In-School Boot Camp · Systems Thinking
They don’t just play games.
They make them.
From blank paper to playable prototype — students invent the mechanics, write the rules, balance the strategy, and playtest with real players. This is systems thinking disguised as play.
The Journey
What your child
actually does.
Five stages, every session hands-on.
1
Play & deconstruct
Students play great games and pull them apart — why is this fun? What are the rules really doing?
2
Craft the game play
Rules, turns, resources, win conditions — the invisible math that makes a game work.
3
Invent a concept
Every team commits to an original game idea — theme, goal, and the core "fun loop".
4
Build & playtest
A physical prototype gets played, broken, argued over, and fixed. Again and again.
5
Showcase & play
Audience sit down and play the finished games at the final showcase.
For Parents
How this helps
your child.
Systems thinking, hands-on
A board game is a small system — change one rule and everything shifts. Your child learns to see and design systems, a skill that transfers to everything.
Resilience through iteration
Playtests fail. Rules break. And that’s the point — they learn to treat failure as information and try again, without fear.
Math they don’t notice
Probability, balance, resource trade-offs — real mathematics smuggled in through play.
Deep, screen-free focus
Hours of engaged, collaborative, physical making — no screens required.
Teamwork under pressure
Games are built in teams — negotiating rules and dividing work is half the learning.
A taste of entrepreneurship
Finished games can go to the Makers Market at NEXT — where students sell what they made.
Outcomes
They leave
with this.
- ✓Develop original board game concept
- ✓Design rules, mechanics and balance
- ✓Create physical game prototype
- ✓Playtest and iterate with peers
- ✓Showcase finished game to audience
“
I really loved designing my own board game. I learnt that making a board game involves so many elements like game mechanics, game dynamics, design, and storytelling.
— Shree Krishna Talla, Grade 8 · Chirec · Gamers Lab
“Instead of going out to play, he chose to keep building his game. Seeing that level of self-motivation was incredibly exciting as a parent.”
— Amit Agarwal, Parent of Panav · Grade 8, FKS
The Maekido Pathway
The boot camp is just
the beginning.
01 · In School
Gamers Lab Boot Camp
20 hrs of deep skill-building, ending in a live on-campus showcase.
→
02 · Aug–Jan
Monthly Open Challenges
A new themed challenge every month, Aug–Jan — including a Board Game Design challenge (Jan). Winners are featured, certified — and get a free NEXT pass.
→
03 · Mid-February
NEXT by Maekido
The Festival of Young Explorers — your child’s work on a stage in front of thousands.
Bring Gamers Lab
to your school.
Your school picks any 2 of the 5 boot camps to begin. We handle facilitators, materials and the showcase.