Spring at UnboxEd: Pirates, Production Lines and Reincarnation

Spring is in swing in the afterschool setting (and now well into the downswing). Time to share some updates of the projects we have going on at UnboxEd.

We were excited to unveil Feed the Kraken, published by Funtails. The game is an excellent tool for teaching children critical thinking, deduction, and, fingers-crossed, teamwork. The production quality was outstanding.

Players must cautiously negotiate to gather information, deduce one another's allegiances, and guide the ship to one of three destinations, each one a victory condition for one of three factions. The gameplay encouraged communication and collaboration among players, and proved a fantastic way to teach children the concept of deduction.

Furthermore, players had to plan ahead, and balance strategy and tactics to adapt to the ever-changing board state. Throw in a little game theory and a perfect theme and production quality, and we had a rare outcome: full engagement from start to finish. 

Modified somewhat for accessibility for our age groups, the iconography on all of the components was a simple tool to keep the game flowing and remind everyone of the rules. 

Even the adults couldn't help but play with the navigation wheel while it was in their hands. The ship and kraken sculpts were a big hit, and the quality of the chips were almost too good (the kids couldn't help but want to show off their secret factions).

Though the hidden information didn't stay hidden for long, the Cult Leader actually fooled the entire table to (presumably) win the game, which was later corrected to a Pirate Victory. #ArrVAR

We'll definitely be bringing this one back to the table throughout the rest of the semester. 

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Also happening this semester was our Entrepre-Newbies classes. As fans of the recent Netflix hit Wednesday, our first group went a bit dark with their business idea: a store that takes your deceased grandparent and reincarnates them as a customizable pet through some patent-pending technology involving, "ashes, fur, and a sort of cotton candy machine."

Allow me to introduce Grandpawz and our first AI-generated print ad.

This was a fun contrast with our all-boys group, who went far more practical, deciding instead to create a car company. Details to follow, as they are just starting to build out their assembly lines and design (with clay models and real circuit boards) the distinguishing features and look of their brand.