Building Bridges
By Glenn Morris
Hard realities set in after graduating college, and 2020 was a year of reality setting in on multiple levels. For game careers in particular, there’s an awkward transition between the academic approach to game design and development, and the insight gained through practical experience. A graduate picks up quickly on the two being fundamentally different, but these things can exist in concert, rather than conflict. MassDigi XP is an opportunity to bridge those two worlds, and whether it’s there, or some program akin to it, spending some time on that bridge is essential before crossing it.
For me, it was also about getting back on the horse. Those wild adjustments between college and career were coupled with quite a few other personal ones, and though I will never regret my time at Northeastern University, which was beneficial, I did feel trapped. I saw myself stuck in a career choice that I wasn’t ready for, having been prepared for something that doesn’t exist outside the walls of academe, and also trapped in my passion for research and broad understanding, despite my need for practical skills becoming more immediate.
Through MassDigi XP, I’ve been able to spend time on that bridge between two worlds, instead of trying to jump the wide crevasse between them, instead of rejecting whatever lies on the other side. It’s proven to be one of the better choices I’ve made, and I recommend we build more bridges like it.
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As we stated a few weeks ago, MassDigi is part of the Becker family. Today’s
news, though expected, was still difficult and sad to see on many levels. Over the ten years since our establishment we have called Becker home – and it has been a fantastic experience. Where we go next has yet to be determined. We have been flattered by the outreach and, as mentioned in our previous statement,
the work we do at MassDigi is the work we do and our expectation is that it will continue. We will share more information when we can.
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Game Challenge results
What a year! Amazing people, amazing games!
Grand Prize Winner
People’s Choice Winner
Indie Category
- GigaSword by Hybrid Games – an action-puzzle metroidvania in which you wield a huge sword that weighs you down. By sticking the sword in the ground, you’re able to jump higher, but you become unable to attack. Many of the puzzles revolve around sticking the sword into interactive objects that transport it around the room to areas you wouldn’t have been able to reach while holding it. With cataclysm on the horizon, it’s up to you to ascend the ancient tower and recover the God Crystal, Gnosis.
- Don’t Take It Personally, I Just Don’t like You by Christian DeCoster et al – A dating sime where not everyone wants to date you.
- Betty & Earl by Giant Light Studios – a puzzle game where you move the heroes, enemies, obstacles, and everything else, all at the same time. You will explore the tragic and hilarious nature of interconnectedness by crashing enemies into each other, using them to open doors and disable traps, and then sacrificing them to the ever growing flames and clear a path to reunite the disconnected couple. Discover what it means to live in a world where we depend on each other, and learn how growth and destruction are both collaborators and adversaries.
College & University Category
- The Camera That Bleeds (RIT) – a horror mystery game with a noir graphic novel visual style where you play a ghost-hunting detective, solving ghostly mysteries using an instant camera that can see into the invisible, supernatural world. Follow footprint trails, look through drawers and cabinets, “manifest” supernatural evidence with your camera, and figure out what happened at the crime scene. Be careful to avoid the monster, however – don’t make too much noise if it’s nearby, lest it hear you and chase you down!
- Out of CTRL (Tufts & Northeastern) – A haunted chatbot on a decrepit old computer. You can only form sentences by cleverly Copy/Pasting it’s text back to it in this creepypasta inspired interactive fiction game.
- Isogirl (Becker) – an action platformer roguelike in which you delve deep into the world to determine its secrets.
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Learning from others
Andrew Beaulieu
MassDiGI’s Experience Program (XP) has passed its midway point and the teams are buckling in for the final stretch towards releasing their games. I wanted to give perspective on why meeting new people and working on projects with them is a fantastic opportunity, and how it allows everyone involved to grow as developers.
I am a part of Team Cake, a group of seven people who have never met before, given the task of developing a completed mobile game in eleven weeks. Every person on the team came in with a strong set of skills, yet each of us has grown in new and exciting ways by learning from one another. This growth not only enables us to make our game better, but also gives us experience that we can take forward to our future projects.
The classroom can teach basic skills, and online resources are an incredible tool, but the greatest learning opportunity comes from the people you work with. Being able to absorb all the lessons that your colleagues have learned in a fraction of the time is an amazing benefit of working on a team. Working with the incredibly skilled people here at the XP program has given me the experience of working on dozens of different games, all in less than three months.
In the coming weeks Team Cake, as well as Team Pie and Team Custard, will be finalizing our ideas and releasing our games. It will be a bittersweet moment, and one that will be upon us far too quickly. My advice to my peers at XP and to everyone interested in improving themselves is to squeeze out every drop of knowledge you can from those around you, and not to be shy about spreading your own skills and ideas to others.
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MassDiGI is part of the Becker College family. Yesterday’s update regarding the college was tough to read. We appreciate the messages of support we have received and welcome any questions though we may not have any answers – not yet, at least. That said, from our perspective, the work we do at MassDiGI is the work we do and our expectation is that it will continue. We will share more information when we can.
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XP1 team selected
Late last year, after running a pilot effort in the fall, we announced the MassDiGI Experience Program (XP). Designed with recent college and university graduates as well as current students in mind, XP is an internship opportunity for folks who have had their early career or academic path disrupted by the pandemic and are interested in a high quality, virtual game development experience to bolster their resumes and add to their portfolios.
The first cycle of XP received almost 100 applications from recent grads and students representing 29 different colleges and universities. After the challenging process of reviewing each application, 22 interns were offered positions. These interns come from WPI, University of Maine, University of California Santa Cruz, Rutgers, RIT, Quinnipiac, Pratt, Northeastern, MassArt, Hampshire, Fitchburg St., Brown and Becker.
Similar to SIP, MassDiGI XP is a competitive eleven-week program that includes the mentoring, guidance and stipends to help teams advance. XP1 will run from January 26 to April 16. Applications for XP2 will open on March 8.
XP is funded in part through a CARES Act grant from US EDA through its University Center program. XP is expected to run three more times.
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Save these dates!
2021 is shaping up to be a busy one at MassDiGI. Lots going on!
- SIP21 application opens up – January 21, 2021
- Game Challenge registration opens up – February 8, 2021
- XP2 application opens up – March 8, 2021
- SIP21 application closes – March 22, 2021
- Game Challenge – March 26 & 27, 2021
- XP1 ends – April 16, 2021
- XP2 application closes – April 23, 2021
- 10th Birthday Celebration – April 26, 2021
- SIP21 begins – May 18, 2021
- XP2 begins – June 7, 2021
- XP3 application opens up – July 12, 2021
- SIP21 Open House – August 12, 2021
- SIP21 ends – August 15, 2021
- XP2 ends – August 20, 2021
- XP3 application closes – August 27, 2021
- XP3 begins – October 4, 2021
- XP3 ends – December 10, 2021
Of course, given the pandemic, all programs and activities are expected to be virtual. However, we hope that at some point we will be able to return to the way things were – or at least to some semblance of the way things were – later in the year.
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Announcing XP, our latest program
Today, we’re happy to announce our latest effort, the MassDiGI Experience Program. Designed with both recent university graduates and current university students in mind, XP is an internship opportunity for folks who have had their early career or academic path disrupted by the pandemic and are interested in a high quality game development experience to bolster their resumes and add to their portfolios. XP is now accepting applications through January 4, 2021.
Similar to SIP, the MassDiGI Experience Program is a competitive eleven-week virtual internship program that includes the mentoring, guidance and stipends to help teams build a game and prepare it for launch.
The first cycle of XP is scheduled to go from January 26 to April 16, 2021.
XP is funded in part through a CARES Act grant from US EDA as part of its University Center program. The program is expected to run for 4 times – XP 21.1, XP 21.2, XP 21.3 and XP 22.1. Dates related to the latter three will be determined soon.
For more information about XP, please click here.
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Tap into love with Fostr
Fostr, a free and fun pet care idle game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Help cute animals find their forever home in Fostr. Start off as a beginner and advance your skills in order to foster more animals – including exotic and wild ones who also need a safe and loving environment.
The mobile game was created during the 2020 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) as part of a special collaboration with UMass Dartmouth. The team included Jack Carpenter, Mike Correia, John Egan Marcus Johnson and Ryan Wickett from UMassD as well as Mikey Schubert from Becker College and Primrose Kirk from Berklee College of Music.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game – watch the trailer here. From there, we brought Fostr into our Collab (FKA LiveStudio) program during the fall ’20 semester. Through Collab, more UMassD students had roles – as did others in our Becker-based marketing lab – in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Fostr today for iOS and Android.
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Play your cards right in Pluto’s Ascent
Pluto’s Ascent, a free and fun card-based role-playing game, is available for download now on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Compete in a tournament as Pluto, the outcast god, in a quest to redeem your honor as a true planet. Face off against other cosmic deities, grow your set of celestial skills and face your destiny in the ultimate battle against Sol himself.
The mobile game was created during the 2020 MassDiGI Summer Innovation Program (SIP) by Jack Breenfrom Framingham State, Jasmine Duerk from WPI, JD Calvelli from Brown, Lexis Harvey from Becker, Andrew Knollmeyer, Sam Shapiro from Clark by Primrose Kirk from Berklee.
Working over the summer, the team produced a beta/near-release version of the game – watch the trailer here. From there, we brought the game into our Collab (FKA LiveStudio) program at Becker during the fall ’20 semester. Through Collab, more students across a range of disciplines, including business students in our marketing lab, had roles in polishing the game and getting it ready to launch. For a roster of all the contributors to the game, check out the credit roll. You can download Pluto’s Ascent today for iOS and Android.
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