"Comin' Oot" Board Game: Volunteer Reflections on participation, aim, and development
“Comin’ Oot” is a board game that is currently in development by Creative Stirling and a talented group of creative volunteers. With the projects only weeks away from going to print, hear from two of the volunteers who are their thoughts on the project, aims of the game, and the impact the project has had on them.
Game Logo
“This collaborative board game, made by young artists and volunteers in Creative Stirling, started as an idea to show queer people that they aren’t alone when they come out to their friends and family. This board game is going to be used as a way to inform and educate people on different sexualities, genders and experiences that come with being part of the LGBTQ+ community.
As we came up with initial ideas on how to develop our board game into, eventually, a physical thing that could be played by a group of different people… we first had to figure out the basics.
What dice or point system we would be using
What gender identities would be covered
What age range would it be catered for
What the actual rules of the game would be
As a group, we had many in-depth discussions about all of the specificities, and piece by piece, the game began to come together. We first decided that the board game should cater to age ranges much like our own: teen to early adulthood, and later, the dice system and some of the rules as well. Seeking to represent as many of the community to be represented as possible, we settled on 6 main genders and sexualities to be part of the game, including the bi umbrella to try and cover many sexualities. Once we knew that, we began to develop the game much quicker than before, trying out new rules and scrapping them as we went along.
Everything was made from scratch; hours upon hours were poured into designing different cards, engineering the rules and structure of the game, budgeting, collating all of the individual parts together, and more. Everyone worked tirelessly, and eventually, we had a version of the game that we could do a playthrough of.
And at that point, it all became worth it – getting to see all of our hard work coming together and sharing laughs and sighs as we played the game to the end. It was a relief to know that we hadn’t been working for nothing and we actually had something to show for it. The playthrough also highlighted some issues we were yet unaware of, like how exactly the dice were going to work, and that we should have some descriptions for the genders and sexualities for those unaware, especially as the game is meant to educate.
Our work resumed, now refining the cards and adding descriptions, brainstorming the board and box designs, and finalising the rules. Our attention was divided between this and other projects, but gradually everything was coming together behind the scenes.
It feels great to be involved in something like the board game. It feels good to collaborate with other people and feel like you're working together towards a common goal. I’ve gained a lot of experience in teamwork and developed my creative skills – but the thing that has been the most beneficial for me has simply been companionship and the friends I’ve made. The impact I hope it will have is just for people to be more educated and less nervous when thinking bout or discussing queer identities – to know that we’re not so different to them. My biggest hope is that I will one day just see the game we worked on out in the wild, in sale in a shop or in someone’s house.”
-Volunteers Victor & Quinn
First Play Test