"Playful by Design is a community network that includes faculty, staff, students, and members of the University of Illinois and the greater Champaign-Urbana community who study and design games, understood as interactive narratives, new media, art works, platforms, websites, exhibits, virtual worlds and digital learning environments, those who research and develop emerging technologies (AR/VR/AI…), and who study and develop playful/gameful pedagogies" (from the website)

A student-led games video game studio at UIUC, affiliated with the Game Studies and Design program. Faculty sponsors and interested students can apply to join.

The IDEA Lab, located in the basement of Grainger Engineering Library, has gaming PCs on-site as well as loanable technology including VR headsets and controllers.

The Illini Esports organization includes over ten active competitive teams, social gaming, and community events.

The Champaign-Urbana (CU) Community Fab Lab is a makerspace located on the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign campus. The Fab Lab works with the University of Illinois to offer courses on Game Studies and Escape Rooms and also supports research and creative projects for faculty, students, and other members of the Champaign-Urbana community.

CUDO Plays is an Illinois-local board game design competition hosted by the Champaign-Urbana Design Organization. They run workshops, run playtests, and host gaming events.

The chapter for Champaign-Urbana of the International Game Developers Association.