CUDO Plays

08/06/2026

Calling all past CUDO Plays competitors! We need YOUR help with our Games Fest and Season 13 Kickoff event happening on August 29th.

We want this to be a BIG celebration of Seasons past, so we hope that as many past competitors as possible will bring out their games to once again share with the people of Champaign-Urbana!

To make sure we've got space for all the designers who are interested, we've put together a signup. Please follow the link below to see the schedule, then fill out the survey there to add your game to a time slot and table.

08/06/2026

Time again for our monthly playtest night! Get a head start on Season 13 of the competition by testing out your latest game design, or just come out and see what others in our community are working on.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1441882894431316

Send a message to learn more

07/24/2026

BIG NEWS friends of CUDO Plays! This year, instead of our usual Kickoff event with presentations and a Q&A session, we're doing a GAME FEST to launch our HISTORIC Season 13 of the competition!

Come out for a whole afternoon of playing CUDO Plays games from past seasons. If you missed these games the first time around, here's your chance to give them a try! And of course, if you're new to CUDO Plays, there's no better way to learn about the competition than from past competitors and our supportive community of local designers.

If you are one of those designers from past seasons, WE NEED YOU! Dust off that old game of yours to show off once more, or maybe even bring the latest iteration! Stay tuned here or in your email inbox to find out more about how you can share your game at the CUDO Plays Game Fest.

Send a message to learn more

07/23/2026

Our first Board Game Bootcamp of the summer is this Saturday! (Urbana Free Library, 1-4pm) Come on out and see what awesome game you can make in just a few hours.

07/10/2026

Hello friends of CUDO Plays! If you're on our email list (and we assume many of you are!) last night you should have received the first email from us in a while (with info about our summer bootcamps and Season 13 Kickoff!)
If you're not seeing that in your inbox, please check your spam and make sure you white list us!
If it turns out you're not on our email list but you would like to be, please sign up on our website:

There are many ways to get involved with CUDO Plays!   CompeteDesign and build your very own tabletop game and compete for prizes in eight different categories! Making a game isn’t easy, but CUDO Plays is here to help you every step of the way with events for brainstorming, prototyping, forming a...

06/15/2026

YOU asked for it, and WE'RE making it happen!
CUDO Plays will be running 3 extra Board Game Bootcamp events during the summer to help designers brainstorm cool new game concepts BEFORE the official kickoff for Season 13 in the fall! Each of these Summer Bootcamps will be like our normal ones, with participants dividing into teams and being given random themes and mechanics to make a game out of. Of course we'll be providing tons of game bits to build with as usual!

2 of our Summer Bootcamps already have dates and locations to mark your calendars and hope to see you there!

Saturday, July 25, 1-4pm @ Urbana Free Library
Wednesday, August 19th, 5:30-9pm @ Champaign Public Library

05/07/2026

Our 1st Thursday of the month playtest nights are moving to Parcadia! Come out and see what our community of game designers is working on.

04/01/2026

Missed our Season 12 Grand Exhibition? Fear not! The winners and runners up for all 8 of our award categories have now been posted on the blog!

Marketability Award (presented by the The Scratching Post)

03/28/2026

Grand Exhibition is in full swing! Drop by the IMC and play some locally designed games!