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| 02-13-2004 | Previous edition: 02-12-2004 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Purdue graduate finds success with game release
Staff Writer Parents might say that life after college isn’t a game, but that’s not the case for one Purdue graduate. Scott Starkey, who graduated in 1992 with a degree in creative writing, designed a family-oriented card game called The Mother Lode of Sticky Gulch, which has recently met critical acclaim, including a spot on the "Games 100" list by Games magazine. The game gives each player a motley crew of gold diggers, represented by eight tokens, which do a variety of tasks such as prospecting, mining, and preparing camp. The object of the game is for the player to overcome the dice-decided placement of the camps with savvy decision-making and efficient-strategizing and to become the first player to mine the whole Mother Lode, a task that usually takes 30 to 45 minutes. Starkey first got involved in game design as a game illustrator, drawing on the talent he developed as the cartoonist for an Exponent comic strip, "The Undergraduate’s Guide." A trip to Germany furthered his interest in designing a fun, family-oriented game. "I noticed over there that families played games together more often than in America, games with more fundamental decisions to make and less war-themed objectives. I think America could really use some games like that, especially with the state of our nation’s family values," Starkey said. Although game design is more of "a moonlighting thing," as Starkey puts it, he still finds some time each day outside of working at Mackey Arena and going to school to develop ideas for new games. "He usually does all his game stuff early in the morning before we’re even up," his wife, Cheryl, said, "but he shows his ideas to the kids and me and asks for our input, which I’m always eager to give." Starkey knows that to design a good family game, it has to appeal to all ages: "My daughters are too young to read the cards, but they really like the cartoon-like illustrations and always have something to say about them." Later this year, Starkey will promote his creation with a booth at one of the largest gaming conventions in America, GenCon, which runs from Aug. 19 to 22. Although he doesn’t plan to quit his day job, he does have plans for sequels and further production of Sticky Gulch. For now, the game can be found at select retailers or purchased through his Web site at www.dogtowngames.com. He hasn’t quite achieved celebrity status quite yet, but there are a few perks that come with being a game designer. At least when the Starkey family gets together to play his game, nobody can argue about the rules. Printer-friendly version |
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