Teens at LaPixel Academy explore digital arts via game design

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Sixteen teenagers formed six design studios in a video game design competition.

Students at LaPixel Academy, a digital arts camp, utilized Photoshop and GameMaker Studio to create and code 2D environments, characters, and animations, and integrate those assets into playable games.

Allen Garcie, academy director and an LSU Shreveport digital arts faculty member, said, “Students learned digital arts principles through video game design. This camp is all about using creativity to solve problems, and everyone got to experience real-world situations in learning how to work as a team and the problems that can surface.”

Students learned Photoshop and GameMaker Studio in the first two weeks of the four-week camp. They gathered to pitch characters and ideas, voted on which ideas were best, and then formed studios to build the games.

“Next Stop” featured hero Alcide attempting to diffuse a train hostage situation, while a geology student in Spain fought through mines to collect gems in “Each Gem a Different Story.”

Arekas took a trip to the afterlife to reunite with his pet rat in “Journey to Caspian,” and a team guided Kalu on a journey through the underworld after a trip to the kitchen for a late-night snack went awry.

In “The Congregation of Flesh,” a hero tries to avoid the same demonic possession that other residents were subjected to, and in “Jesper & Co.,” the hero navigates drain pipes to save people after an accident at an Illinois factory.

Garcie said, “I thought the story ideas and storylines were particularly good this year. We had some great graphics as well, but the challenge was for teams to realize their games needed much more than those graphics to function.”

While video games exist for entertainment, creating them remains a form of work. Raphael Calvaresi, a team member who created the game “Next Stop,” said, “Desperation allowed for great efficiency at the end.” Teammate Imani Lodge added, “Giving up seemed like a plausible option at one point, but we persevered.”

Despite help from faculty member Vikki Hrody and LSUS students Keith Mills and Katelyn Davis, Garcie agreed. “There’s never enough time every year, so students learned first-hand about time management and how to find solutions in a time crunch.”

LaPrep, a free math and science summer enrichment program, sponsors LaPixel Academy. LaPixel is a free, annual summer program open to participants aged 13 to 17.