ArtCenter College of Design Student Team Invited to Prestigious Game Developer Conference

A team of student game creators from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena has been invited to showcase their innovative and interactive game at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, happening on March 20 to 22.

The ArtCenter team will be competing against professional game designers at the  conference, which is expected to attract over 30,000 attendees.

“GDC has been noted as the game industry’s premier professional event,” ArtCenter instructor Justin Finuliar, who teaches the course Game Design for Themed Entertainment, said. “For students to participate so early in their careers and share the spotlight alongside industry veterans is definitely an honor.”

Exhibitors at the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit were selected through an open submission process. This showcase specifically seeks games that utilize alternative controllers in unique or groundbreaking ways, a statement from ArtCenter said.

ArtCenter’s student-created game, titled “Chú Mó,” combines elements from escape rooms and traditional video games while exploring themes of East Asian exorcism. Players are tasked with sealing demons away by completing a series of interactive tasks, employing projection mapping to break the boundaries of the game’s environment.

Designed as a three-player experience, Chú Mó, requires players to collaborate in reversing curses, mastering magical tools, and sealing demons through various cooperative, hands-on actions. The game culminates in the Exorcism Exam, where successful players attain the status of exorcists.

The Chú Mó team, winners of the Live Action award at last year’s IndieCade Festival, aims to replicate the success of ArtCenter’s previous game, “Kitchen Kauldron,” which won the Audience Award at the 2023 alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit. They seek to create a fully immersive player experience integrating gameplay mechanics seamlessly into the game’s setting.

Demi Liu, a game design student, highlighted the game’s immersive features, including interactive furniture that responds to the game’s demons.

“Chú Mó aims to blend gameplay mechanics and station setups seamlessly into the game’s setting for a fully immersive player experience,” Liu said.

Liu goes on to say that her favorite aspect of the game is how the furniture within the room comes to life with effects such as flickering candles, activating fans, and breaking chains during key moments.

“These surprises not only fit our exorcism theme but also elicit delightful shock from players, which I love witnessing,” Liu said.

The game draws heavily from ancient Chinese culture, incorporating traditional lore, artwork, and concepts from Taoism. Players must neutralize spiritual entities by observing changes in sight, sound, and physical objects, employing teamwork to counter curses with talismans, relics, and rhythmic gameplay.

Other student creators behind Chú Mó include Connor Zhang, Jingyi Chen, Kevin Slackie, Shawna Zhou, Tianrui Zhang, and Zifeng Ding for Game Design, and Aigul Nugumanova, Isabella Zhang, Jacob Yi, Robin Wong, and Xiaoyang Ma for the Game Concept.

These students received guidance from Finuliar and other ArtCenter faculty members such as Forrest Lucas and Simon Smith.

ArtCenter’s Game Design program, a track within the Entertainment Design department, equips students with the skills to create and convey game concepts for multiple platforms. Graduates of the program are sought after by leading companies in the video game, animation, theme park, and toy design industries.

For more information about ArtCenter College of Design and its programs, visit www.artcenter.edu.

To learn more about the Game Developers Conference visit https://gdconf.com/alt-ctrl-gdc.