Play, Make and Design Games in the Pacific NW

Archive for game education – Page 4

Gresham Library Summer Camp

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Monday, May 19th, 2014

Imagine New Worlds with Reading and Games

Have you ever wanted to create your own adventure story or a game you can play with friends?

Bringing games to life can be easy and fun! Join Pixel Arts for five days of fun, hands-on workshops to create tabletop and video games with your friends. We’ll draw, sketch, and design games inspired by your favorite books and your imagination.

You’ll be able to:
– Build your own game worlds using cards, paper, tiles, dice, and tokens
– Write a choose-your-own-adventure game with Twine – a game-making software
– Bring your game to life with SNAP – an easy to learn visual programming software
– Combine your projects or continue on with one of them in a free-for-all maker place
– Learn about game developer careers and local game spaces

At the end of the activities, share your games with friends online and at the library!

Registration required and participants are encouraged to attend all five sessions.

Pixel Arts Monthly Open House

Posted by Will Lewis

· Friday, May 2nd, 2014

Join Pixel Arts Game Education on May 18th for its monthly Open House! Starting at 2pm, we will open the doors to our new office at the Flux Hackerspace for parents, youth, volunteers, and those interested in the community to meet our team, try the game making tools we use at camps, and play locally created games. A Portland Games for Change meeting will be held between 2pm and 4pm, and be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session if you’re interested in volunteering.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

Metered parking is available on the street between the hours of 1pm & 7pm, and there is a parking lot across the street from our office with entrances on both Couch and Davis St. We will have a sign posted on our clear class doors and a volunteer greeter or phone number posted in case our building is locked at any time. Our entrance is right next door to Orox Leather Co.

Pixel Arts Monthly Open House

Posted by Will Lewis

· Monday, April 7th, 2014

Join us April 20th for our monthly Open House! Starting at 2pm, we will open the doors to our new office at the Flux Hackerspace for parents, youth, volunteers, and those interested in the community to meet our team, try the game making tools we use at camps, and play locally created games. A Portland Games for Change meeting will be held between 2pm and 4pm, and be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session if you’re interested in volunteering.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

Sprouting World Making Change with Pixel Arts Game Education

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Monday, March 10th, 2014

· No Comments

Since January, we have been rapidly developing our organizational capacity. In response to increased requests for support by non-profits, youth advocates and schools, we are thrilled to announce our Imagine New Worlds program. In this 5-day camp, youth connect their love of reading and story to the imaginative potential of games for world making change.

Designed to serve ages 8-21, Imagine New Worlds will be coming to Gresham and Sellwood libraries in June and August respectively. You can stay updated by signing up for our newsletter.

We also are thrilled to announce our participation and support of the Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence.

In 2011, the MYC established the Youth Against Violence Committee (YAV) in response to the growing violence directed towards young people. Youth commissioners identified seven types of violence:

Anti-Gay and Gender
Cyberbullying
Gang
Home/Family
Police
School (Bullying)
Sexual & Dating Violence.

Please help us share registration for the 3rd Annual Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence with youth and community groups.

When: Saturday April 5th, 9am-5pm
Where: Ambridge Event Center (1333 NE MLK Jr. Blvd)

In partnership with the Oregon Game Project Challenge, we are hosting a game expo and sessions for the Summit. Help inspire new conversations and support YAV’s ongoing mission to create change! Entries will be screened by Youth Commissioners for relevance to the Summit and Multnomah County youth.

Submit your games by emailing Jeffrey at jsens@GameEducationPDX.com or enroll here.

Pixel Arts Monthly Open House

Posted by Will Lewis

· Saturday, March 8th, 2014

Join us March 16th for our monthly Open House! Starting at 2pm, we will open the doors to our new office at the Flux Hackerspace for parents, youth, volunteers, and those interested in the community to meet our team, try the game making tools we use at camps, and play locally created games. A Portland Games for Change meeting will be held between 2pm and 4pm, and be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session if you’re interested in volunteering.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

Pixel Arts Monthly Open House

Posted by Will Lewis

· Wednesday, February 5th, 2014

Join us February 16th for our first monthly Open House! Starting at 2pm, we will open the doors to our new office at the Flux Hackerspace for parents, youth, volunteers, and those interested in the community to meet our team, try the game making tools we use at camps, and play locally created games. If you’re interested in volunteering, be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

Rockwood Library Game Camp

Posted by Will Lewis

· Monday, November 25th, 2013

Looking for a fun, hands-on opportunity to play, make, and design games? Join us for our 2nd Youth Game Camp starting on December 30th and 31st, finishing up on January 2nd through 4th! The camp will run 2:30pm to 4pm each day. Please note that the library will be closed on New Year’s Day.

Please register here. Walk-ins are welcome.

Have you ever wanted to create your own adventure story or a game you can play with friends?

Bringing games to life can be easy and fun! Join Pixel Arts for 4 days of fun, hands-on workshops to create tabletop and videogames with your friends. We’ll draw, sketch, and design games inspired by your favorite books and your imagination.

You’ll be able to:
• Build your own game worlds using cards, paper, tiles, dice, and tokens on December 30th and 31st.
• Write and illustrate a choose-your-own-adventure game with Twine – a game software – on January 2nd.
• Bring your game to life with SNAP – an easy to learn visual programming software – on January 3rd.
• Combine your projects or continue on with one of them in a free-for-all maker place on January 4th.

At the end of the activities, share your games with friends online and at the library!

Participants are encouraged to attend all five sessions.

If you are interested in volunteering to help youth at the camp, please fill out our volunteer form here, and let us know if you have any questions at info@gameeducationpdx.com!

Volunteer Orientation and Training – Rockwood Game Camp

Posted by Will Lewis

· Monday, November 25th, 2013

Meet other volunteer game changers and level up your own skills to help youth through our safety and mentoring practices!

This training will focus on the Rockwood Library Game Camp, starting December 30th and 31st and finishing up on January 2nd through 4th. We will be learning about best practices for safety and mentoring when Rockwood youth come to explore game design and game building through Twine and SNAP. Orientation also includes covering basic liability issues.

Our orientation and training is required for anyone who wishes to mentor youth during Pixel Arts events. If you are interested in participating but cannot make this date, we have an alternate session on December 14th, and you are welcome to contact us at info@gameeducationpdx.com.

Volunteer Orientation and Training – Rockwood Game Camp

Posted by Will Lewis

· Monday, November 25th, 2013

Meet other volunteer game changers and level up your own skills to help youth through our safety and mentoring practices!

Our orientation and training is required for anyone who wishes to mentor youth during Pixel Arts events. If you are interested in participating but cannot make this date, we have an alternate session on December 18th, and you are welcome to contact us at info@gameeducationpdx.com.

Bringing Games to New Youth: Twine Workshop and Game Jam

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Friday, October 4th, 2013

· No Comments

Last weekend, Pixel Arts held our 1st Youth Game Jam at the Portland Indie Speed Run. Co-hosted with the Portland Indie Game Squad and the University of Portland’s Department of Engineering, 11 youth between the ages of 9-17 threw themselves into experimenting and tinkering with game design.

Our amazing volunteer community provided kids hands-on learning projects with GameMaker and free, open source Gimp to make art assets. Parents and kids expressed their thanks and appreciation, and we’d like to thank them for braving the stormy weather!

Indie Speed Run 2

This isn’t the only opportunity for youth though! Next week, Design Week Portland arrives from October 7-12th. We’re collaborating with PIGSquad again, this time to host a Twine Workshop and Twine Jam during a 4-day extravaganza we’re calling Stumpquest. Our Twine events let you create interactive stories and fiction, including art, which the Portland Mercury described as a “craft choose-your-own-adventure-style, text-based games.” Parents are welcome to stay while our mentors guide youth into making games, so enroll now for Stumpquest and get in on the fun.