Games@Northeastern Studio

Student and Faculty Driven Games

In order to better support students in the learning they need to succeed both academically and commercially, and to support the visibility and reputation of the collective cross-disciplinary game design and development programs at Northeastern University we have created the Northeastern Game Design Studio.

Student Driven

This student driven studio group will design, develop, and produce a substantial game every year. The development process is be divided into phases to match the Northeastern semester schedule. Students will participate in one or more semesters of development and be credited for their contributions when the game is published. 

Faculty Driven

 Each semester a different faculty member recruits students from the game design studio to participate in research driven projects. These faculty driven projects are more structured and often include collaboration with external research partners. 

Student Project: What Remains of Me

In the first development cycle of the Student Driven division of the game studio students moved through the ideation, pre-production, prototyping, and vertical slice phases of the project. The game they have produced is a narrative heavy metroidvania style 2d pixel art platformer.  The cute art style belies the darker themes of inequality and ableism that are implicit in this genre of game. The game introduces two innovative mechanics. First, the robot protagonist interacts with everything in the world with his power cord, allowing him to charge and drain his fellow machines and even swing across gaps or rappel up walls.  Secondly, enemies are infected with a virus that drives them to violent conflict, the player must manage their viral load as they drain health from enemy machines to stay alive!

The game the studio has produced is only half the story! Students have developed their own studio structure and learned to work in a large group using Agile development practices and using a Game Design Pattern driven design methodology.

 

Practice the skills you need!

By joining the Games@Northeastern: Studio you will have the opportunity to develop real world skills for both game design industry and academic research focused careers! As the game studio continues it will be possible for participating students to be credited on up to four shipped titles during the completion of a 4+ year degree.

Northeastern Students: Join the Studio Team

Lab Space: Meeserve 138 

Available hours will be posted in the fall.