Community members David Flack, Aina Flack, Brock graduate and Dramatic Arts Sessional Instructor Travis Seetoo (MA ’23) and Brock staff member Jen Woronow worked on a game during The Mother of All Game Jams held at the University in February. Games created during the event will be featured at a public showcase this weekend.Score points with Mom this weekend by putting yourself in her shoes.
A variety of games celebrating motherhood and all that it entails will be ready for the testing Saturday, May 11 at a free community event hosted by Brock’s Department of Digital Humanities (DDH) and the St. Catharines Public Library (SCPL).
Held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the library’s Central Branch, the family-friendly drop-in event will feature tabletop games inspired by the community’s thoughts on motherhood and developed as the result of The Mother of All Game Jams, an innovative event that took place in February and was led by Brock University Assistant Professor Sarah Stang.
The game jam brought the community together to reflect on their notions of motherhood and create thematic games based on their ideas with the support of DDH faculty and students lending their creative and technical expertise.
The games will be available at Saturday’s showcase for attendees to play and provide feedback on — a key part of game creation, says Stang.
With names such as “Hectic Household Hustle,” which sees players roleplay as mother and child, each with their own goals to accomplish, and “The Mother Load,” where players must balance chores, child care and their own well-being, it’s clear motherhood is not child’s play.
“Showcasing the games for the community not only encourages everyone to think about what it means to be a mother and to grow their interest in game design, but it’s also a way to get valuable feedback on how these games portray the experience of motherhood,” she says.
To kick off the festivities, Stang will share reflections on how the games have evolved since their inception at the previous game jam. The public will then be invited to play the games, interact with game creators and try their hand at making motherhood-themed games themselves.
Throughout the day, informational resources for parents and caregivers will also be available with participation from Niagara Parents and Niagara Health shedding light on the many services families can access in the region, including EarlyON Centres, health-care advice and dental support for children.
“Sharing these games with the community is a fantastic way to show off the exciting things that we do in Digital Humanities,” Stang says. “This is also a valuable way to build connections with our community in Niagara.”
