{"id":1954,"date":"2026-05-28T09:04:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1954"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:04:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T09:04:01","slug":"orlando-board-game-makers-rolling-into-science-night-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1954","title":{"rendered":"Orlando board-game makers rolling into Science Night Live"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A trio of Orlandoans who\u2019ve created board games will appear at Science Night Live, the adults-only event Saturday evening at Orlando Science Center. They\u2019ll talk about the creative process and show off their cards, chips and penguin pieces.<\/p>\n

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Darren Humphrey\u2019s Waddle Waddle strategy game was inspired by a trip to Antarctica and has an emphasis on penguin conservation. It features six \u201csuits\u201d of cards that represent the six species of penguins, as well as the cooperation of scientists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are real-world penguin scientists who have agreed to have their likeness in the game, and have vetted that everything\u2019s accurate and scientific, and you get to play as one of them as your character,\u201d Humphrey said.<\/p>\n

Argentinian scientist Pablo Boroborogou agreed to participate if Humphrey gave $1 per game sold to a nonprofit that does penguin conservation. Humphrey said the game is plastic-free \u2014 not even shrink-wrapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a game about conservation. We don\u2019t want to create a bunch of plastic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the science center, Humphrey also will display early versions of the game board, which features a map of Antarctica. Game play involves collecting runs and three-of-a-kind sets of cards, known as waddles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a special thing you can do if you collect exactly two wattles of penguins in your hand with no extra cards, and you can play both of the waddles \u2026 Waddle Waddle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first published game for Humphrey, who retired from a computer software company.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI can\u2019t even really call it a side gig. It\u2019s like a hobby,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

JB Howell works as a full-time game developer for Druid City Games. He said he\u2019d been a freelance designer for 22 years while also maintaining a career in IT.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a game designer I\u2019m kind of all over the place,\u201d Howell said. \u201cI\u2019ll make party games, I\u2019ll make deep, heavy-strategy games and everything in between, because I like the challenge of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Science Night Live he\u2019s going to demonstrate a two-player derivation of his Wonderland\u2019s War game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBoth games are essentially bag-building push-your-luck battle games,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have a bag and you have little chips \u2014 like poker chips, but they are all custom chips \u2014 and you\u2019re adding custom chips to your bag. And then when you get into battle, it\u2019s like a simultaneous pull and reveal with each chip doing a new thing in the battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople just really love that energy of reaching into the bag and \u2018What am I going to pull, and what are we going to reveal at the same time?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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The full-blown Wonderland will be seen at the event, but it\u2019s too time-intensive to demonstrate at the event, Howell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is our primary reputation in the industry \u2014 we make really good-looking games,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, nice table presence and just the way that it looks overall is a really big deal to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry Warren\u2019s game is called One of Us Must Die.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a party game, but also kind of like a role-play game as well, and also a card game,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

Players enter a scenario, specific to a genre \u2014 zombie, Western, Harry Potter-ish \u2014 and according to the cards, one of them must die.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a cooperative game, so essentially what you\u2019re all doing is you\u2019re seeking to create the most fun and interesting scene that you can,\u201d Warren said. \u201cYou\u2019re bantering with your friends as these characters around the table, you\u2019re coming up with your creative backstories, and you\u2019re using the improv principle of \u2018yes \u2026 and\u2019 to build on each other\u2019s ideas and thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Science center sets reopening date for domed theater<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n