When twins Eli and Ethan Entwistle started designing a computer game as sophomores for a Future Business Leaders of America competition, they wished for some guidance and support. There were few resources at the time, however, so they decided to do something about it.
With the help of an FBLA co-adviser, the students, now seniors at Heritage High School in Vancouver, created the school’s first game design club — the Heritage Lakoda Wolves.
The club quietly started last year with eight students. It has since ballooned to 26 students from all grades.
“My hope is to bring everyone together as a family,” said Eli Entwistle, 17. “I really wish I had people to talk to when I was learning some of this.”
The club’s vice president, 17-year-old Daniel Adams — who’s also a member of FBLA and taking a computer programming class — said they are trying to organize the group as closely to a real game design company as possible. For weeks, they brainstormed game ideas and chose a project manager.
Club President Seth Hastings, 15, a sophomore, said they are working on three games for the Oregon Game Project Challenge competition this spring. The club has three game concepts on the table — one would be similar to Starfighter, a flight-based shooter game; another would follow a medieval dungeon theme; and the third would incorporate real-time strategy.
Team numbers are limited for the competition — seven per team — which is why they are designing three games — that way they can send more students. Not all of the students will compete, but they will contribute to the games in one way or another, said teacher Chase Smith, the club’s adviser and FBLA co-adviser.
The Lakoda Wolves are one of few teams in Southwest Washington, he said. Some students have taken design classes before, Smith said, others are trying it out for the first time.
Smith said the club chose its name, Lakoda, because it means friends or unity.
“We want the banner to show everyone together,” he said. “We want to show this is a comfortable environment for all.”
The club hopes to recruit at Covington and Frontier middle schools through STEM events, Smith added.
It also has discussed working with local sports teams to design databases for coaches and players to help with recruiting. The pilot run will likely be for Heritage High School’s football team. Smith also coaches football, robotics club and chess club; he’s a co-adviser for Skills USA and teaches the school’s College, Career and Technical Education Computer Science class.
Eli Entwistle said he and his brother designed a “simple arcade game” for the FBLA competition. He loves drawing, he said, and bringing his own imagination to a game.
They learned how to program by watching YouTube videos.
“Coding is frustrating, but once you complete it and see it work the way you want to, it makes you feel so accomplished,” Eli Entwistle said. “The amount of work that went into it … I’m so proud of what we did.”
Through the process, Ethan Entwistle, also 17, said he came to realize that he and his brother think alike. But the club allows for different perspectives. The conflicting ideas make it more interesting and difficult, he said.
The twins placed first last year in the Southwest Region event for Game Design in FBLA, while Adams and senior Terrence Lewis placed eighth. And Adams and Lewis finished in the top 15 in the statewide competition, Smith said.
Eli Entwistle describes the Lakoda Wolves as “chill guys and girls, having fun but getting stuff done.”
Senior Joymae Capps, 18, one of four girls in the club, helped to design its logo before she joined. She said she initially started out in digital design and then moved to graphic design, where she became interested in the gaming field. She will design the sprites, which are characters or objects in the games. In the meantime, she is learning how to program.
The Lakoda Wolves has sent letters to local businesses soliciting donations for travel costs to the Oregon competition. It also held a daylong League of Legends tournament on a Saturday around Thanksgiving to raise money.
After the students finish brainstorming, they will draw up the games on paper and then take them to the computer screen.
The club will host a game-design showcase in May, Smith said, and has invited every school in the Evergreen School District to participate. Any type of game is welcome.
“I’m proud of where they started and what they’re doing now,” Smith said. “I want people to know who they are.”
