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2022 GAME DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

The GDC Returns!

July  14-16, 2022 | Cabrini University, Radnor, PA 

REGISTER NOW

        Schedule  â”ƒ Travel and Housing â”ƒ Pricing       


OVERVIEW


We are pleased to host the first face-to-face GDC in three years at Cabrini University in suburban Philadelphia from July 14-16, 2022.


The GDC is committed to nurturing the design and development of new games using the Reacting to the Past pedagogy, as well as RTTP's intersections with many other forms of game-based learning. At the conference, participants will play several Reacting-style games that are currently in development; work to expand and explore ideas for new games; and engage in workshops focused on game design principles and processes.

 

Our special guest this year is Liz Davidson, nationally-celebrated host of the podcast Beyond Solitaire and featured contributor to the Dice Tower Network and other venues. Liz is an accomplished educator at many levels who has done doctoral research on Ancient Christianity and related topics. Liz writes and reports on many aspects of the intersections between games and history.


As always, GDC includes after-hours game nights on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday! That's right, game night every night! Explore learning-relevant game experiences of all kinds, from RPGs to board games. These  will take place mere steps from your housing on campus; no transport involved. A participant can attend any, all, or none of these sessions, but they are strongly encouraged, as community-building exercises, and for sharing ideas for the RTTP classroom and beyond.


GDC is intended for faculty and staff who already have a passing familiarity with Reacting to the Past, or other educational games. Come to playtest games, share your own nascent ideas through workshops and pitch sessions, make connections with fellow game-based learning fans, and enjoy!


Conference COVID policy on campus:

While this remains subject to change in CDC or Pennsylvania guidelines, Cabrini at this time does not have any restrictions in place as far as masking and social distancing; however, all participants need to provide either proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test result within 48 hours of conference arrival. This information will be updated as necessary in the lead-up to the conference.




SCHEDULE (subject to change)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13

3:00 - 9:00 PM 

ARRIVAL/CHECK IN for those staying on campus

THURSDAY, JULY 14

9 AM - 1:00 PM

PLAYTESTS 1 & 2 - Choose one:

1492: The Year that Forged "Spain" - Kyle Lincoln

This game is a simulation that puts players in the position of the negotiators at Santa Fe in November and December of 1491. Negotiating the Treaty by which Granada will surrender to Castile and Aragon and planning the Ceremony by which that capitulation will be presented to the less-literate masses, players investigate the nature of early modern diplomacy, ceremony and spectacle, and the relationships between the Abrahamic faiths at the close of the fifteenth century in Iberia and the Western Mediterranean.


Memory Reconsidered: San Francisco Pioneer Monument, 1991-1996 - Cynthia Prescott

Erected in 1894, San Francisco’s 800-ton Pioneer Monument survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, but was subsequently ignored for almost a century. The proposal for relocating the monument to make way for a new public library ignited fierce debates over the monument’s suitability for a more modern era. Should it remain as is, be edited to better reflect indigenous peoples, be supplemented with explanatory text, or be removed altogether? Historiography, historical memory and identity politics form the core of this game.


1:00 - 2:00 PM

LUNCH BREAK

2:00 - 3:30 PM

WORKSHOP SESSIONS

Explore mechanics and design principles for better games and better learning.

3:30 - 4:00 PM

BREAK

4:00 - 5:30 PM

PRESENTATION SESSIONS

Hear from colleagues about their game-related work in the classroom.

6:30 - 10:30 PM

GAME NIGHT 1

FRIDAY, JULY 15

9 AM - 1:00 PM

PLAYTESTS 3 & 4 - Choose one:


Detroit 1859 - Verdis Robinson

Beginning with the voice of the Detroit Anti-Slavery Society, founded in 1837, the abolitionist cause in Michigan and across the Detroit River found influential and outspoken advocates in the years leading up to the Civil War. The Society’s early example provided a precedent for other organizations in Michigan, which, in turn, made Detroit a primary “last station” on the road to freedom. On March 12, 1859, John Brown was invited to an abolitionist meeting in Detroit, Michigan, hosted by local black abolitionist, William Webb. Coincidently, Frederick Douglass was in the city at that time and was invited as well. News got around and other local leading abolitionists joined them for an evening of conversation and deliberation. The meeting’s objective was not simple but focused: to create a new viable plan, a pathway forward to end slavery- one that the leaders present could agree upon and realistically put into action. In true deliberative fashion, all voices will be heard


Algeria in Flames - Kelly McFall

This game immerses you in the conflict in French Algeria in the late 1950s. Plunged into an on-going conflict, you have to decide whether ‘Algeria’ should become independent, remain in the existing relationship with Metropolitan France, or become more fully integrated into France as a whole. Some participants will play members of the FLN, the Algerian force fighting for independence. Others will adopt roles as what will become known as pieds noirs—people of European descent born in Algeria. Finally, some will play figures in the metropole—politicians, journalists, public officials, leaders of the military and police, and members of the public. By the end of the game, Algeria may have achieved independence or the French may have suppressed the violence and restored an uneasy peace. But it’s also possible France will have collapsed into civil war or that the conflict in Algeria will have dramatically raised global tensions. It’s up to you to decide how much you’re willing to risk to achieve your dream for your people and your country.

1:00 - 2:00 PM 

LUNCH BREAK

2:00 - 3:30 PM

WORKSHOP SESSIONS

Explore mechanics and design principles for better games and better learning.

3:30 - 4:00 PM

BREAK

4:00 - 5:30 PM   

PITCH SESSIONS

Learn about new games in development and help colleagues with tough problems.

6:30 - 10:30 PM

GAME NIGHT 2

SATURDAY, JULY 16

9 AM - 1:00 PM

PLAYTEST 5

Reform or Revolution? Britain in the 1840s
Joe Sramek

This game is situated in Great Britain during the turbulent 1840s, when numerous social issues such as the Corn Laws (agricultural tariffs), Chartism (a campaign for political and economic enfranchisement for working men), and other social reform issues such as anti-slavery, the Poor Law, temperance, and Irish Home Rule bust onto the political scene. Members of Parliament were forced to respond, how they do so is up to you in this game. Will you avoid a political revolution in Great Britain? Through playing various leading men of parliament, social activists, or various newspaper editorialists, you will experience first-hand a country undergoing massive and sudden change.

1:00 - 2:00 PM

LUNCH BREAK

2:00 - 3:30 PM

ROUNDTABLE SESSION

Hear from our special guest Liz Davidson.

3:30 - 4:00 PM

BREAK

4:00 - 5:30 PM

HAPPY HOUR!

6:30 - 10:30 PM

GAME NIGHT 3

PRICING

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION 

Includes all conference events. Members need to sign into your account in order to register at the member rate. Become a member here

   
  
 Early Registration (by April 30)
 Regular Registration (after May 1)

 Consortium Member    $150

 $200

 Non-Member  $200  $250



TRAVEL AND HOUSING INFO

Cabrini University's campus is approximately 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, PA, and 30 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport. For directions, please consult the University info page for arriving by air, car, or SEPTA rail.

Single-occupancy rooms are available on Cabrini's campus at a rate of $71.30 a night, with three meals included. Check-in begins on the afternoon/evening of Wednesday July 13, with an option to extend your stay to Sunday, July 17, for a maximum stay of four nights. An one-time linens fee of $18 will apply regardless of the length of stay.


This website is still in beta, as we add details and edit information.  Please email us with feedback and ideas. Thank you for your patience and understanding.  

reacting@barnard.edu

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