Episode 4 of the CUNY Games Network’s new gamecasting video series has just been released! In this episode, we interview Carlos Hernandez, co-creator of Meriwether, an epic game that chronicles the historic journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Carlos Hernandez is an Associate Professor of English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) with broad interests in multicultural literature of the United States, experimental literature, creative writing, and contemporary fiction. In his conversation with the CUNY Games Network, he talks about the trials and tribulations of creating a Kickstarter-funded game as an academic.

According to the game description: “In Meriwether, you play as Captain Lewis, the man President Thomas Jefferson selected and specially trained to accomplish this mission. You’ll join forces with your long-time friend and former commanding officer, William Clark, and with him you’ll form the Corps of Discovery, a party of hand-picked soldiers, interpreters, and hunters to whom you’ll trust your life every day of the 28-month journey.”

The game has also received high praise from both the game development and academic communities:

“I’ll just come right out and say this: Meriwether is absolutely fascinating.” — Adam Smith, Rock, Paper, Shotgun

“I actually had a chance to play this game about a year ago and found it extremely involving, even at such an early state. From the looks of their Kickstarter page, the game has improved by leaps and bounds since then.” — Andy Hull, TIGSource

“[Meriwether is] part of a new crop of games, from the highly mainstream (Assassin’s Creed 3) to the academic-indie (Walden) to the art-game avant garde (Proteus) that scrupulously renders and unabashedly celebrates nature.” — Joseph Bernstein, Kill Screen

“Josh’s work will bring not only a new dimension to this exciting story but will also win a new generation to the timeless event.” — Dr. Gary Moulton, Acclaimed Lewis and Clark Scholar

“Meriwether: An American Epic is going to take an important step forward in terms of bringing together great gameplay with reality-based drama…” — Richard Lemarchand, Lead Designer of the Uncharted Series

“Josh DeBonis is one of the smartest game designers that I know.” — Eric Zimmerman, Acclaimed Game Designer and Scholar

To learn more about Meriwether, follow them on Kickstarter, or follow this link for the discussion: https://games.commons.gc.cuny.edu/video/

Our newest CUNY Games Network gamecasting video is available now, just in time for your holiday week viewing! In this week’s episode, Tori Mondelli, Executive Directory of Teaching and Learning at Mercy College, and Joe Bisz, CUNY Games Network cofounder and Associate Professor of English at BMCC, interview Robert Duncan, Associate Professor of Psychology at York College/CUNY Graduate Center. Among Rob’s many research projects in game-based learning, he often works with his undergraduate students to codesign games in the courses he teaches. Learn more about Rob’s codesign practices in this episode.

We’re thrilled to announce a new video series here at the CUNY Games Network! We’ve created a YouTube channel to host our newest initiative: “gamecasting” episodes to share insights and initiatives about game-based learning at CUNY and beyond. This channel features full-length interviews with domain experts in game-based learning, edited videos on special topics, live playtesting sessions, and more.

Our first 2 videos are available now:

– An interview with BMCC professor Kathleen Offenholley about her NSF grant to put math games in the classroom

– An interview with BMCC professor and CUNY Games Network cofounder Joe Bisz about how he got started in game-based learning and best-practices for including tabletop games in the classroom.

We’ll release a new video every 2 weeks on Mondays. Please subscribe on our YouTube page or check back here for new releases!

Photo by Patrick Breitenbach.