When the new video game GoobnBalloonsDX launches internationally next month on major console gaming platforms, it will mark the culmination of a “crazy journey” by several recent Fitchburg State University alumni.
Kristofer Camp of Leominster, who graduated from Fitchburg State in May, has long been an avid gamer and dreamed of creating original work. When he transferred to Fitchburg State and enrolled in its game design program, he found willing collaborators and supportive faculty members who inspired him to keep dreaming bigger.
“Me and my friends wanted to show off what we’d learned at the school,” said Camp, who recalled the game’s origins as an exercise that was prototyped over a single week. “A lot of people liked GoobnBalloons, so we got our team together and thought what it would be like if we spent time just fleshing that out. It’s been over two years, and now we’re doing a worldwide release on all major console platforms.”
The game’s development team includes fellow Fitchburg State alumni Fintan Neff, Veronica Hazen, Benjamin Pielocik and David Marshall, along with Alura Leet.
The launch trailer for the game, which will be available September 12 on platforms including Switch, Xbox one/Series, and PS4/5, was recently posted. In the game, described by its creators as a shoot ‘em up adventure, players fight off waves of balloons to save the galaxy. It features whimsical graphics and spans 100 levels.
“It’s crazy seeing our game on a storefront, almost ready to be sold,” said Camp.
Communications Media Department Chair Jeff Warmouth said he was impressed by the creativity and problem-solving abilities demonstrated by Camp and his team.
“They launched it on the arcade cabinet on the third floor of Conlon Hall,” he said. “It was incredibly fun and showed strong design principles, and was popular with students and faculty. Over the next two years, they took their project from a ‘very fun’ student prototype to a real game.”
To realize the project’s completion, Camp and his friends formed a new company, Iconic Arts, and already have follow-up projects in development.
“The reason we started the company was to get our game out on consoles,” Camp said. “We believed that console manufacturers and the bigger companies wouldn’t take us seriously if we were coming as a group of students. We had to change that perspective.”
Camp said he is grateful for the support his team experienced throughout their time at Fitchburg State, the first public university in Massachusetts with a major in game design.
“We would not be here if it weren’t for the faculty,” Camp said. “The game design professors are amazing, but it goes beyond that. The entire Communications Media Department was astounding to work with the entire time I was at Fitchburg State.”
This summer, Camp and his team welcomed their first Fitchburg State intern, and look forward to keeping their forward momentum. “We started working on games together during COVID-19,” he said. “We’ve always talked about a future where there’s an office, and I suppose that’s something to dream toward.”
Learn more about the game on Iconic Arts’ website at iconicartsgames.com.