2 Neshoba Central students win first-place award with board game

Two Neshoba Central High Schoool students recently combined their passions to win first place statewide creating their own board game, Flowers and Thorns.

Junior Madison Eickhoff and senior Noah Savell said their game was inspired in part by the popular board game Sorry.

Eickhoff did the overall design and art of Flowers and Thorns and Savell put together the portfolio, which included the rules and description of the game. 

Their combined efforts paid off with the first-place award in the state level 2021 Technology Student Association (TSA) competition held earlier this year. 

Second place was taken by Neshoba Central students Ethan Bounds, Zoie Herring, Devin McCoy, Malcolm McDonald, and Mary Moran with their game, Galactic Gamble.

“(Flowers and Thorns) is a lot like the hit board game Sorry, where you knock other players’ pieces off the board for your gain,” Eickhoff said. “Flowers and Thorns is similar in concept, where the players have to get all of their game pieces to a specific spot on the board. If they get all of their pieces to that spot, they win.” 

During each turn, a player selects a card, and the card gives the player instructions on what to do, such as moving forward a few spaces or moving a few spaces back. 

“I was inspired to theme the game like I did because I love drawing roses. It’s something I’m very good at,” Eickhoff said. “When I read through the list of options on what to compete with, it caught my eye and I decided then and there it was what I wanted to do.” 

Savell created the portfolio for the game, wrote the rules and instructions, and supervised Eickoff while she designed the game and art. 

“I watched Madison create all the art and put a lot of effort into the portfolio that went with it,” Savell said. “I was surprised our game took first place, and I’m happy our work paid off.” 

Eickhoff said the reason she felt the game won first place was because Flowers and Thorns could be easily marketed due to its commercial appeal and how it could fit in with other commercialized board games such as “Sorry.”

She said the most challenging process was doing the colors and coloring in everything since she put in a lot of detail with the art. 

“The most enjoyable part for me was tracing the flowers at the start,” Eirkoff said. “Over the last few years I learned and taught myself how to draw, particularly roses, and it turned into something I loved to do. That factored into the game’s design.”

Eirkoff will be competing in the national TSA competition in June. She plans on attending East Central Community College and is unsure of her major. 

The Technology Student Association is a national organization of students engaged in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. 

TSA competitions include categories such as animatronics, architectural design, cybersecurity, fashion design, and technology. It spans nationwide, with high schools from throughout the nation competing to see who can create the best project out of each category.

Sedera Anderson, TSA Teacher of the Year and Engineering I and II instructor for Eickhoff and Savell, said she is proud and excited about Flowers and Thorns and that the creativity and hand-made design was a big reason the game stuck out. 

“Madison hand-drew everything for the game, which is impressive for the state level,” Anderson said. “The game was challenging, and I’m proud of them for their hard work. Noah did the portfolio, and his work on it followed MLA style.”

Anderson said there was a lot of graphic work for the game, and the game pieces were all 3D-printed, along with self-made game cards. 

“TSA wants students to be creative and show leadership qualities,” Anderson said. “Madison and Noah showed a lot of that in their game pieces and the game’s overall design. The pieces were also very unique and they stood out because of that. It wasn’t just the machines they used. There was a lot of care put into the design and you can see it.” 

She said it was intriguing watching light bulbs go off in her students’ heads and watching them come up with everything about the game. 

“I love to watch students when their ideas hit,” she said. “They had to do this from scratch, and it couldn’t be copied from any other board games. They had to come up with all the plays and moves and had to create what they wanted the game to accomplish. It’s really exciting to sit back and watch them use their creativity.” 

To learn more about the Technology Student Association, visit www.tsaweb.org.