Bring a prototype. Stay for the talks.

Kyle Jarratt

Melissa Rogerson

An international expert in modern boardgames and hybrid digital boardgames. Senior Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne.

Tim Westhaven

Tim is the Program Leader for Game Design at Collarts. He played his first game of Dungeons and Dragons aged 6 and by age 8 he was running a gaming group at school and attended his first games convention. By age 12 he was designing his own game systems, creating worlds and programming computer games. From there, he went on to work in graphic design, advertising, publishing, games and media. He undertook postgraduate studies in animation at Central Saint Martins college in London after which he worked as a technical director for Jim Henson’s creature workshop, Meteor studios in Montreal and Framestore London, where he was a member of the Academy Award and BAFTA-winning VFX team for The Golden Compass.

Violeta Gordana

Violeta Gordana is a Lecturer in Game Design at Collarts. She teaches game elements, UX, interface and environment design, modelling and fabrication, professional portfolio and the Capstone. She comes from fine art sculpture: monuments and museum works, and commercially, props, sets and puzzles. Her practice is anchored in research from the ancient world and the old masters, and in how looking back shapes what we make next. She has a curiosity mindset, and it is the thing she most wants to pass on to her students. She likes to work within not-for-profit and inclusive spaces, facilitating spaces that go against the status quo, and believes access and inclusion underpin the diversity that drives innovation. She is completing a Masters of Creative Industries at Collarts, working towards a museum for the endangered crafts that games creation embodies.

Matilda Heinrich

Matilda spearheads the Education portfolio at Minds at Play. She is also a Guild Master, overseeing Dungeons and Dragons, Minecraft, and other online social groups for neurodivergent people all over Australia. She has a background in performing arts, and education support in specialist settings. Matilda also manages a fantasy LARP (live action roleplay) group based in Ballarat, which she has been on the team for since late 2024. She is passionate about the role of long-form improvisation in social development and confidence building.