Acknowledgments

Any book requires significant support from numerous people. Play to Learn is a truly joint effort, but we each brought unique experiences to it. We each have people we need to thank.

From Sharon

My spouse has to come first. Thank you, Kirk, for being supportive and positive and tolerating my stress when the deadline loomed, as well as for not complaining each time I bring home a pile of new games I want to play. Thanks to Steve Boller, Beth Boller, Kaitlyn Boller, and Nick Kirshner for always being willing to play a game.

On the professional side, I want to acknowledge all my teammates at Bottom-Line Performance (BLP) as well as some of our clients who let me share the games we created on their behalf. The work of these BLPers is represented within these pages. While I am fortunate to be the product owner for the Knowledge Guru platform and its suite of game-based apps, this platform is supported by a talented team of people who take and augment my ideas and produce amazing things from them. It’s one thing to have an idea; it’s entirely another for a team to take that idea and produce something from it. Brandon Penticuff, Corey Callahan, Jackie Crofts, and Bratt Conway are that team and they are amazing.

On the custom game development side, every game shown was a team effort involving many people. TE Town was produced by a large and talented cast of people. Laura Fletcher, Brandon Penticuff, Jackie Crofts, Jackie Lutzke, and Corey Callahan all played big roles. On the client side, a huge thank you goes to Diane Sweeney for working to secure permission for us to share TE Town in this book. I also want to thank Josh Kovalich, who has been an awesome project manager on TE’s side, guiding us and getting us everything we needed. They both had a strong vision for how a game-based solution could benefit TE Connectivity, and they allowed us to partner with them in turning that vision into a reality.

A Paycheck Away was a labor of love for those involved because it was pro-bono work. Kristen Hewett, Steve Boller, and Matt Kroeger all collaborated with me to produce this game. Lori Casson and Cheryl Herzog of Dayspring Center in Indianapolis used their knowledge of homelessness and people who have been Dayspring clients to help us create a compelling game for change. Kristen, Matt, and Steve have also been faithful game masters, volunteering their time on numerous different occasions when Dayspring has hosted the game.

Feed the World was produced for The Mosaic Company. A special thank you goes to Andy McGuire for working with me to obtain permission to use this game as an example of good learning game design within the pages of this book. Thanks also to Linda Anhalt, who was the project manager on the employee onboarding and compliance training project that included this game. The team members who helped create this game included Jennifer Bertram, Sarah Owens, Jackie Lutzke, Jackie Crofts, and Corey Callahan.

Thanks to Dow AgroSciences, especially Marc Fisher and Karla Simpson, for granting permission to use the game image from Formulation Type Matters as well as information about the game. Thanks to Roche Molecular Systems for granting permission to share Viropolis game information and to Joni Zurawinski for helping us secure this permission.

Thanks goes to every BLPer who has played a game, and who has tolerated my enthusiasm for games and tendency to try to turn any activity into one.

Finally, thank you, Karl. You’ve been a terrific partner in writing a book and in facilitating workshops on games. I’ve said before that we are Oscar and Felix, and that works just great. From the moment we met in 2012, you’ve been a gracious partner and become a wonderful friend. I’d make a game with you any day.

From Karl

The process of writing is simultaneously an act of recording and discovery. As I write, I learn. I’d like to thank the following minds for contributing to my gaining of knowledge, starting with family. To my wife, Nancy, who is nothing short of wonderful; my two boys (Nate and Nick), whom I love and cherish; my mother, who taught me to love learning; and my late father, who taught me the value of hard work.

I’d like to thank the folks in Bloomsburg University’s Department of Instructional Technology. I couldn’t ask to work with better faculty and staff at any university. Special thanks to the students in the program, and to students everywhere whom I’ve had the honor and privilege of teaching and who have taught me so much. Teaching is a wonderful two-way street.

Special thanks to Bonni Scepkowsk, who is always so helpful; Jim Kiggens, who makes Zombies Sales Apocalypse and my visions of learning games a reality; and Justin Brusino, who helped to bring this book to life, along with Caroline Coppel and Jack Harlow.

Finally, a huge acknowledgment and thank you to Sharon Boller! Her love of games, enthusiasm for the industry, sense of organization, and willingness to harness my tangents makes her an awesome co-author and a wonderful person to work with for game development and workshop creation. Thanks, Sharon, it is always great working with you.