Brock University students had a next-level experience at a recent provincial game showcase, bringing home the gold from the Toronto event.<\/p>\n
With their game Mousu<\/em>, fourth-year GAME students beat out about 100 teams from across Ontario to win first place in the People\u2019s Choice category at the 2023 Level Up Student Showcase.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we all worked well together, especially in the last few weeks,\u201d said Travis Duddy, producer and audio lead for Mousu<\/em>. \u201cIt was everybody coming together, paying attention to the details and we managed to pull it off. Our presence there, our merch, bringing people in, talking to people and really engaging with them, is what ultimately helped us win.\u201d<\/p>\n Mousu<\/a> <\/em>features a team of adorable roving mice, the last warriors of Mousu, who must defeat the enemy forces of Rubenwald to retake Micedom. Players conduct raids and collect loot to upgrade their weaponry until they do final battle with the rat boss, a scene that creative producer Simon Cummings was particularly proud of.<\/p>\n \u201cI would have to say our boss fight at the end, I think that’s what won people over. It’s really well done. It’s really interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cOur boss has a lot of different moves, so it’s very flashy and entertaining and it looks good on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n The team found the Level Up showcase to be a valuable learning experience as they engaged with the public, industry professionals and peers from other institutions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was awesome that we had a chance to network, get to talk with a whole bunch of people who regularly we wouldn’t have gotten to meet,\u201d said Adam Julien, art lead for Mousu<\/em>. \u201cJust to have the experience as a team and get to spend all that time together was really awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n The students have been invited to show their game at Anime North<\/a> in Toronto from May 26 to 28.<\/p>\n The GAME program is a joint venture between Brock University and Niagara College, with students completing courses at both institutions.<\/p>\n Fourth-year teams from Brock presented games at Level Up including Forage Friendzy<\/a><\/em>, a multiplayer prey and predator game featuring woodland animals; the multiplayer cartoon-styled beat \u2019em up game Techbrawlogy: Into the Robo Drome<\/a><\/em>, and Mousu<\/em>.<\/p>\n Games by third-year students in courses at Niagara College included second place People\u2019s Choice winner Calico Cat-Fe<\/a><\/em>, a feline-themed co-operative game, with users playing as cat barista or servers attempting to serve caf\u00e9 customers and earn points. The team received an honourable mention for Artistic Achievement. The game, created by Evan Sawatsky, Mohammed Qamar, Dominic Momich, Marcus Werner, Alex Fischer, Max Moverley and Thomas Karanicolas, is available to play on itch.io.<\/p>\n