It was ‘game on’ this April for students in the joint Niagara College and Brock University Game Programming (BSc) and Game Design (BA) programs and as they debuted their original video games.
On April 12, a shortlist of students took their games to the annual Level Up Showcase in Toronto, where they didn’t just get played – they won awards.
“The hard work and dedication of Niagara College students and faculty was on full display at Level Up, said Charles Kopun, Associate Dean of the School of Media. “Congratulations to all of our talented teams on another strong showing.”
A team of students behind ‘Goofy Little Guys‘ won first place in the People’s Choice category, voted by fellow students from across the province.
The fourth-year joint NC-Brock program student teams behind the games ‘Ventomori’ and ‘Green Thing from the Planet Jupiter’ earned second place in ‘Achievement in Accessibility’ and ‘Achievement in Audio,’ respectively.
And an Honourable Mention ‘People’s Choice’ award for ‘Grasping Chaos’ gave the third-year students from NC’s Game Development program a boost of confidence.
Congrats to all @LevelUpTO Great to see Goofy Little Guys win 1st in People's Choice awards! Ventomori win 2nd in Accessibility, Green Thing from the Planet Jupiter win 2nd in Audio, and Grasping Chaos get an honorable mention in People’s Choice. We are very proud of all teams👍 pic.twitter.com/VFZvdO3iwm
— NCGameDevelopment (@NCgameDev) April 13, 2025
First Place – People’s Choice
Patrick Perry from St. Jacob’s, Ontario calls ‘Goofy Little Guys’ the battle royale, multi-player game “a mix of Pokémon and Fortnite.”
The games’ success was shaped by feedback from industry experts and game aficionados alike, evolving significantly from the original prototype.
“We had a chance to present our game to a panel of industry professionals and get feedback on the design,” explained Perry. “That meeting helped us significantly cut the scope of our game, and better direct the features and gameplay loop.”
The team also conducted a play test at a local library.
“It was really fun to watch younger kids play… they loved the characters, colours and animations,” said Perry. “At Level Up, that was what people talked about most… how much they loved the art and visuals.”
Perry’s team was surprised by the win, as the competition was steep.
“When we heard our name, it was just a raw showing of emotion and excitement from the team. It’s super cool to see how much people loved the game we made, and watching the team get recognized for all their hard work was such an incredible feeling.”
Second Place – Achievement in Accessibility
Nathan Fan of Hamilton led the creators behind ‘Ventomori,’ a 3D asynchronous puzzle cooperative game where players are separated on a planet and space station and must work together to solve puzzles.
The game took shape over eight months with several playtests and an emphasis on accessibility from its inception.
“Most design decisions were centered around the thought of making the experience as accessible as possible,” said Fan. “We talked with many accessibility professionals and did constant testing and research to ensure the best experience-to-accessibility balance.”
Users had the option to adjust the brightness to their liking, and Fan’s team included a photosensitivity warning for those with photosensitive epilepsy or similar conditions.
Some of the accessibility features included a full speech-to-text system, sound effects displayed as text on screen, camera effect toggles to prevent nausea, puzzle skips and difficulty adjustments, and full key rebinding for players to use a wide range of controllers to suit their needs.
Second Place – Achievement in Audio
Dante Bell of Niagara-on-the-Lake was the producer of Green Thing from the Planet Jupiter, a two-player, chase game with lovable characters inspired by old cartoons. The user-friendly game won second place at ‘Level Up’ for Achievement in Audio.
Gamers play one of two characters: an alien who has crash-landed on earth and needs to rebuild his spacecraft, or a housecat determined to stop him by way of ACME-style traps.
“Our team was really able to show off their skills on every front, from gameplay design, 3D modeling, 2D animation, programming, and marketing,” said Bell.
Teammate and composer Lex House explains how the team drew inspiration from the music in old cartoons.
Spiteri and co. aimed for a jazzy brass-band-style score to reflect the art style, and ensured the art and gameplay could be heard through the soundtrack.
“I also put thought into instruments to represent the characters of the game and incorporated them into the music: A clarinet for Cannoli the Cat, and a theremin for Green Thing the alien,” said House, who adapted the intensity of the music to reflect the gameplay.
The cherry on top: Live recordings of student musicians on alto saxophone and trumpet.
Networking at Level Up
The Toronto competition drew hundreds of gaming students from across the province. It is a coveted networking opportunity for soon-to-be grads.
“Talking to other students participating at Level Up is great for building your network,” said Lauren Down from team Green Thing from the Planet Jupiter. “I personally met some amazing concept artists that I wouldn’t have if not for the showcase. I was also able to talk to a couple of people from Ubisoft who had participated in past Level Ups when they were students. It’s encouraging to see those who came before in the industry now as judges for us.”
“It’s nice to be able to benchmark yourself against other schools and people entering the industry at the same time, just to get a feel for where you’re at and what you need to improve on,” said Perry, who added that the experience is a low-risk way to practice pitching skills.
“There were so many more considerations and ideas we never thought of, or were implemented differently it really expanded and enhanced our understanding and worldview entering the industry,” said Fan.
NC award recipients at GD Launch:
On April 9, students showcased their talent and innovation at the Game Develop Launch at the Welland Campus where fellow students, faculty, alum and industry guests came together to test out their creations.
Awards were given as follows:
Associate Dean’s Award
Nathanael Morris
Academic Excellence Awards
Niagara College
Ronald Warwick
Skye Hepburn
Rocky Savoeung
Joint Game Design Program (BA)
Xander Zive
Abbygale Critelli
Emma Little
Alysia Cheung
Joint Game Programming Program (BSc)
Tasha-Kay Scott
Jesse Daulby
Matthew Shotunde
Colin Doubrough
Spirit Awards
Niagara College
Preston Pion
Calin Sojak
Wyatt Vanderhout
Joint Game Design Program (BA)
Matteo Buccilli
Bianca Dizio
Jake Pecharich
Chris Spiteri
Joint Game Programming Program (BSc)
Domenico Buccilli
Grayson Chivers
Ethan Charette
Nathan Fan
