Why are you studying games?
I feel like games have been a pervasive force for my entire life. I can't think of a part of my life where I wasn't at least mildly interested in games.
Describe your favorite project made by a classmate.
In my Intermediate Game Development class there was a guy who made a short point-and-click adventure-adjacent game about walking around an art gallery. It was incredibly charming, had some really fantastic character and atmosphere, something about it resonated with me.
Describe your most embarrassing playtesting moment.
In one of the game design classes I took before switching to Tisch, our project was in really rough shape. For one thing, it crashed consistently about halfway through the last level, which is always fun to explain to a tester. Plus, we had made it so that pressing start resulted in a harsh, incredibly loud noise we pulled from bfxr, which visibly frightened our tester.
What's your secret weapon?
Beam attacks.
Describe one memorable lecture, assignment, or exercise you've had at the Game Center.
Games 101 has likely been one of my favorite courses so far. Having grown up on a steady diet of FPS games, Robert Yang's talk on the subject was a lot of fun. Definitely nice to go back through a bunch of titles I had dumped hours and hours into and contextualize them historically and culturally.
How has the Game Center changed your thinking about games?
I've broadened my horizons significantly here, played lots of games I likely would not have otherwise. I also think a lot more about the context under which games are made and consumed. I definitely have a stronger appreciation for small details in games I play.
What's the last great game you played and what's great about it?
The last really great and engrossing game I played was Disco Elysium over the summer. I have a rocky relationship with CRPGs; some of them hit me hard and others are completely inscrutable to me. Disco Elysium ticked all of the boxes for a strong CRPG in my eyes. Fantastic narrative, witty writing, and plenty of petty leftist infighting. It's like being on Twitter.
What's your favorite New York City spot?
St. Mark's Place, what a weird vibe, I love it.
