The Art of Game Design:
Working hard or hardly working?

Here at Miami University, down in the basement of King’s Library, there is a Summer Scholars module called The Art of Game Design. This two-week course is led by Miami’s very own, Dr. Phill Alexander. During the school year, Alexander primarily teaches game studies/writing, and e-sports classes. During his summer class,  however, his students have been focusing on game mechanics and design by playing video games, board games and card games. 

By doing this, the students gained ideas for creating their own games, physical and virtual. Skyler Bloom, Ian Guinn, Rachel Jones and David Scott were a few of many students who created a physical game within their first week. They took ideas from the popular computer game “Portal” to create “Bortal” or Portal the Board Game (pictured, below). 

The second week, students grouped up to create their own video games using the software Game Maker 2.3. This platform allows students to enter code to make “sprites” or animations (which they also created) perform desired actions. Art of the Game partners Miriam Kleit and Christopher Norris (pictured, right) explained their game as a twist on the classic “kill the bad guy” game. They created a virtual dungeon and placed characters in it to kill the hero trying to take them down.

While Kleit wrote the code, Norris was creating animations. They said learned the skills during their time at Miami, as did their classmates. It was quite obvious that this amazing bunch of kids have bright futures ahead of them.

“We’re a weird group,” stated Rachel Jones, laughing with her peers at all the “imaginative” work they created while studying at Miami this summer.

Five Questions with Ceili Doyle

Sydney Peppe:
Smiley-face scars

Sydney Peppe, 16, from Ashburn, Virginia, became interested in running in the third grade because both of her parents are runners. She has been running steadily ever since and even participated in her high school’s cross country team for two years, until the pain began.

Since she began running at such a young age, her pre-existing condition, Synovial Plica Syndrome (SPS), became a noticeable issue after her second year running cross country. Plica is the tissue that grows around the kneecap in the womb to help fetal development, but is usually absorbed before birth. In Peppe’s case, however, her plica continued to grow all the way around the inner sides of both her knees up until her double knee surgery in January 2019. However, Peppe was misdiagnosed with tendonitis for several years and it was not until after a previous surgery to remove a tumor in her left knee that the syndrome became evident.

After being told doctors would have to go back into her knees for surgery, Peppe thought of the good and continued to keep radiating positivity. Peppe loves life and, especially with the support of friends and family, surgery was not going to stop her from living it. Arthroscopically, doctors went into both knees to clip the plica down to a reasonable size. Peppe could not walk for one week, post-surgery, but that did not prevent her from going to physical therapy and being back at school one month later.

“I was thriving. I even finished ‘The Office,’ ” she says, thinking back to her week of bed rest.

She resumed running soon after and says she’s never loved it more. Peppe still laughs at her “smiley face scars” on both knees and uses them as a reminder to stay positive. Although she has faced a lot, head on, she remains hopeful and happy with her recovery. She thinks of her experience as only a small step back rather than an anchor, tying her down.

Karina Hollenkamp: Coping through karate

Karina Hollenkamp, 16, from Loveland, Ohio, found a way to cope with her mother’s passing through a sport that keeps her “focused and aware of [herself] and [her] surroundings.”

For many people, karate serves a way to get in shape, try something new or even to let out some anger. For Hollenkamp, however, karate brought friends and support.

Back when Hollenkamp was in kindergarten,  she and her mother attended classes together at the Five White Tigers Martial Arts gym in Cincinnati, Ohio. At this time, she earned her orange belt in the sport, but then stopped partaking in martial arts. Unfortunately, the year she was in second grade, her mother passed away. By eighth grade, after reconnecting with some of her mother’s friends who still practiced at Five White Tigers, Hollenkamp decided to give karate another try.  Since then, Hollenkamp has achieved the status of a black belt and recognizes that the sport brings balance to her life.

It has been four years since she’s started practicing again and she says it is getting more and more difficult, but she loves it and the people she found there to support her. 

After two weeks as a journalist, what I now know

Throughout these two weeks with Summer Scholars, I have learned so much about journalism, writing and other mediums within this profession. We took many tours and spoke with professionals who gave us deep insight on their struggles and where they have succeeded within the world of journalism. Going into this, I knew I wanted to study communications and public relations in college. Now, I know I still want to do that because being a journalist is hard! After performing countless interviews, virtually and in person, I have learned that one has to be fully prepared before jumping into a conversation about someone’s life or career.

Fortunately, after two weeks I have learned how to do an interview properly, allowing me to interview other participants in the Summer Scholars program. Learning about another module — Art of Game Design — was my favorite part of this whole experience. Being able to sit in and really see what other kids are doing here was incredible. I am not a tech and computer person, so being a part of that world for a day was such an amazing experience that only a journalist can have. Journalism is something that I learned, has many ups and downs. The current world of journalism is shifting from print to digital, with websites being visited more than newspapers are being bought. This is hard for many journalists and it is a big change everyone has to learn to work with. The job itself is demanding and I have truly gained a sense of great respect for journalists and what they do. It is not something I see myself doing, necessarily, but I was happy to have had this opportunity to meet so many great people and friends and to learn so much about one of the most important jobs out there. Journalists are really “the original historians” and they will continue to inform and spread awareness to the public for time to come, even with media and other struggles in their way. 

About the author

Sixteen-year-old Sabrina Sobral lives just north of San Francisco, California, with her parents, younger sister and her absolutely adorable pitbull mix (Duda) and tabby cat (Peeps). She will be continuing her education as an incoming senior at Marin Catholic High School, where she is excited to be the captain/ president of multiple teams and clubs. Along with varsity lacrosse, cross country, and yearbook, Sobral spends lots of free time out with friends and family usually enjoying the beauty of her hometown. Hiking over beautiful Mt. Tam, swimming at Stinson Beach, and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge to enjoy what the city has to offer are just a few memorable things she does with her weekends in (usually) sunny California. Looking ahead, Sobral is excited about her future, and will most likely pursue a major in communication or public relations. She also hopes to study abroad during her college years, expanding her knowledge of languages with the continuation of her learning Spanish, possibly in Spain. In addition to English,  she also speaks some Portuguese.