The microbiome story dice

This game was designed to promote conversations about microbiome science. It can be used as an ice-breaker during a scientific meeting or as an educational aid in the classroom. The game can also be used to popularize microbiome science to the general public. The following pages provide ideas about games you can play with the dice, as well as suggestions for interpreting the symbols you may encounter on the dice, together with information about the relevance of the symbols to microbiome science.

The game was designed and developed by members of the University of Maryland Center of Excellence in Microbiome Sciences, center dedicated to the pursuit of a deeper understanding of complex microbial communities, and how those microbiomes interact with each other and with our world's ecosystems, impacting human, animal, and environmental health.

You can support the activities of the center by donating to our fund, or by participating in our events.

The dice were laser-engraved at Terrapin Works, a makerspace on the University of Maryland campus. The boxes holding the dice were made in the Rockville Makerspace.

Seeking your feedback!

If you are a microbiome scientist who would like to use the dice to support educational or outreach activities, please contact Mihai Pop ([e-mail]). We have only created a limited set of dice but may have a few available to send you. More importantly, we are trying to gauge interest to see if it is worth investing the time (and money) necessary to scale up production.