists, writers, artists and even people who never thought of having anything to do with comics in their life playing this game and they all had a blast! 

 

When I moved out of that house to an apartment with my significant other deeper into Toronto I didn’t end up bringing the board game. I had it on my computer still but when I got a job at an art store I was too busy working there and going home to work on my web comic at night, putting the game idea aside. Once I quit that job a few years later I started thinking of what I wanted to do with my given abilities. I started looking into teaching jobs as I previously had an opportunity to teach both children and adults how to draw their own original cartoons and characters using shapes, which I loved doing and also got positive feedback as well. Around this same time we had friends that would come over for board game nights with us again and this reminded me to dust off the old game I made and revise it not only for game nights but to use as a teaching tool as well if I landed a teaching job. I showed it to my boyfriend who never got to see it originally and he loved it but it still needed some work on being competitive like most board games are. I didn’t want to make too many rules as this game should help you break outside the box for creativity and allow people to work in partners or by themselves if necessary, but he was right, the board game had an end goal eventually so I made a few cards that made the game have both a challenge and a motivation.

 

I love the outcome as it’s competitive, yet can also be co-operative or played solo, plus you can play from 1-4 players (or more but it may get more confusing after 4) and it’s simple but you can do so much with it! Not only is it for a social event with a small group of friends but it’s a great teaching tool for those who want to bring creativity into the classroom. It not only gets people doing art but writing as well! Plus, you can invent new concepts with words…so not only are you creating you’re inventing too. Who knows what kind of cool ideas can come out of this?  

 

The beauty of the game is to learn to think outside the box and invite creativity to play.

 

If you would like to show off comics you made from playing this game please send them to: glassorbgames@hotmail.com