Madeline Davis incorporates Lurking Legends in the classroom to bridge creative practices with multidisciplinary game design.
Published to Nicholson News on September 9, 2025.
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Madeline Davis, an instructor in the Games and Interactive Media program at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NSCM), has published Lurking Legends: A Game of Fame and Mystery. After three years of development, the tabletop game was published in June 2025 through The Game Crafter, which draws on American folklore and cryptid stories to weave together original artwork, storytelling, and strategy.
“Designing Lurking Legends was both exciting and challenging because I developed it as a solo game designer, artist, publisher, and marketer,” Davis says. “Each stage taught me something new about how games come together and move beyond development, and I think that is an experience I can pass on to my students.”
Davis says while the project stands as a creative accomplishment for her, it also serves as a teaching tool to connect tabletop and digital game design. As part of teaching pedagogy, Davis emphasizes moments of de-digitalization, encouraging students to step away from screens and engage with the core mechanics of play through analog methods.
“Tabletop games allow us to strip design down to its core mechanics, rules, systems, and player interaction,” she says. “Those fundamentals directly inform digital game design, and sharing my own process helps students have a different perspective on approaching their own digital projects.”
She says the project also shows how storytelling and niche cultural interests can inspire engaging game experiences that resonates across various forms of media. This emphasis on de-digitalization highlights how non-digital design practices remain essential in preparing students to think critically and creatively about games in all forms.
By linking creative practice with classroom application, Davis says Lurking Legends demonstrates how traditional forms of play can enrich digital design education and highlight the multidisciplinary nature of game studies at NSCM.
For more information about Lurking Legends, please visit mythicalduck.com.