Youth.SG met this year’s promising batch of Singapore-MIT GAMBIT (Gamers, Aesthetics, Mechanics, Business, Innovation and Technology) Game Lab students in a recent sharing session.

 

Fresh from their summer internship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), some 40 students presented the six game demos they did in the duration of their internship and shared their experience.

 

These yearly internship training programmes have benefited 77 students so far, with 41 finding employment with leading gaming companies (the rest mostly serving national service). These students are sought after and hired as artists, producers, programmers and game designers. According to Ms Teo Chor Guan, program director for GAMBIT, the internship has also cultivated an interest for entrepreneurship among some students.

 

 

These six games, Shadow Shoppe, Camaquen, Pierre: Insanity Inspired, Abandon, Waker/Woosh and Dearth, are the products of the students’ innovation.

 

Shadow Shoppe, with its hint of whimsical, explores the stereotypes people associate with body shapes. “Everyone is judging in reality so they should not be hesitant to put forth what they feel,” says Shadow Shoppe’s game producer Tina Nirmal. We have included the game demo here: 

 

In the second team’s game, Camaquen, players can alter emotional dynamics and vary the consequences of the debate.

Then there is Abandon, a game that uses the constraints of 3D animation tool Pinocchio to develop many animated models in a short time span and a small team of 12.

 

Another interesting game, Waker/Woosh, incorporates physics concepts into its puzzles. “It enhances learning in class so students get a better understanding,” say the team. The game will soon be seen in classrooms in Singapore.

 

GAMBIT continues to improve their internship programme and collaborate with local game companies.NB

 

PHOTOS AND VIDEO: MIT/MDA

Some of the above-mentioned games will be available at the coming Games Convention Asia. Try the games here first.

 

nawira[a]youth.sg

 

Nawira is practising to become a professional belly dancer (bring on the shimmies!). Her philosophy is to do whatever keeps her alive and kickin', whatever that may be. Just rock to your own favourite tune!  

 

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF Aug 31-Sept 6 :: The Learning Issue