News
Game Design and Development BS

As part of an interactive games and media course, 12 RIT students made cardboard and digital pinball machines designed around themes of their own choosing. For the final exam, students brought their creations to The Strong National Museum of Play and had visitors give their physical and virtual pinball machines a test drive.

Four multidisciplinary student teams got the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to potential investors at the RIT Student Accelerator Investor Demo Night earlier this month, each one hoping to jumpstart its ventures and transform its commercial concepts into real companies.

Students from RIT Esports bested more than 300 teams from across North America to win the 2019 Hearthstone Collegiate Championship Fall Finals on Dec. 14. The RIT student team took home the top trophy and $6,000 in scholarships for playing the digital card game Hearthstone.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 27: What does a video game producer do? John Blau, a fourth-year game design and development major, talks with John Veneron, digital games hub associate at RIT’s MAGIC Spell Studios, about their experiences in video game production and how RIT’s MAGIC Center is helping student developers publish their work.

Arizona Daily Star features Grayson Barnes, a game design and development student, and his “EngageVR” project.

Lost & Found: Order in the Court – the Party Game, which aims to promote and enhance the public understanding of religion and law, was nominated for a Spotlight Award in the Tabletop category of IndieCade, the premier event for independent games and is known as the Sundance Film Festival for video games.

The Gristmill, a digital card game created by RIT students, won Best in Show and Best Student Game at the Boston Festival of Indie Games, held Sept. 14. To win the top prize, the RIT game beat out more than 40 selected digital games, including indie projects created by professionals.

WROC-TV features Grayson Barnes, a game design and development student, and his “EngageVR” project.

The two-week trip through the German cities of Paderborn and Frankfurt was the culmination of a spring semester course that introduced students to game design and development in Germany. For the study abroad program, students participated in an extended game jam with German students, sat in on a class about artificial intelligence in the games industry and toured three game studios.

The Original Mobile Games are digital recreations of handheld dexterity-based games and puzzles from the last 149 years. The project was developed collaboratively by RIT, The Strong museum and Second Avenue Learning.

A therapeutic game called Space Adventure designed by an RIT class officially launched this month on the Rochester Society for the Protection and Care of Children (SPCC) website. The SPCC specializes in supporting families whose lives have been impacted by trauma.

Intersections: The RIT Podcast, Ep. 15: Esports are surging in popularity, and RIT’s collegiate esports teams are making an impact in the growing field. With multiple championships and national rankings under their belt, the Esports program is looking to take things to the next level. Evan Hirsh, president of RIT Esports, talks with the team’s adviser, Chad Weeden, about the rise of competitive video gaming and the university’s teams.