| Title | Great Lakes Invasion: Developing a Board Game for Invasive Species Awareness |
| Presenter(s) | Brighten Jelke, Mel Baker and Nick Coffman-Price |
| Session | Conference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session |
| Time | Wednesday, October 12, 7:00p-9:30p |
| Location | MSU Union Ballroom |
| Format | Poster Presentation |
| Description | This poster describes Great Lakes Invasion, a work-in-progress cooperative board game where players work together to limit the spread of invasive sea lampreys in the Great Lakes region while protecting native species. As one of the only successful control efforts of invasive species in a body of freshwater, the story of sea lampreys helps players learn that invasive species management is a challenging yet solvable issue. Through a cooperative, strategic board game utilizing a map of the Great Lakes as the board, players spend limited action points each turn on in-game actions that are true to life, in order to eradicate sea lampreys and restore the endemic species of the Great Lakes. Initial playtests of the game have shown that players become highly invested in saving native species, fulfilling our goal of creating empathy for these fish which are crucial both economically and ecologically. |
