
Student Game Awards

Each year during the RECON festival, the ETBD Games Faculty teams up with the League of Geeks to choose the best games made by Miami students during the Spring and Fall semesters.
2018 Student Game Awards
Best Gameplay
Sumo Turbo
Jared Burkamper, Dustin Downs, Julia Kidwell, Di Li, Kang Peng, Junyi Ren
Sumo Turbo is a fast-paced party game designed to be played with friends online or in the living room. Each of up to four players controls a circular robot in a 2D arena, and the objective is to knock all of the other players out of the arena. Players can also dash for a bigger knockback at the cost of losing control for a moment.
Screenshots
Sumo Turbo Gameplay, no sound
Runner Up: Cross-Shot
Nando Zegarra, Andrew Owen, Brian Oldiges (IMS 253, Arcade Interface Design)
Cross-Shot is a 1v1v1 pinball battle royal.
Runner Up: Proxima Run
Caulder Bittle, Alex Porr, Christian Turner, Jared Burkamper
Proxima Run is a free runner racing game with a focus on platforming.
Proxima Run Gameplay, sound effects only
Best Art
Proxima Run
Caulder Bittle, Alex Porr, Christian Turner, Jared Burkamper
Proxima Run is a free runner racing game with a focus on platforming.
Screenshots
Proxima Run Gameplay, sound effects only
Runner Up: Sumo Turbo
Jared Burkamper, Dustin Downs, Julia Kidwell, Di Li, Kang Peng, Junyi Ren
Sumo Turbo is a fast-paced party game designed to be played with friends online or in the living room. Each of up to four players controls a circular robot in a 2D arena, and the objective is to knock all of the other players out of the arena. Players can also dash for a bigger knockback at the cost of losing control for a moment.
Sumo Turbo Gameplay, no sound
Runner Up: Miner Mole
Dustin Downs (IMS 453)
Miner Mole is a 2D platformer where you explore a cave diving down deeper and deeper until you reach the center which has a rare crystal. You gain items which grant new abilities for the player to progress through the game . There is also light combat with enemies and obstacles to overcome.
Miner Mole Trailer, music only
Best Audio
Flesh and Steel (forthcoming)
Luke Cunningham | Music by Evan Ruckel (IMS 453)
Explore and sneak through alien landscapes in search of data that will help the resistance.
Screenshots
Flesh and Steel Gameplay, music only
Runner Up: Proxima Run
Caulder Bittle, Alex Porr, Christian Turner, Jared Burkamper
Proxima Run is a free runner racing game with a focus on platforming.
Proxima Run Gameplay, sound effects only
Runner Up: Sumo Turbo
Jared Burkamper, Dustin Downs, Julia Kidwell, Di Li, Kang Peng, Junyi Ren
Sumo Turbo is a fast-paced party game designed to be played with friends online or in the living room. Each of up to four players controls a circular robot in a 2D arena, and the objective is to knock all of the other players out of the arena. Players can also dash for a bigger knockback at the cost of losing control for a moment.
Sumo Turbo Gameplay, no sound
Best Narrative
Adventures in Sillyvale
Evan Allen (IMS 453)
Adventures in Sillyvale is a turn-based RPG with battles built like puzzles. Each enemy requires a different way of being defeated, so the player must determine what skills and items will help them claim victory. Each party member is customizable with hidden collectibles throughout the game.
Screenshots
Adventures in Sillyvale Gameplay, no sound
Runner Up: Flesh and Steel
Luke Cunningham | Music by Evan Ruckel (IMS 453)
Explore and sneak through alien landscapes in search of data that will help the resistance.
Flesh and Steel Gameplay, music only
Runner Up: Miner Mole
Dustin Downs (IMS 453)
Miner Mole is a 2D platformer where you explore a cave diving down deeper and deeper until you reach the center which has a rare crystal. You gain items which grant new abilities for the player to progress through the game . There is also light combat with enemies and obstacles to overcome.
Miner Mole Trailer, music only
Audience Award
Sumo Turbo
Jared Burkamper, Dustin Downs, Julia Kidwell, Di Li, Kang Peng, Junyi Ren
Sumo Turbo is a fast-paced party game designed to be played with friends online or in the living room. Each of up to four players controls a circular robot in a 2D arena, and the objective is to knock all of the other players out of the arena. Players can also dash for a bigger knockback at the cost of losing control for a moment.
Screenshots
Sumo Turbo Gameplay, no sound
Runner Up: Miner Mole
Dustin Downs (IMS 453)
Miner Mole is a 2D platformer where you explore a cave diving down deeper and deeper until you reach the center which has a rare crystal. You gain items which grant new abilities for the player to progress through the game . There is also light combat with enemies and obstacles to overcome.
Miner Mole Trailer, music only
Runner Up: Cross-Shot
Nando Zegarra, Andrew Owen, Brian Oldiges (IMS 253, Arcade Interface Design)
Cross-Shot is a 1v1v1 pinball battle royal.
2017 Student Game Awards
Best Game
Elements
Roberto Ritger, Brian Hussel, Jason Simpson (IMS466)
Elements is a virtual reality tower defense game in which the player is a god using the elements to fend off hordes of enemies. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 4.
Screenshots
Elements Game Play, music only
Runner Up
Grief
Joey Visco (IMS466)
Grief is a game where you play as a young girl who has just lost her twin sister. To cope with the sadness, you don a mask that promises to make the painful memories and guilt go away. Whisked off to another dimension, players must explore this realm and decide if they ever want to return back home.
Screenshots
Grief Game Play, music only
Runner Up
WaveFormer
Tom Myers, JC Statt, Preston Vickers (IMS199)
In WaveFormer, players use their own voice and precise timings to create a waveform, collect the wavepoints, and beat the level. The game was developed using Game Maker Studio.
Screenshots
Honorable Mention
Aeturnum
Mitchel Chip Purcell (IMS466)
Aeternum is a game where the player explores the world of a person going through depression, gathering objects of importance to further the narrative.
Screenshots
Aeturnum Game Play
Honorable Mention
The Janitor
Evan Ruckel (IMS445)
The Janitor follows the daily life of a custodian of an elementary school. He clean up messes that the kids leave behind, while trying not to think about why they keep getting worse and worse.
Screenshots
Honorable Mention
Palette Swap
Andrew Owens (IMS445)
Palette Swap lets players pass through walls by changing the color of their character to match the wall in front of them.
Screenshots
2016 Student Game Awards
Best Game
#Storytags
Danny and Alyse Capaccio
#Storytags is an interactive storytelling game for small to medium groups. It’s great for an icebreaker or as a way to get to know your friends and family better. Everyone has their favorite stories to tell, but some stories have been buried over years of neglect. It’s time to dust off those old pages and share ‘em. A set of Ninja throwing stars you got for Christmas when you were 12? An excursion into the snowy wastelands in a beat up old car? Tell your stories and other players will interact by hashtagging your story!
UPDATE #Storytags is now called Hashtag Me! and is available from R & R Games
Screenshots
Runner Up
The Legend of Ploom
Charly Smith, Lauren H. McKenzie, Jorday Young, Maxwell Shin and Jake Haase (IMS487)
Legend of Ploom is a rolling ball platformer where you must collect pieces of armor to equip yourself for the purpose of saving the world. The game was developed using Unity3D.
Screenshots
Runner Up
Bullet Boss
Marcus Holm (IMS466)
Bullet Boss is a game experimenting with the formula of bullet hell. Visit the game’s Gamejolt page and play it.
Screenshots
Honorable Mention
Seudosim
Christian Coppoletti (IMS466)
SeudoSim is a “Russian Roulette” game that parodies violent freemium shooting games. The game was developed using Unity3D. Visit the game’s Gamejolt page and play it.
Screenshots
SeudoSim Game Play, music only
Honorable Mention
Visceral Planet
Dan Lyon, Grace Wilson, Joey Visco and Shiloh Jones (IMS212)
Visceral Planet is a “co-optional RPG in a box.” In the game, you and your friends are part of a downed cargo ship, having crash-landed on a hostile alien planet. From the looks of things, you probably won’t last very long. It’s up to you and the rest of the survivors to collect the various pieces of the ship and made an escape before the Visceral Planet and its bloodthirsty inhabitants claim your lives.
Screenshots
2015 Student Game Awards
Best Digital
GRAViTY
Christian Coppoletti, Megan Linard, JC Statt, Ash Nieman (IMS212)
GRAViTY is a simple abstract puzzle game that uses gravitational forces to move game objects around. The goal of the game is to return a lost blue particle to its blue safe zone. There are obstacles, dangerous zones, and dangerous particles, and many other elements that interfere with and complicate that goal.
Screenshots
GRAViTY Game Play, music only
Best Board
7Sins
Matt Carter, Justin Deyoung, Dalton Bennett, Jessica Stent (IMS212)
7Sins is a 2-5 player competitive card game where each of the players takes on the role of one of the seven deadly sins vying for influence over the souls in hell using any means at their disposal. While they are fighting over control of hell each player must also corrupt the demons around them and fight off the angelic hoard to claim victory in this fast-paced, highly strategic card game. 7Sins was designed over the course of 3 months for IMS 212’s final project.
Screenshots
Best Narrative
From the Journal of Randolph Warren Carter
Aaron Albert (IMS466)
“From the Journal of Randolph Warren Carter” is a narrative focused horror exploration game loosely based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Players take on the role of George Carter as he explores his Great Uncle Randolph’s seemingly abandoned home. Uncover the secrets of Randolph’s past, and discover what lurks inside his dark abode. Designed to be completed in under 15 minutes, this game provides a short, yet engaging, horror experience.
The game was one of the best games of the week on GameJolt when it came out. Play it on its GameJolt page.
Screenshots
Best Serious
Rija's Day
Aaron Albert (IMS466)
Rija’s Day is a short interactive story about cultural discrimination that can be completed in under five minutes. Players take control of Rija as she goes about her daily tasks. During this time, Rija becomes the victim of violence and verbal abuse similar to what the people of various cultures experience every day. The game was designed using Unity3D.
Screenshots
Hon. Mention
It Was Always You
Matt Boisseau (IMS466)
It Was Always You is an experimental game about reality splitting and time control. In the game, the player navigates up to four different screens which all represent alternate realities. As items are only available in one of the realities, the player has to be careful which items to use in which reality. The game was developed using Unity3D. Visit the game’s Gamejolt page.
Screenshots
It Was Always You Game Play
Hon. Mention
Race to the Red Planet
Brian Hussel, Roberto Ritger, Jason Simpson, Jake Woomer (IMS212)
Race to the Red Planet is an space adventure board game. Players race their ships to Mars, surpassing obstacles and upgrading their ships along the way. Upon reaching the planet, Martians have a new goal: hunt down and eliminate their competition and seize victory.
The game features fun and engaging gameplay including a unique gravity system, ship progression and upgrade system, and Event Cards that can change everything! Lasting an average of 90 minutes, this game pits 3-6 players against each other with gameplay that can change with each new playthrough. Featuring a highly polished and coherent art style that emphasizes the science-fiction theme, this game provides a great experience for all players.
Screenshots
Hon. Mention
Independence
Mary Lee Sauder (IMS466)
Independence is a game about the relationship between the player and their on-screen character. It was developed using Stencyl in IMS466. The game took around 100 hours to develop (which included building the “world’s fanciest paper prototype”). For more information about the game (and to play it), please visit its Gamejolt page.
Screenshots
Hon. Mention
The Da Vinci Coders
Nora Husani, Samantha Wolf, Amanda White (IMS225)
The DaVinci Coders is a game that aims to to teach kids how to read and write basic Java code. The idea of the game is to move all of your spies into the secret vault before the other players, and to do so, you use cards written in Java code that tell you how many spaces you can move your player.
Screenshots
The Da Vinci Coders Testing and Game Play, no sound
2014 Student Game Awards
Game of the Year / Best Digital
The World the Children Made
James Earl Cox III
The World the Children Made is a narrative adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt using Game Maker Studio. The game took 6 months to develop and was funded by the Dean Scholars grant of Miami University’s English department.
The game won the Silver Medal at the 2014 Serious Play Conference.
More information about the game.
Screenshots
Best Board
From Earth to Mars
Ben Kleykamp and Sam Swindell (IMS212)
From Earth to Mars is a science fiction space adventure board game, crawling with treachery and deceit. It was designed for IMS212’s final project assignment, which is estimated to take students around 30 hours of work per student. The game was balanced extensively during multiple playtests and ended up being a nice mix of elements of board games such as Shadows over Camelot, Arkham Horror or Dead of Winter, and digital games such as Faster Than Light.
Screenshots
Best Serious
Denounce
Sam Papa, Harrison Mullins, and Tom Mullenix (IMS225)
Denounce is an adventure game that exposes the Great Purge of 1934-1939 as a product of the populace as well as the government helmed by Stalin. While the mechanics of the adventure/visual novel genre will help procedurally construct the hopelessness and survival-oriented need of finding “saboteurs” in a group of normal people, the visuals, audio, and narrative will also introduce players unfamiliar with the mass tragedies of the Soviet Union in the 30’s to a story that places them in the role of someone forced into the ethical dilemma that an entire generation of people faced during that time.
The game was designed and developed for IMS225’s Challenge the Fallen Ones quest, a project-based assignment that estimated around 30 hours of time investment per student.
Screenshots
Honorable Mention
The Essence of Evil
Lex Rovi (IMS212)
The Essence of Evil is a text-based adventure made for IMS212’s final project, which is typically estimated at a 30 hour time investment per student.
The game allows the player to craft their own story using the tools at their disposal. Should they wish to play the villain, the choice is theirs. Should they wish to play an anti-hero, they may. Should they which to play a character who redeems themselves over time, or who was, perhaps, morally spotless, they may do so. The choice of exposition is also up to the player; should they wish to read more about the people and world, they may. If they wish to simply play the game and figure out elements as they play, that is also a presentable option. The world is open to their choice and digression. To provide players with this agency, the seemingly short 15 minute game is much larger behind the scenes, featuring 182 passages, 266 links and over 17,000 words.
Screenshots
Honorable Mention
Bottle Rockets
James Earl Cox III
Bottle Rockets is a “music video” game made using Game Maker Studio. It tells the story of a mother and her daughter and features Alberto Balsalm by Aphex Twin as its song.
More information about Bottle Rockets.
Screenshots
Bottle Rockets Game Play, music only
Honorable Mention
Candy Knights
Alexi Forsythe and Craig Wolfer (IMS225)
Candy Knights is a game to help teach 4th grade students math and history. The game was designed and playtested extensively for IMS225’s final Challenge the Fallen Ones quest (which is estimated at about 30 hours per student).
It features the context of an adventure game, while also fostering team-building, problem-solving, and cooperative social skills. The game achieves this through taking players through series of quests, each divided into sections focused on different types of gameplay.
Narrative sections progress the game’s story and introduce historical characters, concepts, and questions for students to answer about them; Battle sections allow players to practice math skills and coordinate together to form strategies of defeating the enemies; Puzzle sections allow players additionally to practice math skills, as well as logic and problem-solving to solve the puzzles given.
The story of the game places players as Candy Knights of Candy Land, who must travel throughout history to find the Candy Lords who will help them defeat the Candy Arbiter who seeks to steal all candy and fun from the world.
This game guide will contain a list of the components necessary for play, explanation of the battle system, statistics for players and moderator-controlled characters and enemies, index of equipment, and a comprehensive guide for all quest content in order of storyline.
Screenshots