From Game Ideas to Reality – A Creative Game Design Workshop

Auckland Game Developers & Playtesters
Date: Monday, 2 November 2026
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Venue: Gilli Café, 143 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland
Join us for our third Auckland Game Developers & Playtesters Meetup!
This time, we're gathering at Gilli Café in Newmarket for a relaxed, interactive, and creative evening where we'll turn our game ideas into visual designs.
Whether you're a game developer, an enthusiastic gamer, a designer, or simply curious about creating games, everyone is welcome. No programming or drawing experience is required!

## Our Agenda

1. Introduction – Let's Get to Know Each Other (6:30–6:50 PM)
We'll begin with friendly introductions, sharing our backgrounds, gaming interests, favourite games, and experiences. It's a great opportunity to meet other members and exchange ideas.
2. Short Presentation – Our Gaming Roadmap (6:50–7:05 PM)
A brief presentation exploring the journey of game development, from the initial idea to design, development, testing, and publishing. We'll also discuss our Meetup roadmap and how we can collaborate on future projects.
3. Game Cards & Categories – Let's Explore (7:05–7:25 PM)
We'll introduce our specially designed game cards covering two main dimensions:

• Game categories: Puzzle, Strategy, Chance, Action & Adventure, Simulation, and Creative Design.
• Game purposes: Education, Health & Wellbeing, Financial Assistance, Social Impact, Entertainment, and Problem Solving.

We'll discuss how combining different game categories and purposes can inspire original and meaningful games.
4. Draw Your Game – Creative Workshop (7:25–8:05 PM)
Now it's time to bring your imagination to paper!
Using large sheets of paper, colourful markers, and pens, we'll work individually or in small groups to sketch our own game ideas.
Think about the game's objective, environment, characters, rules, challenges, and how players can win or progress.
Don't worry about artistic skills. Simple drawings, diagrams, and creative thinking are all we need!
5. Let's See How Your Games Come to Life! (8:05–8:30 PM)
Each group will have an opportunity to present its game idea, explain the design, and receive friendly feedback.
We'll explore how these sketches could become real, playable games using game development tools and discuss which ideas we might develop and test in our upcoming Meetup sessions.

## What to Bring

Just bring your creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm!
Paper, colourful markers, pens, and game cards will be provided. You're welcome to bring a laptop or tablet, but it's not required.

## Location

Gilli Café – Newmarket
143 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland
Auckland NZ – Gilli Café
Restaurant Hub – Gilli Café
Come along, meet fellow game enthusiasts, enjoy the café atmosphere, and turn your imagination into something we can build together.
Looking forward to seeing you there!