Do you like drawing? And games? Would you like your artwork to be part of a card game?

I’m creating a new game about the different coloured buses in Reading. We’d like children at Oxford Road Community School to help by sending us drawings of buses, people, or Reading landmarks which we can use in the game.

The deadline for sending in drawings is 1 July 2024. You can email me drawings at dissentgames@gmail.com and fill in a permission form here. It’s important that you also fill out the permission form, because otherwise I won’t be able to include your drawings.

What sort of drawings do we need?

1. Line drawings. Please make all your artwork line drawings. That means that they are done on white or pale paper, with a dark pen or pencil. (It’s better not to colour them in, as our professional colourer-in will be doing that on the computer.)

2. Buses. We need lots of drawings of buses. The fronts of buses, the sides of buses, even the backs of buses! If you wanted to write a specific number of the bus, go ahead. We need lots and lots of pictures of buses, so please do send us more than one!

3. Passengers. We also need pictures of people. In the game, they will be the passengers waiting for the buses. Draw yourself or your friends waiting for a bus.

4. Landmarks. Can you draw a picture of somewhere in reading which you might pass on the bus? Perhaps it’s the Water Tower, or Forbury Gardens? Maybe it’s the hospital? 

You can do as many drawings as you like. Make sure you put your name on top of each piece of paper and get them to your teachers or email to dissentgames@gmail.com by 1 July 2024.

What happens to the drawings

When you send the drawings to us, we will look at each one. We’ll then carefully copy it to a digital form, drawing round the lines to make it clear. It will still be your drawing and we will do our best not to change anything. It will be professionally coloured in and given some shadows and highlights. 

   The child’s original drawing    →     The digital version         →            Coloured in

The drawings will be used on the cards and the box of the new card game. We will do our best to include every single drawing we receive in the game. The names of everyone who sent in a drawing will also be printed in the rulebook. 

Are there prizes for the best drawings?

Yes! Five drawings will win a free game. These drawings will also be in prominent places, such as on the game box or on the front of the rulebook. We will announce which drawings have won free games by the end of the summer term. 

How to enter

1. Draw your drawings on white paper with a dark coloured pen or pencil. 
2. Make sure your name and your year group is on the top of EVERY sheet of paper.
3. Put a completed paper permission form and the drawings in an envelope and give it to your teacher by 1 July 2024, or email photos of the drawings to me at dissentgames@gmail.com and sign the permission form online.

When will the game be published?

The game will be sent to the printers over the summer, and is expected to be ready in November 2024. 

You’ll be able to buy copies for £15 each as soon as they are available. If your child is submitting artwork and you’d like to be emailed when the game is ready to buy, please include your email with the permission form. If you’d like to follow along, please subscribe to this blog. (You’ll get an email about once a month.)

If you have any questions, you can email me at dissentgames@gmail.com.