DIY Gaming Benefits
Aloha!
What is DIY Gaming and why should I play DIY games?
We support playing many types of games and game play (mainstream board games, table top and collectible card games, video and mobile app games, etc), but our mission is to support and promote D.I.Y. gaming in particular.
WHAT IS D.I.Y. GAMING?
DIY gaming, at it's core, is taking ownership and having more purposeful engagement in your gaming - which leads to having more fun & fulfillment.
"The more you put in, the more you get out."
Take a break from:
• digital screens
• preprogrammed reward algorithms
• anonymous, online, and AI personas and "relationships"
• repetitive, mindless, zombie game play
• passive, forgettable entertainment
• high cost to invest time and money to play many games
Get more engaged:
• get physical with rolling dice, flipping cards, moving pawns, and more
• be surprised with real world twists, turns, and story lines
• enjoy face-to-face game action with genuine, full, in-person interactions
• new challenges, shifting game play, exciting variety of outcomes
• be engaged mentally, physically, emotionally, and make meaningful memories
• free and affordable, readily available, green-er (renew, reuse & recycle)
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PLAYING D.I.Y. GAMES?
• Have fun
Have fun. Being engaged, challenged, and entertained is what games are about.
• De-stress
Daily life can be stressful for anyone. Play a quick game. Enjoy a sweet little victory. Earn your achievement big or small. Share a moment with someone or pat yourself on the back.
• Skill-building
Without even trying, playing DIY games will build personal and life skills:
Reality Check Skills (universal)
logic • math • probability • rules • reading comprehension • results • outcomes
Cooperative Skills (external)
healthy competition • communication • assessment • sportspersonship • empathy • respect • perspective • teamwork
Character Skills (internal)
risk taking • winning • success • joy • glory • honor • patience • pride • humility • bravery • grit
• Quality time with others
Playing solo games are great and sharing the time with others is even better. Just agreeing on a set of rules and playing by them, working out miscommunications and mini-conflicts during play, playfully teasing and challenging each other, and even feeling good for your opponents when they do well or empathetic when they don't, will make you a more connected, happier, successful person.
• Mental health support
Having fun, de-stressing, building skills, and having quality time with others all contribute to supporting and building mental health. Every one has there own story and challenges in life and the ups and downs that go with them. You are not alone, but you are ultimately responsible for your own wellbeing more than anyone else. You need to own your experience, your actions, your choices, your control of the only thing you really have over, yourself. You can and must "do-it-yourself" and DIY games are just a helpful and fun way to do it.
3 DIY GAME QUALITIES
• Cost - affordable for all
We want games to be accessible and cost is a factor. We support people buying as many $20-100 games if they can afford it, but for most people a large and expensive game collection is a barrier to entry.
Our DIY games are free or affordable digital downloads that are print-and-play. Your game board is the cost of a page of paper and available wherever you have access to a printer.
We promote building your own DIY Game Kit of dice, cards, pawns, etc...that can be reused across many DIY games again and again. Personalizing your custom kit makes every game more fun and reusing, renewing, and recycling game accessories is good for the environment and your bank account.
• Commitment (time & effort) - simple & easy
In addition to the financial cost, time and effort are commitments that influence people playing new games. I don't want to spend $50 and set aside 2 hours on a game I don't love and I don't expect non-gamers, kids, grandparents, and anyone with a busy life to do so either.
In general, in addition to being inexpensive, DIY games are simple to learn, have quicker play times, high entertainment value, and worth playing again and again.
• Variety - something for everyone
With a low cost and low time/effort commitment, it opens the door to playing more games! Variety is the spice of life. If you try 100 different games, you are more likely to find the 10 (or more!) you love and will continue to play.
As we build our TMI Boom library of over 100 DIY games we will span an incredibly wide variety of games with a range of qualities - so there will be something great to connect with for everyone. We want it easy for people to find their favorites and more importantly, play them.
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We are all in this life together and we can help each other get through the hard times and celebrate the good ones. Thank you for supporting TMI Boom and DIY gaming.
Life is game, when you learn how to play!
- JK Cook