Coming up with a game concept can be just as mentally engaging as making a game. Here at Team Stir Fry, we experienced that firsthand. Steve, Matt, Jian, Annie, and I created several flowcharts and moodboards of random buzzwords and pictures before settling on a few to stick with. Space outlaws? Toy boats? The sky was the limit, but there were a good amount of concepts that we instantly agreed on. I honestly did not expect that the first two weeks would be just brainstorming, but it was a fun process.
Personally, as an aspiring game composer and audio designer, I started XP3 feeling overwhelmed. I have had years of musical experience, but I’m currently a newcomer to the game industry with only a basic knowledge of Unity. While the learning curve has been steep, I’m glad that my teammates are there to help me work through the more technical things.
For our tank-style arcade battle game dirty build, I tried to make the music silly and lighthearted using quirky synths, accordion, and banjo since our concepts included cats on roombas and a bear invading a campsite. I also made more of a dramatic orchestral track for our sci-fi version of the build. I searched through plenty of cat and bear sounds to make the game extra silly. My goal for this build is to have something fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Our other dirty build, an endless runner, was heavily inspired by musical concepts. We wanted lofi hip hop. We wanted synthwave. We wanted any kind of music that could be turned into a visual aesthetic. We were even considering turning this game into a rhythm game. Our concepts included a classroom desk, a bold neon aesthetic, and a pirate theme. The pirate theme idea actually came from one of my more orchestral background music tracks. I also created a bossa nova song featuring my own live flute playing as an option. Overall, it is possible that I got a little carried away with the excitement of making background music assets for this build.
As the dirty builds are being worked on, I have to adapt and update the audio assets constantly. Oh, the cat is using a lightsaber, not a laser gun. Oh, the music should probably feature a different scale if we want to evoke a certain setting. The game needs to sound like how it looks, and watching these games grow keeps me excited and on my toes. I’m looking forward to seeing where this project takes us!
By Margaret Patel, St. Michael’s College ’20
*Team picture, from top left: Annie Higgins (Art), Jian Liu (Programming), Margaret Patel (Audio), Matthew Peters (Design), and Steve Kreuger (Producer)
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As usual, we have a lot of fun stuff planned in the coming months! Please, save the dates important to you.
- 9/24/21 – Pre Game Challenge (location: virtual) registration opens
- 10/4-12/10/21 -XP3
- 11/8/21 -XP4 application opens*
- 11/20/21 – Pre Game Challenge (location: virtual)
- 12/22/21 – Game Challenge registration (location: tbd) opens
- 12/22/21 – XP4 application closes*
- 12/29/21 – SIP22 application opens
- 12/30/21 – XP4 selections*
- 1/24-4/8/22 – XP4*
- 3/21-25/22 – GDC*
- 3/21/22 – SIP22 application closes
- 3/28/22 – Game Challenge registration closes
- 3/28/22 – SIP22 decisions
- 4/1-4/2/22 – Game Challenge (location: tbd)
- 4/21-4/24/22 – PAX East*
- 5/17-20/22 – SIP (location: virtual) onboarding
- 5/21-8/14/22 – SIP (location: tbd)
* Maybe
In addition, we expect to finally begin to update our website and have changed Collab (fka LiveStudio) to DigiStudio going forward.
Revised: 12/22/21
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Mochi’s Dreamland, a free, fun 2-D platformer, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Help Mochi climb to the top of his dream tower to save his favorite toy mousy! Mind your aim or you just might find yourself back at the bottom!
The mobile game, originally known as Dream Pop, was created during the summer 2021 MassDigi XP2 internship program by Jacob Siegel, Camden Gamlin, Nathan Moura, Kiria Bentley, Kshitij Gajapure, Melanie Thibodeau and Greg Bonini.
Watch the trailer here and download Mochi’s Dreamland today for iOS and Android!
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Teddy Pop, a free, fun match-3 bubble pop game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Become Georgie the Teddy Bear, here to protect children’s dreams from nightmares!
The mobile game, originally known as Dream Pop, was created during the summer 2021 MassDigi XP2 internship program by Hannah Kim, Taylor Feld, Liam Day, Xiao Fan, David Wu and Greg Bonini.
Watch the trailer here and download Teddy Pop today for iOS and Android!
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Crustacean Frustration, a free, fun brick-breaker game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Have you had it up to HERE with humans messing up the natural environment? Get your sweet revenge with Crustacean Frustration, a charming game where you play as a crab finally fed up with rowdy, littering spring breakers.
The mobile game was created during the summer 2021 MassDigi XP2 internship program by Robert Marzec, Stanley Zheng, James Nunes, Mya Labrecque, Jay Lam, Jeff Katz and Greg Bonini.
Watch the trailer here and download Crustacean Frustration today for iOS and Android!
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Clock Out!!, a free, fun arcade-style fighting game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Unpaid intern fights bosses – literally!! Wreak havoc, cause chaos, climb the corporate ladder and fight the system!
The mobile game was created during the 2021 MassDigi Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Connie McGinnis from RIT, Daniel Narvaez from Parsons – The New School, Georgia Liu from Brown, Miquel Sans Cornet from WPI, Nicole Strubinski from RISD, Tristan Sistare from Becker–>Clark and Calvin Tillman from Berklee.
Watch the trailer here and download Clock Out!! today for iOS and Android!
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House Haunters, a free, fun turn-based strategy game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Hunting ghosts in haunted houses for profit!
Battle your way through haunted houses to make a quick buck in House Haunters. Rid each house of the ghosts haunting the furniture, sell the property, and fight through the neighborhood!
The mobile game was created during the 2021 MassDigi Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Jen Bourke from NYU, Brandon DeLuso from Becker–>Clark, Brandon Mallory from Becker–>Clark, Liam Cristello from Northeastern, Shirley Liu from Swarthmore, Matthew Spahl from UMass Amherts and Calvin Tillman from Berklee.
Watch the trailer here and download House Haunters today for iOS and Android!
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Bewitching Boba, a free, fun and magical idle game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Tap to watch your boba fall!
In Bewitching Boba, use your witch powers to magically create boba and run your shop! Tap to generate drinks and watch your sales rise!
The mobile game was created during the 2021 MassDigi Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Jack Hill from Becker–>Clark, Darren Chen from Temple, Mikey Schubert from Becker–>Clark, Dorothy Zhang from RISD, Sarah Madar from Becker –>Clark, Niko Olivo from Northeastern and Calvin Tillman from Berklee.
Watch the trailer here and download Bewitching Boba today for iOS and Android!
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Trials of Midnight, a free, fun and deck-building game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Play as a nightmare trying to escape from a child’s dream world!
In this deck-building, roguelike, you take on the role of Midnight, a lost nightmare trying to escape a child’s dream world. With minions at your disposal, battle your way through legions of dream protectors.
The mobile game was created during the 2021 MassDigi Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Courtney Manbeck from Cornell, Dylan Valev from WPI, Justin Gaborit from Becker–>WPI, Frank Liu from RISD, Mac Li from SVA, Fergus Ferguson from Tufts and Calvin Tillman from Berklee.
Watch the trailer here and download Trials of Midnight today for iOS and Android!
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Roller Riot, a free, fun and fast-paced beat-em-up game, is now available on Newgrounds. Get it here now!
Crazy cyborgs are causing chaos in the city and have made their way towards the Roller Derby District. You are the last one standing. Punch, kick and roll your way through a frenzy of different enemies hell bent on taking you down. Show them that you are a force to be reckoned with and that they chose the wrong street. And, don’t forget to use your cyber upgrades to take down more enemies!
The mobile game was created originally during the 2019 MassDigi Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by students Oriana Carletto from SVA, Denis Gillespie from LYIT, Ben Aube from Becker, Jason Gertner from Becker, Amanda Saker from MECA, Sarah Ke from Mt. Holyoke and Ethan Reese from Berklee.
Working over that summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game. From there, we brought the game into our LiveStudio program at Becker during the fall ’19 and spring ’20 semesters. Through LiveStudio, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch – watch the trailer here. Jason Gertner took the lead on launching the game on Steam in the spring’20 and Newgrounds in the summer of ’21. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Roller Riot today as well as on iOS and Android.
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