As a part of WashingCon's efforts to make our conventions kid- and family-friendly, we invited a range of vendors that offer games that help bring the youngest members of our community into the hobby. One of these vendors was Catlilli Games, which sells educational board games such as Crazy Cats, Cycles, and Tacto that help children grow interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. In Crazy Cats, for instance, children compete to draw the craziest cat based on dice rolls that determine the genes – and their corresponding appearance – for their cats. In short, the game's mechanics supports a child's exploration of complex scientific concepts such as genetics and phenotypes.

Listen to the interview with Jon Nardolilli, co-founder and game designer at Catlilli Games below to hear more about the company's origin, design philosophy, and efforts to help reverse the absence of effective STEM education in the United States. WashingCon would like to thank Jon and the rest of the Catlilli team for serving as vendors at our convention.