Heritage Library Workshops
During the winter months, we ran 4 successful games development workshops in partnership with the Norfolk Heritage Library, part of the Norfolk and Norwich Library Information Service. Drawing from our experience utilising the rich resources available in the Heritage Collection, we encouraged participants to explore historical artefacts as a starting point for their game design ideas.
Each workshop explored the concept of game mechanics, world building and pitching - helping participants to expand on their initial game ideas using group discussion and guiding worksheets. There was an exciting range of artefacts chosen in line with the theme of the Library’s exhibition of ‘Fantasy Worlds’, which was part of The British Library’s exhibition.
There was a good mix of people at the workshops, between those with prior games experience and those who have never considered developing a game before. This helped us to have lively discussions about the links between film, animation and board games - showing how world building and engagement carries across all of these, hopefully helping games seem less alien. At the end of each workshop, we asked participants for their feedback. Here are some quotes from those forms.
Participants were asked to share;
‘Please share your thoughts on how the workshops made you feel’
“Comfortable space to brainstorm ideas and learn techniques.”
When asked, ‘Please share anything in particular you enjoyed’…
“Getting to talk about wild ideas in a grounded and technical way, seeing and using some of the Heritage Collection!”
And finally, a very kind comment I wanted to share from a participant;
“This was a great workshop run brilliantly, packed with both knowledge and fun, Sam and Robin were both excellent!”
It was a fantastic experience getting to work collaboratively with the library, bringing our excitement at the historical resources available through the workshops! We had such a broad range of participants across the 4 workshops, 2 were for the ‘Young Historians Group’ and 2 for the general public. We had age ranges from 10 years old to 45, folks of all specialisms and backgrounds - testament to the role the library serves the local community.
