ANGOLA, Ind. (WLKI)- Trine University is inviting the public to play student-designed board games and video games and hear from game developers during its annual Art of Games event Nov. 18.
The free event runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Mark and Sarah Music/Ruoff Mortgage Esports Arena. Pizza will be provided, and community members are welcome to join Trine students, faculty and staff.
The event opens with a panel discussion from 4 to 5 p.m. moderated by Michael Smith, an assistant professor of mathematics at Trine. Panelists will discuss their work with board games and video games and take questions from the audience.
In-person panelists include Excell Pepple, lead engineer for In Midnight Games and creative director and producer of the role-playing game Fence, and Kurt Roembke, a game developer, sound designer and composer who organizes the Fort Wayne Game Developers Community Group.
They will be joined by Kyle Sutherland, founder of Prairieville Games and president of the Southwest Michigan Game Developers Association, and Nick Fariello, a board game designer and mechanical engineering student at Trine. John Levy, a West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School teacher who tests games for Stonemaier Games, will also take part.
Dave Beck, a game design professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and owner of Paverson Games, will join the discussion virtually.
After the panel, visitors can try games developed by students in Trine's game design minor and Honors Board Game Humanities Seminar, along with some of the panelists' games. The event explores how art, storytelling and music shape the games people play.
Smith organized the event with Joanna Claudy, an assistant professor of humanities and communication, Patrick Ridout, an assistant professor of computer science and information technology, and Jeremy Goossens, Trine's director of esports and industry innovation.
More than 100 students attended last year's event, according to the university.