Mon River Games was founded in the Fall of 2021 by Heather Cole, a faculty member of West Virginia University’s Reed College of Media and the College of Creative Arts shared program- Game Design and Interactive Media. It is located in Monongalia County, West Virginia although many meetings are held remotely. Membership is composed of adult community members with a passion for game-making as well as students, faculty, and alumni from nearby universities. Its primary goals are to promote independent large group work, share and improve member knowledge in game design and development, and support travel opportunities to large game conferences.
It operates three sessions annually: Fall (August-November), Spring(January-April), and Summer (May-August). At the start of each session, a review of former projects is given along with ‘tasks’ that need to be accomplished on each. Then, members are invited to make a pitch for a game. Pitches are voted on and the best pitch that wins the vote is what is developed. Some sessions are highly productive with multiple short games produced, and others are more complex with a project that involves much additional learning by the group members. For these sessions, it’s likely to have only one prototype by the end of the session that can be picked up by future sessions.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the studio, then please come to an introductory/open pitch day at the start of one of the sessions. These are often announced about a month ahead of time. You can learn more about MonRiverGames at http://www.monrivergames.com/
The Adventure Continues 