by Janey La Royale

Behind every video game, card game and board game is the geniuses who worked together to create it. A series of artists, coders, story writers and more piecing together the games you fall in love with, all have to start somewhere. Here is your chance to engage, learn and play with young developers studying to become the best game designers.

The Digital Designers Guild is a group of students who go far beyond their curriculum as they attend University of Baltimore in order to gain experience in the gaming industry. One of their main events every year is the Baltimore Independent Game Seminar, better known as B.I.G.S., a one day event where you can meet industry professionals, play game developed by these young developers, and watch them compete for a grand prize. Guest speakers include Max Temkin of Cards Against Humanity, Joshua Segall of SpaceInch, and Ryan Meier of Baltimore Video Game Wizards. Every year the students who are competing also are given a theme to base their games off of. This year the theme is “Games for Change,” encouraging students to create games that “foster real world societal change.”

This is a great opportunity for any gamer to meet future game developers, to see how game developers start out, and to show support to the gaming community. Digital Designers Guild also hosts a charity event known as Child’s Play during the winter.

If you’d like to attend the conference it will be on Friday, April 10, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. located at University of Baltimore, Business Center (11 W. Mt Royal Ave). Get your tickets early! They start at $20 and can be purchase on their IndieGogo page. Also, you can stop by and support the students for FREE and play their games.

Also, click here to learn more about DDG or B.I.G.S.

I encourage anyone who can make it to attend, because you never know if you’ll meet the person who makes the next big thing.