5 teams advance to production following Game Design Shark Tank
Five games are moving toward production following the annual Game Design Shark Tank event held at the end of fall semester. Each year, student teams pitch video game ideas that they developed during the semester to industry professionals. Host Will Emigh, the director of the B.S. in game design and senior lecturer at The Media School, began with teaser trailers for the four fall 2024 winners, whose games are set for release in the spring of 2026.
Teams comprised of 35 students worked through the semester to conceive, develop, test, and refine original games for public release. During the event, 10 teams pitched their games and answered questions from the sharks, Brian Bucklew, co-founder of Freehold Games; Bryanna Lindsey, lead VFX artist of Bad Robot Games; and Ian Schreiber, co-founder of Global Game Jam.
In their presentations, teams described their inspiration from previous games, flow of the game and logic, and improvements they may make with the help of the sharks. Media School student Laynie Pitts interviewed teams after their presentations to gather insider details about theory and group work.
Teams progressing to production this spring semester are:
- College Possum
- Devouring Hour
- Fro Bros
- Making Waves
- Train Bash
Following production, the teams will collaborate with informatics students to develop and launch the games in spring 2027. Students whose games were not chosen to move forward were reassigned to the remaining teams.
The games pitched during the competition were:
Magic Hands
By students Ian Fernandez, Greyson Schenck, and Harvey Wheeler
This is a six-degrees of freedom (i.e., no defined up or down, objects float in space, and movement on all three axes), third-person shooter played through a star who is the creation of a powerful space sorcerer trapped inside a giant space organism. Players fight through the human-like organism by collecting spells with further upgrades.
College Possum
By students Marlena Ames, Natalie Hernandez, Jacob Dimino, and JJ Shriver
This is a narrative game about overcoming social anxiety through puzzle-based conversations that features obstacles players overcome to work up the courage to talk to a college crush over the course of the semester. Played by a three-tier possum character disguised in a trench coat, the game is set in college-party scenes which lead to the ultimate goal of talking to a longtime crush.
Restoration Graveyard
By students Atlas Clawthorne, Aiko Ileleji, Harrison North, and Adia Holt
This spooky game follows ghosts who are committed to reviving their graveyard and restoring its reputation. The cozy setting centers around the celebration of Samhain, a Gaelic festival held every Nov. 1 marking the end of the harvest season, in autumn family gatherings, coastal towns, and ghost hunting. Players talk to ghosts and townspeople and tend to a graveyard in a day/night cycle.
Drought
By Luca Arana, Daniyaal Hussain, Sophia Butt, and Ian Smith
This is an apocalyptic, single-player, 2D-stealth game where players work to sabotage evil raider control in order to save a community of fellow survivors during a global drought. Survival is motivated by a water supply system and unity.
Train Bash!
By students Brenden Wood, Tristin Howell, and Allen Zang
This one-to-three multiplayer game features a 3D intergalactic train demolition derby. Players can play on a split-screen with a custom train to hover through space, magnetically attach and detach from rails, and collect train cars with various abilities to bash opponents and avoid obstacles.
Fro Bros
By students Zachary Gordon, Jaiden Gray, Noeh Johnson, and Lopati McQueen
This is a top-down roguelite dungeon crawler game that uses hair as a weapon. Each hairstyle has unique abilities that are unlocked through meeting other adventurers. Players also avoid obstacles in the dungeons that would damage the player’s hair with equipment like hair dryers, brushes and picks, and hair products.
Making Waves
By students Alyssa Luckritz, Nate Reininga, and Donovan Eldenback
In this narrative-driven exploration game, players experience the passage of time as a fish who interacts with others to influence the future of the lake in which they live.
The Devouring Hour
By students Jaqlyn Brown, Mac Naaman, and Leya Flenoy
In this 3D, first-person horror game, players embody a girl named April Tealman, who is trapped in her bedroom. To escape, she has to perform rituals with the help of otherworldly characters, all before the clock runs out at the top of the hour.
Front Page Danger
By students Keller McKean, Levi Coffing, Camden Phipps, and Rylie Bowman
This isometric 2.5D adventure game is played through a photojournalist in a magical noir city that is rife with crime. The player uses their “fists” and camera to take down the illustrious crime families in the city.
Aeterna Victrix
By students Joseph Meagher, Nicholas Wheat, and Eric Lasse
This gladiator fantasy management game allows players to recruit and train fighters across archetype types for a long-term battle in a chosen arena. Players must build their reputation through legacy and fame to expand their facilities in their arena for an ultimate showdown.