Shortlist nomination for students of Games Studies

Three game developers from the Master’s degree programme in Games Studies and Engineering have been nominated among those shortlisted for the Pioneers of Game Development Austria’s Talent Award 2024.  One of the three developers, Mano Marichal from Belgium, revealed how this came about and what makes this Master’s degree programme so special when we interviewed him. Along with his colleagues Nikolay Markozov from Russia and Anja Kolundzija from Serbia, they are some of the most innovative young artists that have emerged from the University of Klagenfurt’s Games Studies and Engineering programme.

Hello Mano, great that you found time for this interview! We’re here today to talk about the game ‘Bagels of War’ developed by you and your colleagues, which has made it onto the PGDA Awards shortlist! Could you tell us a bit about the Talent Award Games 2024 and the idea behind it?

The Talent Award is organised by the PGDA, the Pioneers of Game Development Austria. This is an association that helps students to gain a foothold in the Austrian gaming industry. The PGDA endeavour to plan events for students to help showcase their projects and present them to a wider audience. One of these events is the annual Talent Award, which first took place last year. Students can submit a game including a pitch deck, a trailer and other information. The shortlist is made up of the best three games, which are then presented by their developers at an event in Salzburg. The winning game will then be honoured.

And when will this event be held?

It was already held on the 30th of June this year.

And did your game win?

No, but that doesn’t matter, because we got to meet the developers of the other projects and got to know other cool games.  It was very interesting to get an overview of all these projects.

You told me that you are not the only developer of ‘Bagels of War’. Who are the other people involved?

Well, I have been working on this game with two wonderful artists called Nikolay Markozon and Anja Kolundzija. The charm of our game derives from the way its world and characters are portrayed. Our team has done a wonderful job of bringing the drawings and stories to life and captivating the users of the game. But there was a fourth person who helped us as well, , namely Florian Meynen, a friend of mine from Belgium. He created the audio design, the sound effects and incorporated them into the game.

How long did it take you to develop the game?

The development phase started last year around January. Our game started as a project for a course we attended together here at the University of Klagenfurt. However, I also continued to work on the game in my free time and we decided last February that we would work hard on it in order to submit it for the Talent Award.

Very interesting! And you came all the way from Belgium to Klagenfurt to study Game Studies and Engineering here at the University of Klagenfurt? What was the reason for this?

There are several reasons. Firstly, this degree programme is quite unique in Europe. I would say that it combines classic technical game development with a kind of cultural humanity studies. And that’s exactly what you won’t find anywhere else. I think that the primary goal of this programme is to build a bridge between the technical and the social side of game development. Taking into account the impact on the human side of your own games is quite unique in my opinion. So the programme is very cool and Klagenfurt is a beautiful place. It’s a dream to live here.

What semester are you in now?

I’m in the last semester of my degree programme and am currently finishing my thesis.

What semester are your team mates in?

Anja started studying Games Studies and Engineering here at the University of Klagenfurt at the same time as me. Nikolay started studying here a little before us.

 

 

Do you have any plans for after graduation, for example dream employers you would like to work for?

The thing is, the gaming industry has a reputation for being very competitive in terms of jobs because there are very few job opportunities at the moment. So I would say that we all dream of working at a good game studio. So we do our best. The Talent Awards were created for this reason, to show future employers what young game developers can achieve in a showcase. We’ll see if the shortlist will help us in the labour market. I definitely have a list of my favourite employers in mind. I and the rest of my team would definitely like to work in the gaming sector in the European Union or America. Austria would be cool, as would Belgium, but these two countries unfortunately have a rather underdeveloped gaming scene. In Europe, Sweden and Poland are the main countries where things are happening in terms of gaming.

Really, in Poland?

Yes, in Warsaw. But I’m honestly open to working anywhere in the world if I find value in what I do.

You and your other team members got to know each other in a course? That’s where the idea for the development of ‘Bagels of War’ was born and you stuck with it even after the course to finish developing the game?

Yes, I would say that we are a really strong community in the Games Studies and Engineering programme. We got to know each other at non-university events and then found each other again in a joint course. And then we started working together, and now we’re all very good friends.

Have you thought about studying abroad?

I actually studied in Japan for six months. That was as part of a joint exchange programme. I had a great time in Japan and also started to develop a game there.

Did your two team mates also spend a semester abroad?

No, but they both have an international background from Russia and Serbia. This international mix in our team is something very special. Game Studies and Engineering is also an absolutely international degree programme. Students from all over the world have enrolled in the programme: from Asia, America etc. Our community is very international and diverse.

How satisfied are you with the course directors, professors and staff on the Games Studies and Engineering programme?

I am very satisfied with this degree programme. I think the lecturers are very passionate about teaching. In addition, GSE is still a young programme, so many lecturers are open to involving students in the structures of the programme and always ask for feedback from us students. They’re really comfortable with us, they’re very friendly, they organize cool events. I would say we have a very cool relationship with the professors on our programme. That’s a very good thing.

How would you sell the Games Studies and Engineering degree programme to future students? What would be the best arguments for students to enrol and come to Klagenfurt to study GSE?

I think for me the greatest thing about the programme is the community here: we are people from all over the world who have decided to leave our comfort zone and head to a completely new place to follow our passion. I think the programme does an excellent job of bringing us all together. We have many extra-curricular events such as the Critical Game Labs, which take place weekly or fortnightly, where we sit together and discuss various topics related to the gaming industry. It’s so cool to be a part of this community that is so active and where everyone is, you know, pursuing their dream of working in the gaming industry. There are very few places in the world where you can study game studies at such a high level. I also think that the things we are taught are very helpful for us in the sense that you get a sense of the impact games can have in society and it really helps us developers to develop more responsible games. And yeah, games that can help people in good ways.

I would like to end the interview with this message: Thank you Mano and good luck in the future.