A deep-sea diver explores underground caves and fights creatures like giant squids in one game, and a Kirby-like character battles tomatoes, carrots and other vegetables underground in another. These are just two of the video games in development in the game design class at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron.
“Game design combines several art forms into one. They’re doing character design, they’re doing story development, they’re doing coding, they’re animating their characters, they’re adding sound,” says Zachary Feador, the chair of the fine arts department at Hoban, who teaches art classes, including game design. “For students who are interested in art, you are gonna be developing a lot of skills that will translate to other forms of artwork.”
Each of the 10th through 12th grade students develops a three-level desktop video game throughout the semester. Feador leads them through brainstorming sessions for the game’s setting and characters, teaches them coding on the GameSalad platform to make the characters move and jump, coaches them on Photoshop use to create graphics for the game and more. He gives students a checklist of things their game must include but allows for personalization, so they can focus more on coding, graphics or storylines. One student, focusing on the story, is working on a game where zombies and vampires have taken over a school. The user plays as a zombie, fighting off vampires with items, such as garlic, in different areas of the school as the player advances through levels.
Students inevitably make some mistakes while coding, causing their game to crash or not work properly. They then have to go back through their work, find their mistake and correct it.
“The biggest strong point of the class, more so than any other art class that I teach, is the opportunity to learn through trial and error,” Feador says.
With so many students interested in video games, the class has been successful for the past six-plus years, Feador says, and he has had students continue with game design in college. He’s glad students can explore their interests in such niche classes.
“It’s opportunities to figure out who you are, what you’re interested in,” he says. “It provides lots of opportunities for small successes, as well as learning perseverance. ... It’s really rewarding to be able to interact with your art in a direct way.”
