CAMP VERTICAL “STAFF SHOWDOWN”

Noticing that many of the kids at Elmbrook Church’s Camp Vertical were getting distracted (even getting in fights) over Pokémon cards, camp leadership decided it would be fun to craft a playable card game which would help kids engage, not disengage, with the camp’s culture. I created 50 custom trading cards based upon staff members (along with a few fictional camp characters). The result was a fully playable trading card game. I collaborated with each participating staff member to design their abilities, and I worked together with an illustrator friend to refine some of the later artwork. Staff members hand-cut, laminated, and distributed hundreds of these cards. It was a true labor of love.

To play the game, two opponents sit down and draw a random selection of cards. Each round, both players select one card and play them simultaneously. Each card has a win condition (ex. “If all the lightbulbs in the room are on, you win!”). If one card wins and the other doesn’t, then the winning player gets a point. However, if both cards win (or both cards lose) then the tie is broken by comparing the cards’ “Gorilla, Man, Net” values (which was a camp-specific version of Rock, Paper, Scissors). After 5 matchups, the player with the most points wins.