MakerX to Our First Live Stream

I recall standing across a dedicated team arranging and printing their soon-to-test title for a major event: MakerX of Columbus. It was an amazing sight to behold, each member communicating last effort decisions for color, layout, and components needed to successfully test their game for a new audience. The core mechanic around spending hours and tracking morale would present an opportunity for the next set of challenges, but first, we needed play testers. The end of February offered two major chances to test this game, and, it’s intended impact.

It was a proud moment as MakerX attendees sat down and played along. Team Lucky Draw facilitated play with booming enthusiasm and players were pulled in! We even had the team at ODAM Publishing sit down and play; offering much needed insight for future iterations. MakerX was a success to say the least, and the team were riding the excitement leading up to their very first live stream on Twitch. 

Moving into the realm of streaming presented its own challenges, but the team of Lucky Draw met these with ease. The game was assembled and volunteer testers arrived before going live. Noah McKee, art lead, led the play through elegantly and with emotion! Testers grew in excitement as the rules were made clear after 1-2 rounds. You could see the engagement rise as each player read aloud their cards and made decisions. After the stream concluded, we had plenty to think on. Timing for each round and actions where confusion was apparent became targets for the next iteration.

- Professor Keegan  (The Dungeon Master and Wrench Thrower)