Zoélie wins Intel Game Showcase!

Zoélie, a game created by SCAD students, has been awarded 1st Place in the Best Gameplay category at the Intel University Game Showcase 2021. From among 20 leading university-level game development programs, SCAD eclipsed the other finalists to win the competition’s top award. The national competition was livecast on the Intel Twitch channel during Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2021.

“I’m incredibly proud of this win by SCAD and Zoélie,” said SuAnne Fu, SCAD chair of interactive design and game development. “It represents our leading position as the preeminent destination for students working towards creative careers in the gaming industry.”

Zoélie is an action puzzle platformer that tells the story of a young girl exploring her town of La Colina with her imagination-powered quilt, Sueño. The coming-of-age tale follows her fantastical journey as she confronting life changes through her imagination.

This game was created in collaboration by SCAD students in the interactive design and game development, animation, visual effects, and sound design programs. Zoélie was featured in the panel “The Making of Zoélie” at SCAD Gaming Fest 2021.

After studying the local customs and mythology, the student development team chose South America as the game’s setting, specifically Buenos Aires Province. Emphasizing the cultural importance of the bond between siblings, Zoélie’s sister Sofia is a key character.

More than half of Zoélie’s production was created remotely during the pandemic. By March 2020, Zoélie was already running on Perforce, with a dedicated Discord server host communications about the project. SCAD students continued to work as a team across different national and international time zones. Scrum meetings were held daily; the whole team met at least twice a week.

“Zoélie is one of the biggest projects that we’ve created,” said Su Anne Fu. “Its creation involved dozens of students from a wide array of different degree programs in a workflow environment of real-time development. As a game, Zoélie is absolutely gorgeous, and it’s a great to play, as recognized by this Intel award. I’m full of admiration for what our students accomplished under the guidance of our faculty leads, professors Jack Mamais and Cyril Guichard. It’s wonderful that Intel has recognized their work.”

Congratulations to the Zoélie team!

Lead Gameplay Designer:
Ben Brook

Lead Systems Designer:
John Washington

Lead Narrative Designer:
Phillip Corrado

Narrative Designer:
Nathaniel J.L. Cartwright

Lead Programmers:
Vincent Aliquo
Gabriel Tobias

Character Programmer:
Kuan Xue

AI Programmer:
Oscar Painvin

Lead Concept Artists:
Julia Nguyen
Sammy Suen

Concept Artists:
Sanda Gavriliuc
Brice Morgan
Holly Owens
Zach St. Amand

Lead Character Artist:
Mackenzie Blackgoat

Character Artists:
Michael Mauro
Taan Tuchinda
Anushay Qureshi

Lead Environment Artist:
Nick Levene

Environment Artists:
Rodney Burton
Dixon Dubow
Kellan Dwyer
Bernardo Gullo
Tyler Klimek
Mercedes Khumnark
Santiago Medrano
Stephanie Owens
Mike Relleva
Gianna Rockwell
Courtney Vogel
Amanda Wood

Lead Animation and Rigging:
Tiffanni Blevins

Lead VFX Artist:
Zachary Taylor

Technical Artists:
Rachel Howard
Maxwell Mecimore

UX:
Julia Myers
Megan Tkac

Sound Supervisor:
Franco Tamasco

Sound Designers:
Cal Eidson
Collin Peck

Voice Cast:
Kelly Washington — Zoé/Sophia
Nathaniel J. L. Cartwright — Chonkers
Haden Ezekiel Felix — Patty
Phillip Corrado — Fernando

Meet Zoélie!