PHOTOS: MAKING PAPER PROTOTYPES (DEC 11 2019)

PHOTOS: LORENZO REDAELLI'S FROM ZERO TO GAME TALK (DECEMBER 11 2019)

How can you design a successful video game without prior game design experience? On December 11, Lorenzo Radaelli, an alumnus of the M.A. in Game Design at IULM, discussed his design philosophy through a detailed postmortem of Milky Way Prince: The Vampire Star, a first-person interactive visual novel about an abusive relationship between two individuals, one of whom suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. What did Lorenzo learn from this process? And what are the take away ideas for aspiring game designers? The journey from zero to game is full of challenges, failures, and surprises.

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EVENT: LORENZO REDAELLI'S FROM ZERO TO GAME TALK (DECEMBER 11 2019)

On December 11 2019, Lorenzo Redaelli will discuss his strategy for turning concepts into playable prototypes for the students of the Master of Arts in Game Design at IULM University. The event takes place at Cascina Moncucco during GAME CONTEXTS, one of the Program’s core courses. It is also open to all alumni of the M.A. Program (to enroll, please RSVP at least three days in advance).

How can you design a successful video game without prior game design experience? Lorenzo Radaelli, an alumnus of the M.A. in Game Design at IULM, discusses his design philosophy through a detailed postmortem of Milky Way Prince: The Vampire Star, a first-person interactive visual novel about an abusive relationship between two individuals, one of whom suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. A love/erotic story between a guy and a “shooting star” that follows players’ decisions, Milky Way Prince suggests that falling in love with somebody who suffers from BPD is like falling in love with a star. What did Lorenzo learn from this process? And what are the take away ideas for aspiring game designers? The journey from zero to game is full of challenges, failures, and surprises. 

Lorenzo Redaelli received his M.A. in Game Design in October 2019 from IULM University. He also received a B.A. in Communication, Media, and Advertising in 2017 with a Thesis titled “Gojira vs. Godzilla; How Hollywood reinvented Japanese Kaiju movies" from the same school. Among his passions are Japanese culture, art, and interactive storytelling. He directed several animated shorts, shot an independent film, and produced two albums. In 2019, his final project, Milky Way Prince: The Vampire Star, was accepted at several international festivals, including Game On: El arte en juego (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Game Happens (Genoa, Italy). Lorenzo lives and works in Milan.

VIDEO: ELIZABETH MALER'S GDC TALK ON SOCIAL IMPACT GAMES

GAME WRITING professor and designer Elizabeth Maler’s talk at the 2019 Game Design Conference in San Francisco has just been released. Back in March, Maler illustrated a series of innovative ways of designing, writing and playtesting social impact games, and gave precious advice on using them to make a tangible difference. ​An updated version of her talk will kickstart the 2020 GAME TALKS series. Maler’s lecture on February 26, is free and open to the public. Click here to RSVP.

PHOTOS: STORYTELLING AND GAMES WORKSHOP (NOVEMBER 28 2019)

On November 27 2019, game designer Pietro Polsinelli led a workshop on narrative design. The goal was to imagine strategies and techniques to merge storytelling principles with game design tools. The workshop took place at Cascina Moncucco during GAME CONTEXTS, one of the Program’s core courses and it was also open to all alumni of the M.A. Program.

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NEWS: MEET DINA MERALI, CLASS OF 2020

Dina Merali è nata nel Kazakhstan, e si è successivamente trasferita a Milano con la famiglia per studiare Graphic Design presso l’Istituto Europeo di Design. Attualmente lavora come designer e video editor presso la rivista online Meme Insider. Studiosa autodidatta di giapponese, Dina sogna di diventare game designer.

Dina Merali was born in Kazakhstan, and then moved to Milan, Italy. After received her B.A. in Graphic Design at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED), Dina has been working since 2018 as a designer and video editor for the magazine Meme Insider. A self-taught student of Japanese, Dina’s dream is to become a game designer.

NEWS: PROFESSOR PIETRO RIGHI RIVA JOINS THE JURY OF THE 2020 INDEPENDENT GAME FESTIVAL

Professor and designer Pietro Righi Riva has been selected as Jury Member of the Nuovo Award category at the 2020 Independent Games Festival

The jurying phase of the 2020 Independent Games Festival has just begun. Yesterday organizers are announced the lineup of industry experts who will be helping to judge some of the Festival's top awards! Among the industry luminaries who have agreed to judge the Nuovo Award, the Excellence in Design Award, and the Excellence in Audio Award is Pietro Righi Riva. Santa Ragione co-founder will be judging the submissions for the tenth annual Nuovo Award, an honor intended to celebrate the more esoteric and artful games in the industry, alongside Bennett Foddy, Liz Ryerson, Eris Koleszar, Chloi Rad, Ichiro Lambe, and Kevin Zuhn.

The Independent Games Festival was established in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers. The goal was to create a similar event to Sundance for independent game developers - and that's just what has happened with the Independent Games Festival, which has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash prizes (and brought major exposure and a much higher profile) to a multitude of indie and student game developers who have entered.

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NEWS: MEET FRANCESCO LONGONI, CLASS OF 2020

Giocatore di rugby e appassionato di videogiochi. Francesco Longoni vive e lavora a Milano. Dopo aver conseguito una Laurea Triennale in Communication Design presso il Politecnico di Milano, Francesco ha collaborato con Chromatron, una news agency milanese. Oltre ai videogiochi, la sua più grande passione è il montaggio video.

Longtime rugby player and avid gamer, Francesco Longoni lives and works in Milan. After graduating from Politecnico di Milano with a B.A. in Communication Design, Francesco worked for new media agency Chromatron on a variety of projects. Alongside video games, his main passion is video editing.

NEWS: MEET GIULIA LEVADA, CLASS OF 2020

Nata e cresciuta a Milano, Giulia Levada ha conseguito una Laurea Triennale in Comunicazione, Media e Pubblicità presso l’Università IULM con una tesi incentrata sulle strategie narrative nella serie di Dragon Age. Cosplayer e appassionata di giochi fantasy, Giulia ha “scoperto” i videogiochi con Quake.

Born and raised in Milan, Giulia Levada received a B.A. in Communication, Media, and Advertising from IULM University in 2019 with a thesis on storytelling strategies in the Dragon Age series. A cosplayer and RPG player, Giulia fell in love with digital games after discovering Quake.

NEWS: MEET LORENZO LEMBO, CLASS OF 2020

Lorenzo Lembo ha conseguito una Laurea in Nuove Tecnologie e Media per l’Arte con una tesi intitolata “Data systems e post-verità nelle opere d’arte online”. Tra i suoi progetti durante gli studi universitari spicca una simulazione di scacchi in realtà aumentata, sviluppata in collaborazione con Cristina Palmisani e Nicolò Ripesi. Lorenzo s’interessa di videoarte, videogiochi e tecnologia. Vive a Cantù, vicino a Como.

Lorenzo Lembo graduated from the University of Urbino with a B.A. in New Technology and Media for Arts with a thesis entitled “Data System and Post-truth in Web-Media Artworks”. At the University of Urbino, he developed several projects including an Augmented Reality Chess game with Cristina Palmisani and Nicolò Ripesi. Lorenzo’s passions include video art, gaming, and technology. He lives in Cantù, near Como.

EVENT: STORYTELLING IN VIDEO GAMES: A WORKSHOP (NOVEMBER 27 2019)

On November 27 2019, game designer Pietro Polsinelli will lead a workshop on merging storytelling principles and game design tool for the students of the Master of Arts in Game Design at IULM University. The workshop takes place during GAME CONTEXTS, one of the Program’s core courses. It is also open to all alumni of the M.A. Program (to enroll, please RSVP at least three days in advance).

When defining the narrative of a game, even at the concept level, it is useful to write down short characters bios, articulate the game's background universe, outline the possible endings and so on. Writing a sample dialogue or textual introduction can reveal several hidden or undefined features required and how they should interact with the game mechanics. Polsinelli will illustrate the development of the recent Football Drama, and how that process was expanded for his next project, Roller Drama concept design, pointing out some specific concepts needed when making narratives and mechanics interact. Students will work together with Pietro to add narrative background research and mechanics to their projects.

Pietro Polsinelli is a game designer and developer, mostly working on applied (a.k.a. educational) games. He co-authored a book on applied games in Italian and is currently writing a book on applied games (in English) titled Explaining With Games.

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NEWS: MEET KOSTIANTYN FEDOROV, CLASS OF 2020

Nato e cresciuto in Ucraina, Kostiantyn Fedorov si è trasferito in Italia per studiare pubblicità alla Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA). In precedenza, ha ottenuto una Laurea in psicologia presso la Taras Shevchenko National University di Kiev. È presidente e fondatore di Yellow Dwarf’s Games, un piccolo studio indie, nonché fondatore di Quantum Future Lab, che organizza eventi legati alla cultura videoludica. A Milano, ha fatto uno stage presso Forge Reply come Junior Game Design.

Kostiantyn Fedorov was born in Ukraine and moved to Italy to study Advertising at the New Academy of Fine Arts (NABA). He previously received his B.A. in Psychology from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He is the CEO and Founder of Yellow Dwarf’s Games, a small indie studio, and the co-founder or Quantum Future Lab, which organized game-related events. In Milan, Kostiantyn was an intern at Forge Reply where he worked as a Junior Game Designer.