NEWS: FACULTY AND STUDENTS' GAMES ON DISPLAY IN GENOA THIS WEEKEND!

At the upcoming Game Happens festival in Genoa, visitors will be able to play groundbreaking independent games in the exhibition area. Some of them were developed by our faculty, including Tale of Tales’ Cricoterie (Michaël Samyn, Auriea Harvey) and Accidental Queens’ Alt-Frequencies (Elizabeth Maler), who teach GAME ART and GAME WRITING respectively. Also on display is Milky Way Prince – The Vampire Star by former student Lorenzo Redaelli. Lorenzo, Michaël and Auriea will be on site on November 9-10, and so will be members of Genoa-based indie studio Space Backyard, who are featured among the 2020 GAME TALK series. They will present their latest project, Birds of Passage. Ditto for Dario D’Ambra (Maggese), whose talk is scheduled for April 1 2020. Dario will present his game A. The Wanderer. Last but not least, Pietro Polsinelli (Open Lab Games) who gave a GAME TALK in June 2018, will introduce his new game Football Drama. These are just some of the games featured in an impressive lineup, so head to the official website to check them out. And best of all? The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Game Happens (8-10 November @ Genova, Italy) is the international festival dedicated to the cultural, political and social impact of video games. The 2019 theme is Elements of Change.

To learn more about the indie games on display at Game Happens, click here.

NEWS: ANDREA LUCCO BORLERA IN BERLIN!

ANDREA LUCCO BORLERA’S SURREAL HORSES WAS AMONG THE NOMINEES OF THE 2019 EDITION OF A MAZE., THE 8TH INTERNATIONAL GAMES AND PLAYFUL MEDIA FESTIVAL IN BERLIN. CHECK IT OUT!

A recent graduate of the M.A. in Game Design, Andrea received an M.A. in Cinema, Television and Multimedia from the Università Roma Tre in Rome. In addition to several experimental videos and avant garde short films, Andrea developed Horses, a narrative game inspired by silent, surrealist films, as a final project during the 2017-2018 academic year. Although Horses did not win the first prize, the game was extremely well received by critics and attendees.

Since 2012 A MAZE. has been awarding a prize for The Most Amazing Game. The winner is selected by an interdisciplinary, international and independent jury. In 2019, the international selection committee of about 50 people and the A MAZE. team reviewed 181 submissions from 32 countries. A MAZE 2019 took place in Berlin between April 10–13 2019. Horses was the only Italian game nominated this year.

Photos: Andrea Lucco Borlera; Twitterverse

Thanks to Pietro Righi Riva.

NEWS: PIETRO RIGHI RIVA WINS BIG AT INDIECADE 2018

Pietro Righi Riva’s latest game, Asta Grande, won the Innovation in Experience Design Award at Indiecade 2018.

The Innovation in Experience Design honors the craft or design of the game that provides a unique, curated experience. This year, the award was given to Asta Grande, a drop-in, drop-out crowd game for thirty people, described as

A pretend auction of legendary items mediated by a digital interface that is used by the auctioneer to present the lots and keep track of players’ objectives and funds. Players receive a character card that doubles as their bidding paddle, and they raise it when they are interested in an item being auctioned.

This game was originally commissioned by the NYU Game Center for the 2017 No Quarter exhibition.

The IndieCade Festival is the premiere international event dedicated to celebrating independent games from around the globe. Now in its second decade, IndieCade is held each October in the Los Angeles area and this important, fun-filled event draws industry and public from around the world.

IndieCade Festival 2018, October 12th - 13th offered a unique opportunity to play and preview the latest innovative indie games of all types and from around the world. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to play new and innovative games and meet with their creators, as well as sessions, workshops, business networking, social activities, tournaments, entertainment and more. IndieCade kicks off with an in-depth game developer summit with creators of new titles, as well as legends from across the industry.

Pietro Righi Riva teaches GAME PRODUCTION in the M.A. in Game Design at IULM University. He is co-founder and studio director at Santa Ragione where he worked on multiple award-winning independent games, such as MirrorMoon EP, FOTONICA, and Wheels of Aurelia. Righi Riva received his Ph.D in Interaction Design from Politecnico di Milano. Pietro has been a lecturer at Politecnico di Milano, California College of Arts, Shanghai Theater Academy, Tsinghua University among others. He lectured at several international conferences and festival including the Game Developers Conference, Fantastic Arcade, and many more. Righi Riva’s design philosophy is aimed at developing games that are not objective-driven, and adopts the concept of playful technology to integrate expressive technical limitations in his designs. His work was displayed at the Venice Biennale and the MCA in Chicago. In 2016, Pietro published a manifesto for nontraditional playable media called “rejecta”. He lives and works in Milan. 

Read more about Asta Grande

Read more about Pietro Righi Riva

All images courtesy of Indiecade

CALL FOR ARTWORKS: GAME ON! EL ARTE EN JUEGO 5TH EDITION (AUGUST 30, 2017)

Our Argentinian friends are currently working on the upcoming edition of one of Latin American best Game Art festivals, the Game on! El arte en juego in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This renowned event will feature, once again, an international section entirely devoted to art games, experimental games, non-games, serious games. This is exactly the kind of shows we encourage our students to submit their projects. And this is also where some of our professors, including Matteo Bittanti, have exhibited their work in the past. 

Applications for art games, experimental video games, non-games (including machinima, installations, interactive experiences, etc.) and serious games can be sent to the festival organizers by August 30, 2017.

Click here to begin the application process.

Game on! El arte en juego explores the connections and interactions between games, art and technology. Now in its fifth edition, the exhibition has been hosted in Buenos Aires' main cultural centers. Additionally, it has had a presence at various technology and arts festivals across many venues in Argentina. Focusing on the national videogame and new media arts scene, it also features a special section for international video games that explore the boundaries of art and games itself. The fifth edition of Game on! El arte en juego will be held at the C3 (Science Cultural Center) Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 2017.

LINK: Game on! El arte en juego

FACEBOOK: Game on! El arte en juego