Students Create Video Games in Class at SUNY Canton

Related Media

Students in one of SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Alainya Kavaloski’s courses test their interactive video games on laptops and mobile devices.

CANTON, NY (12/19/2016)(readMedia)-- SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Alainya Kavaloski's students don't get in trouble for playing video games during class. In fact, she's found a new way to tap into their obsession with gaming.

Her Media Writing and Digital Graphic Storytelling students used augmented reality platforms to develop first-person digital adventures this semester.

"Our students analyze videos, animations and interactive fiction for inspiration for this project," Kavaloski said. "Today is game test day, but the groups had to role-play as design teams. They had to create marketing materials to support their proposals."

A group of students huddled over their iPads, laptops and mobile phones with GPS photographs of the campus. Detailed objectives popped up as they navigated characters through virtual maps.

"Our game is based on hacking," said Devin M. Breckenridge, a Graphic and Multimedia Design student from Gouverneur. "It starts when the character has their identity is stolen, which leads them to take on adventures to determine who hacked their accounts."

The protagonist in the game becomes a hacker-activist as the adventure leads to uncovering secrets and hidden mysteries.

Another group re-imagined the Steam game "This War of Mine" where a group of civilians try to survive in a besieged city. In addition to redesigning the game objectives and missions, the students create a team website, an illustrated proposal and a video trailer to outline their project.

Kavaloski's two courses are offered through the college's two-year Liberal Arts program, but are very popular with students from four-year programs. Previously, she's orchestrated a game jam event that challenged students to design a game alongside other players from around the world.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 11 exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III.

-www.canton.edu-