Join us March 8, 2025 for a full day of esports, game development and simulation design, thanks to our host, Columbus State University. If you are bringing a high school group, please email info@ggda.org so we can pair your students with a mentor.

We will have free space for game developers looking to demo or test their games. Please apply HERE

Everyone can get $5 tickets HERE

Lunch included with your ticket

2025 Schedule

8:30 am Registration Opens

9 am Games as Art with Eric Lorenz and Avant Beetle

10 am The Art of Game Design: The Missing Lenses with Joe Cassavaugh

11 am James Portnow Keynote: More than Fun: Gaming's Promise to Future Generations

Noon Lunch and gaming tournaments run by Holo Haven

1 pm Building Community with James Portnow, Bob Carter, Tygarlily, Thor, Rod Obando, Joe Guido and Christian Free

2PM Teachers and Game Devs Speak: What You Need to Know to Graduate for Success with James Portnow, Dr. Rodrigo Obando, Anthony Obando and Bob Carter

3 pm A Sound Strategy: Audio Project Planning for 'Marvel's Spider-Man 2 with Jesse James Allen

4 pm Six Keys for Designing Game Mechanics with Visually Impaired Players in Mind with Anatoly Lubarsky

Speakers include:

Keynote Speaker James Portnow from Rainmaker Games and Extra Credits (https://youtu.be/BKsby1d8bx4?si=mWQNveqHiPHZXRg3)

Jesse James Allen is returning to CIMFest March 8! Jesse Allen is a 12-time international award-winning media professional. He is a former AAA video game sound designer on 53 well-known games. He is now part of the audio leadership team at Insomniac Games. Jesse’s other contributions include visual work for museums and theme parks around the world.

Voice Actor Bob Carter

The $6 million man, Joe Cassavaugh

Anatoly Lubarsky, 5 Tips for Designing Game Mechanics with Visually Impaired Players in Mind

Rod Obando a Pokemon Go Community Ambassador and Pokemon TCG Professor

Anthony Obando is a Computer Science Educator who has been working for the Muscogee County School District for 4 years. He is a current teacher at Hardaway High School teaching Programming and Game Design. He graduated from Columbus State University as the first (and only) Uteach Computer Science teacher. He works tirelessly to advance his career and be a better educator. When he’s not working , he spends time with his girlfriend, Caroline, play Dungeons & Dragons and now eagerly awaiting the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3  + 4.

Forrest Raynard (Thor) is both passionate and driven in his quest to maintain his love for all things Game development, Technology and Broadcasting. Having started his journey over ten years ago he has been blessed with working on products such as SMITE 2, Gigantic, Dreadnought, Realm Royale to name just a few. He continues to merge his unique Game Development style with his expertise as an on air talent to connect with his audience and community. Forrest built his broadcasting talent on the back of his successful Twitch community and continues to be a voice for all things gaming and technology.

Tygarlily is passionate about storytelling, educating, and spotlighting video-games and technology. Driven to produce quality content and working to meet the needs of her partners. Passionate about video games, you can find tygarlily creating cosplays, videos, and live streams around Pokemon, Monster Hunter, and Marvel. Tygarlily is based in Atlanta and manages a team of creators for antonline.com

Joe Guido has several years of experience with DnD and magic the gathering. Warhammer lore is one of his favorite reads, when it comes to board games axis and allies is his favorite of all time. Guido’s passion is to teach people new games such as DnD and magic and so on so they can grow and teach people on their own and keep the games alive for years.

Christian Free is a Columbus local with a passion for gaming and mixed media. He competes regionally at tournaments for One Piece and Union Arena, with his most recent accomplishment having come in 2nd place at the first Union Arena national tournament. Christian wants to help empower others to try their best at everything they do and find their community. You can find his barely contained ramblings on tiktok, twitch, and youtube under Mimikuul.

Session Descriptions

Keynote More than Fun: Gaming's Promise to Future Generations

In the last few years we've seen the AAA market struggle to find its way; studios close, publishers collapse, market share decreases and yet we still try to approach the world in the same old way. We need a change. In this talk James Portnow discusses how we adapt to the future and how we do so in a way that's better for the world, better for our consumer and, in the end, better for us.

Play New Games!

Night of the Living Bubble

Tournaments

10 am Magic RCQ Tournament ($30 entry fee)

1 pm Pokemon TCG Tournament (Free with admission

1 pm Magic: the Gathering Commander Tournament (Free with admission)

Location: CSU Davidson Center, 4225 University Ave, Columbus, GA 31907

If you cannot join us in person, you can watch a livestream of the presentations at www.youtube.com/GeorgiaGameDevs