When Jason Oliver, Brayden Lengel, and Sebastian Sharp first dreamed of creating a board game, they had no idea that a rough sketch, a few painted wood squares, and some hand-cut cards would one day lead him and his friends all the way to a national competition.
Now, the iLEAD Academy students and their teammates — Jaden Brentlinger, and Evan Alsup — are celebrating after their original board game, "Card Quest: Arena of Rivals," won first place at both regional and state Technology Student Association (TSA) competitions. Next stop? Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee from June 27-July 1.
"This project is like our baby," said Sebastian Sharp with a huge grin. "We've spent countless hours on it — building it, testing it, fixing mistakes. We’re really passionate about it."
The journey to "Card Quest" wasn't exactly smooth. In the beginning, Jason, Brayden, and Sebastian struggled to even make a functional game board.
"Our first version was... pretty dumb," Jason admitted, laughing. "We laser-engraved a bunch of squares, painted them, and glued them together with wood glue. It was uneven, looked terrible, and took forever."
But every failed attempt brought new lessons. The team decided to take a more strategic approach, sending out a Google Form survey to classmates asking what board games they loved growing up. Classic names like Monopoly, Sorry!, and Dungeons and Dragons topped the list — and the team used bits and pieces of those games to inspire their own gameplay mechanics.
They also brainstormed characters for the game’s signature cards. Brayden, an accomplished artist, sketched 20-25 different designs before transferring the artwork onto digital templates on his phone. Each card came with its own stats, special abilities, and battle tactics.
"It was a lot more work than we expected," Brayden said. "I didn’t realize how many little details there were until I saw it all laid out in front of me."
The game, described by the team as having a Pokémon-style look with dice rolling, moving pieces, and strategic card play, quickly evolved into something unique.
Players control three character cards — each matched to a 3D-printed piece on the board. Evan Alsup, the team’s head engineer, took drawings of the characters and modeled them into playing pieces, ensuring every detail was original to avoid copyright issues.
"Originally we made all the pieces black, but it was impossible to tell whose was whose," Evan said. "Now, each player has different colored pieces that match their cards."
Their passion paid off. At TSA regionals, "Card Quest" quickly stood out — so much so that other teams redesigned their game boxes after seeing the iLEAD students' presentation. At state, they faced off against 55 other board games, and not only made the semifinals but snagged first place overall, losing just one point on the entire judging rubric.
"I’m pretty sure the whole room heard me yell when they announced we won," Sebastian said, laughing.
Beyond nationals, the students have even bigger ambitions. They've already met with a patent lawyer and are preparing to submit a copyright application. If all goes well, they hope to pursue a design patent — and maybe even get "Card Quest" on store shelves someday.
iLEAD Engineering instructor John Ashcraft said “Card Quest” could have a shot at being marketable. “I gave them guidance on what they need to do. The next thing I know they’ve got a conference call scheduled with a patent lawyer who gave them a deal because they’re students,” Ashcraft said with a smile. The future entrepreneurs are working on fundraising to market their game now.
"We want everything to stay self-made — our cards, our pieces, our box," Jason said. "This started as a school project, but now... it’s something so much bigger."
Next year, they say the process will be even smoother, armed with all the lessons from their many early mistakes. But for now, they’re savoring the thrill of seeing a passion project — their "baby" — grow into something truly incredible.
"We’re just proud of how far we’ve come," Brayden said. "No matter what happens at nationals, we know we’ve made something special."