Students in NC’s Game Development program bagged three awards at the ninth annual Level Up Showcase. Held at the Design Exchange in downtown Toronto on April 17, the event featured more than 75 games made by some of Ontario’s most talented post-secondary students.
Level Up is a not-for-profit event for players, developers, and recruiters to get the inside scoop on the future leaders of the game industry. The event welcomed over 2000 attendees this year. The showcase is the main event for industry, institutions, and students to network, recruit, and learn about new techniques and technologies in game development and beyond.
Really great games @LevelUpTO this year, the best showing yet! Passion and energy in the room is amazing! #MyNCstory pic.twitter.com/CanEVXRDeo
— NCGameDevelopment (@NCgameDev) April 17, 2019
Although Level Up is primarily about showcasing game development talent, there is an aspect of competition. Games are judged on technical innovation, artistic achievement, and overall game design. In addition, the fan favourite game is given the People’s Choice Award.
A total of nine teams of third year students from NC Game Development, and Bachelor of Science (Honours) Game Programming, a joint Brock-NC program, went to the event on Wednesday. The games presented by our teams were: Firebreaker, Bad Manors, The Fallen, Dreamscaper, Heist, Contract Slime, Super Ballot Battle, Magehem and When I Was Alone.
The award for Distinction in Social or Mobile Gaming goes to…@niagaracollege with their game Bad Manors!#LevelUpShowcase2019 pic.twitter.com/JMTP9xF7Sk
— Ubisoft Toronto (@UbisoftToronto) April 18, 2019
The Bad Manors game (from the NC-Brock joint program) secured first place for best social game and second in game art. The team consisted of: Joshua Egamino, Ivy Truong, Charles Trafagander, Christopher Rosati, Krista Brouwer, Danielle Phekoo, Martin Boote, Agnieszka Krzywinska, Nathaniel Lantz, Matthew Newton.
Firebreaker from NC Game Dev students came in third in the overall game design category. Team members were: Samuel Gutsch, Alexander Wokral, Riley Renaud, Brandon McKee, Ian Decloedt, Tyler Hines, Derek Truong.
“Not only did Niagara College teams show up with innovative games, but they went above and beyond to turn their stations into spectacles, often drawing large crowds,” said Denny Borges, art director, Ubisoft Toronto. “It was refreshing to see such strong passion coming from our future game developers.”
“The Level Up Showcase student experience is terrific and mirrors industry work,” said Rick Goertz, professor in NC’s Game Development program. “It is very rewarding for students to showcase their games to others in the general gaming community. The imagination and ingenuity displayed in their creations is truly impressive.”
Well let the celebrations begin! 😃👻🔥👏🖒what a way to cap off a great school year! we couldn't be prouder of all students and the work that was done this year! big thanks to all involved in setup, great event as always! @expresso_games @TeamMoonlight7 @LevelUpTO #myncstory pic.twitter.com/Pgv56aLbDb
— NCGameDevelopment (@NCgameDev) April 18, 2019
About Level Up 2019:
The Level Up Showcase offers a unique opportunity to preview the best-in-class of the region’s post-secondary game education on an annual basis, celebrating homegrown student talent. Students use the latest technology and platforms to make video games – including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), motion sensing, and more.
Participants include more than 15 colleges, universities and post-secondary institutions across Ontario that teach interactive media development.
In 2019, the Level Up Showcase was co-hosted and organized by Algonquin College, Brock University, Sheridan College, the University of Toronto and the Digital Futures Program at OCAD University in partnership with Ubisoft Toronto. This year’s sponsors include: Ubisoft Toronto, AMD, Gameloft, Uken Games, Unity, Xbox Canada, and Zynga.
