All work and no play makes for a very boring bunch of science fans, so taste of science would like to invite you out for an evening of science gaming fun.
Our Tampa chapter is excited to be relaunching with some chat about game theory, followed by a chance to play a series of science board games.
Join us at Corner Club in Seminole Heights to feed yourselves and your curiosity.
This will be a sensory friendly event.
Life is a game
In social situations, do you ever feel like you never quite do the right thing? That’s normal. It happens when your best behavior depends on that of others. What to do? Enter Joel and game theory as a wonderfully nerdy branch of mathematics -- think game of chicken, prisoner’s dilemma, and producer-scrounger games. It applies across all of nature including games of fear and stealth between predator and prey. Even cancer treatment is a game between the physician and the cancer cells.
Meet the speaker: Prof. Joel Brown
Joel is a faculty in the Department of Integrated Mathematical Oncology of the Moffitt Cancer Center. Joel is an evolutionary ecologist who studies nature and cancer through the adaptations of the organisms.
For over 30 years, as a wildlife biologist, he has literally worked from A to Z including aardvarks in South Africa and Zebra in zoo settings. His personal favorites are squirrels.
He currently applies principles of ecology and evolution to understand and treat cancer.
Check out the games
Compounded
A chemistry-themed strategy game where players act as scientists racing to build chemical compounds by collecting elements and trading resources. It mixes science, negotiation, and a little luck, making it feel like a competitive lab experiment at the table.
Cytosis
In this biology-based board game, players work inside a human cell, gathering resources and building enzymes, hormones, and other cell components to score points. It turns complex cell biology into a colorful strategy game that’s surprisingly approachable.
Lovelace & Babbage
Inspired by early computer pioneers Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, this game has players “program” punch cards to solve challenges and complete objectives. It’s a clever mix of coding logic, history, and strategy wrapped into a tabletop game.
Pandemic: Contagion
This twist on the classic Pandemic puts players in the role of competing diseases trying to spread across the globe and outlast humanity. Instead of working together to stop an outbreak, everyone is trying to become the most deadly infection.
Publish or Perish
A game about the competitive world of academic research, where players conduct studies, publish papers, and build their scientific reputation. It captures the strategy—and sometimes chaos—of trying to succeed in the world of science and academia.