Middle School Game Club

[norne]

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was interested in starting a gaming club in the middle school where I teach. By happy coincidence, one of my new coworkers started a conversation with me about gaming, and together we decided to go ahead and try to start the club. Administartion didn't have any problems with it; though we didn't play up the roleplaying side of it, we did mention it.

Our first meeting is a week from next Wednesday. We're probably gonna start with board games and feel out interest in roleplaying.

I got a lot of good suggestions the last time I posted, and while I don't want to ask anyone to repeat themselves, now that this thing is a reality, I'd appreciate any further thoughts or suggestions any of you have. In particular, given that we're limited to a 90 minute session a week, I need ideas for games short enough to play in that time and ways to preserve longer games week to week (more for board games that RPGs, of course).

 

[Zerakon]

Carcassonne (can't go wrong with this one)
Settlers of Catan (nor with this one)
Ra
Citadels (not one of my favorites but middle school kids would like it)
Lord of the Rings (cooperative) (again not one of my favorites but kids dig it)
Elfenland (again more of a kids' game)
Apples to Apples

 

[dougmander]

I'm a middle school teacher too, and I run D&D games for my students. In my experience, it's actually easier to carry over an RPG from week to week than a board game.
But, if you're looking for board games that can fit in a 90-minute block, how about Settlers of Catan and its various permutations? Other suggestions:

--Kill Doctor Lucky, Escape from Elba, Give Me the Brain, and those other cute lil' Cheapass games. They definitely appeal to an adolescent sense of humor. I teach a unit on game design every year, and I use them as examples of low-cost, high-fun games.
--Cartagena (I forget who publishes this one)
--Once Upon a Time (Atlas Games). Dungeoneer also looks pretty cool, although I haven't played it yet.

You don't mention CCGs in your post, but I'd imagine there would be a significant overlap of kids who play M:tG with kids who would be in your gaming club. Is that a possibility?

Our club has been running for about a year, and it's so popular that I had to start a "junior varsity" section on a different day. We have about a dozen players in a school of 350 kids. My administration has been really supportive, because they recognize that RPGs provide a safe space for students who don't necessarily participate in other social activities at school. Some of my players have told me that the club has given them a reason to look forward to school every day!

Some ground rules for DMing for children:
--Don't allow PCs of evil alignment, unless you want parents to hear about how their child spent their afternoon slaughtering some helpless villagers for kicks.
--Don't mention drugs or alcohol in your game world. When PCs enter a tavern in my campaign, they are served a frosty mug of rootbeer or a goblet of lemonade.
--Emphasize themes of cooperation, problem solving, and moral choices, rather than wanton destruction, and make sure that bad choices have bad consequences!
--Give out XP to students for keeping a chronicle of the campaign, drawing character portraits, and cleaning up after the game.

Any other teacher DM's out there?

A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was interested in starting a gaming club in the middle school where I teach. By happy coincidence, one of my new coworkers started a conversation with me about gaming, and together we decided to go ahead and try to start the club. Administartion didn't have any problems with it; though we didn't play up the roleplaying side of it, we did mention it.

Our first meeting is a week from next Wednesday. We're probably gonna start with board games and feel out interest in roleplaying.

I got a lot of good suggestions the last time I posted, and while I don't want to ask anyone to repeat themselves, now that this thing is a reality, I'd appreciate any further thoughts or suggestions any of you have. In particular, given that we're limited to a 90 minute session a week, I need ideas for games short enough to play in that time and ways to preserve longer games week to week (more for board games that RPGs, of course).

 

[Maerdwyn]

The crayon train games (Empire Builder, British Rails, etc.) are perfect for preserving a game from week to week, and teach geography at the same time

There's a game called Goblett which is sort of like a 4x4 tic-tac-toe with pieces similar to Kachinka dolls - you can play your larger pieces on top of your opponent's smaller ones. Surprisingly good light strategy game.

El Grande is a fabulous boardgame which, in my experience, always takes 90 minutes (or within 5 minutes of 90 minutes) to play.

The Gipf series of games (Gipf, Tamsk, Zertz, Dvonn, and Yinsh) are great short (30 minutes-ish) games in the classic style of checkers: abstract theme with simple rules, lots of strategy, and no luck.

Good luck! I used to teach middle school, but my attempts to start a game club were shot down by our Principal: "We've already got the chess team - I don't think we need another non-academic club."

 

[norne]

I'm a middle school teacher too, and I run D&D games for my students. In my experience, it's actually easier to carry over an RPG from week to week than a board game.

--Kill Doctor Lucky, Escape from Elba, Give Me the Brain, and those other cute lil' Cheapass games. They definitely appeal to an adolescent sense of humor. I teach a unit on game design every year, and I use them as examples of low-cost, high-fun games.

Thanks for the great comments/ideas. How coy are you about the name Cheapass? I'd hate to get shut down over something so stupid.

I'd love to hear more about your game design unit, if you don't mind sharing.

 

[FungiMuncher]

Any other teacher DM's out there?

Yup, right here! I run a homebrew D&D campaign on Sunday's and have had a couple students participate (there are also a couple kids who are not my students).

I've also just became involved in the "Strategy Club" at school. The kids asked one of their other teachers for an opportunity to play Axis & Allies at school, so that's what they're playing. Definitely NOT a friendly set-up/tear down game (and our sessions are only 60 minutes). I'm hoping to introduce them to some other games later. I have a copy of Robo Rally for the school - we'll be starting that in two weeks. That should be a lot easier to set up each time.

I haven't broached the topic of playing RPGs at school, though. I guess mainly due to my own (negative) experiences when I was in school. I am wondering about how well the new D&D minitures game might run.

FM

 

[Mark Chance]

I am a teacher and a DM, but the east is east, west is west, and never the twain shall meet.

 

[Thaumaturge]

I too am a teacher/DM. We run every Wed. for 2 hours. They are running through "Shackled City" the first in the 3.5 adventure path. The only problem I've had is different students show up every week, but it's easy to adapt. I actually had multiple parents thank me for teaching thier children D&D, M:tG, and Chainmail. It's a neat experience.


Thaumaturge.

 

[jgbrowning]

I just got a card game, "Nobody but us Chickens." It has simple rules, but has surprising complex play. 3-5 people and around $15-20. Worth looking into even if you decide against.

joe b.

 

[dougmander]

Thanks for the great comments/ideas. How coy are you about the name Cheapass? I'd hate to get shut down over something so stupid.

I'd love to hear more about your game design unit, if you don't mind sharing.

Compared to the lyrics my students hear on a daily basis, the word "cheapass" seems tame. I don't make a big deal of it -- a few chuckles from them and we move on.

The game design curriculum unit is just a fun way to teach the design process to children. I've enjoyed designing games since I was a kid -- I was fortunate enough to live in the same town as the developer of Payday, Bonkers, and some other classic Parker Bros. and Milton Bradley games in the 70s. Since I was a schoolmate of his son, I would be invited to playtest from time to time. When I started working as an art teacher, I drew on this experience to develop a game design unit.

We focus on three stages of the design process: conceptualization, development, and production. Working in small groups, the students choose a format (strategy game, CCG, path game, and so on) and a theme. They do a lot of sketching and playtesting, develop a game mechanic and an objective, then produce a mockup of the game, complete with packaging and instructions. On the last day, each game is playtested by another group, and critiqued, while we consume lots of popcorn, Pepsi, and Doritos.