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A Successful Second Year

August 22, 2016

2015-16 was a ton of fun in the Art & Design: Games & Playable Media BA. As usual, it culminated with the Spring AGPM showcase during UCSC's Open Studios. AGPM students took over a studio to demo games from two new courses this spring.

Students in ARTG 80G: Visual Communication & Interaction Design each created custom card game mods, producing over 120 unique, playable experiences with custom cards, boards and pieces. These games run the gamut in subjects, covering personal topics from stress management and falling in love to alien invasions and sleeping kittens.

Students in ARTG 120: Game Design Experience built web-based games (final projects were built in just 4 weeks!), collaborating in teams drawn from both the Arts & Engineering. Encouraged to build their games with a strong Aesthetic Goal in mind, topics ranged from dealing with memory loss, the politics of religious clothing, and even running a puppy shelter! 

Overall it was another productive and creative year for the new program and its students. While we are sad to say goodbye to our fantastic 120 co-instructor Arnav Jhala, we are very much looking forward to announcing the results of our search for a new faculty member this summer, who will be teaching 80G in the fall, and then teaching the upper-division Autobiographical Games elective, ARTG 129, in the Winter.

Here's to a safe & productive summer. See you in September!!