I recently had a very interesting discussion with Elonka Dunin about Geocaching and the St. Louis Game Jam.
Elonka Dunin is Executive Producer and General Manager of Online Community at Simutronics Corporation, Chairperson Emerita and a founding member of the International Game Developers Association's Online Games SIG, co-Director of the Global Game Jam, and as of 2012, is on the Board of Directors for the building of a new National Museum of Cryptology.1 I was unable to record our discussion, which is unfortunate because we talked for almost an hour! Regardless of the technical difficulties, it was still an intriguing conversation.
The first topic we spoke about was geocaching. Geocaching is a game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity. The main objective is fairly straightforward. "Find the cache, find the logbook", said Elonka. There are thousands of caches in St. Louis area, along with many other cities across the United States. The most popular cache in St. Louis is at the museum underneath the Gateway Arch.
One question that I had asked Elonka was, "Who makes these games?" in which she responded, "Anyone can place a cache, there are reviewers in each state that do a basic check to make sure it’s legitimate". There are two million people geocaching in a minute. It seems to be more popular in the United States and other higher income countries.
Elonka has been geocaching since June, 2012. She has also been playing other location-based games, such as 4 Square. On June 10, 2012 she found her first three caches: Our Thousandth Find Celebration; Housewarming Party; and Shoestrings. Her record is 42 caches in a day.
The other topic that we discussed was the St. Louis Game Jam. Elonka has been involved with this event since the first St. Louis Game Jam. She has attended, organized, and participated. She is also one of the 7 people on the board of directors for the Global Game Jam and has been on the board since 2012. She has also been on the executive committee since 2011. The first global Game Jam was started in 2009. For more information about the Global Game Jam, go to GlobalGameJam.org.
"Anyone can attend," said Elonka, "It is a good way to develop the St. Louis Community." The event is not a competition. It is primarily for networking, prototyping, and just having fun! Each game jam has a theme that participants must use as a guideline for the content created. The games created could be video games, card games, board games, or any game that can be made within the constraints of the event.
The supplies recommended to bring to the game jam are dependent on the participant's skill set. For instance, a programmer needs to bring a computer with a wireless connection and software tools installed. Teamwork is not only allowed, it is encouraged. "If someone wants to participate, but does not know any tools, get GameMaker", said Elonka. I thought this was a good suggestion, as I started using GameMaker at 15 years of age (When GameMaker was in beta!).
She also suggested that it is a bad idea to come up with a huge concept for a game at the event.
I had asked Elonka what the most exciting thing about the most recent game jam and what the biggest conflicts of the event were. "Showing off the game I made, and seeing the other games was the most exciting." she said, "The biggest conflict was trying to get people to cover. Resources were tough. We expected 45 people and 75 came to the door!" The most recent St. Louis Game Jam was 48 hours long. Some people slept in the building, some went home, and others come in just for the first day.
Elonka made a Wherigo cartridge game, A Totally Reticulous Mushroom Hunt, at the game jam. She used the LUA programming language for the game. I had asked why she made this type of game at a game jam, to which she replied, "I already knew I wanted to do a location-based game." She was the only programmer on her team, and acted as a mentor for her other team members. "At the April game jam, there were more geocachers" she said.
To play Elonka's game, you need a Wherigo cartridge. Most people use the iOS Wherigo app, or it's android counterpart Whereyougo. All you have to do is enter the zip code for Maryland Heights, MO 63043, download it to your device, and then you can play. A totally Reticulous Mushroom Hunt takes place in Vago Park.
Elonka recommended a few other location based games as well: Four Square, Shadow Cities, Google Ingress(Capture the flag combat), and Zombies Run(Movement-based game).
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