Brian Guest Lectured at Stanford

After two moves (including moving our son), 4000 thousands miles of driving, and a lot of unpacking, I can tell you about Stanford!

Oh my f@$%ing gosh! Yes, I edited myself because, but, hey this is what I'm comfortable with. 

It started with play testing board games. If there was ever an example of not taking the little things for granted, this is it. Here in San Francisco, Backerkit hosts a board game night where you can play test games as they are being created. That is where we me Tyler McGoffin. I'll share here when he releases his game.

What we didn't know is that Tyler teaches the game design at Stanford Summer Institute. There were two sessions filled with high schoolers from all over the globe. 

It was amazing! Brian gave a talk about balancing world building and player agency the first half and then we both helped the kids come up with worlds.

I made some of the kids laugh when I said it was my job to come up with characters and put them through the ringer. 

After they finished their world building exercise, we got to listen to them and ask questions. It was so much fun! The kids came up with everything from a dystopian world to twists on fairy tales. One group came up with something truly creepy regarding gene splicing and warfare. I won't repeat it because I don't want someone to actually do it!

Brian was definitely in his element. I'm going to look out for other opportunities for him to teach. 

All in all, it was an amazing experience.