Student Projects That Actually Ship
Our students build games people play. Not tutorial clones or template modifications—real projects with genuine design decisions, technical challenges, and live releases. These are the games that help aspiring developers transition from following instructions to solving problems.
Building Beyond the Classroom
Every project starts with a problem worth solving. Maybe it's designing enemy AI that feels challenging but fair. Or creating touch controls that work for both casual swipes and precise movements.
Students tackle these questions in their own way. Some projects become polished releases. Others turn into valuable learning experiences when things don't work as planned. Both outcomes teach something important about game development.
Developers Who Got Their Hands Dirty
These three students completed year-long projects in 2025. Each faced different technical hurdles and made different choices about scope, design, and release strategy.
Lirien Vossaert
Puzzle Game Developer
Built a physics-based puzzle game with 40 levels. Spent three months just on the level editor before realizing players needed better visual feedback. Changed the core mechanic twice.
Dragomir Wulf
Action Game Developer
Created a side-scrolling action game with procedural level generation. Wrestled with performance optimization for older devices. Eventually simplified the particle system to keep frame rates stable.
Saoirse Kempenaars
Strategy Game Developer
Developed a turn-based strategy game with AI opponents. The hardest part wasn't coding the AI—it was balancing difficulty so players felt challenged but not cheated. Playtesting revealed unexpected strategies.
From Prototype to Published
The gap between a working prototype and a finished game is wider than most beginners expect. Polish takes time. Testing reveals issues you never anticipated. Store submission has its own learning curve.
Students who complete projects learn this process firsthand. They discover which features matter to players and which seemed important during development but didn't make much difference.
Some projects get hundreds of downloads. Others find smaller audiences. The real value comes from understanding what it takes to ship something real—even when it's messy and imperfect.
Typical Project Timeline
Most student projects follow a similar path over 8-12 months. The exact timeline varies based on complexity and how much time students dedicate each week.
Concept and Core Mechanics
First two months focus on establishing the core gameplay loop. Students prototype mechanics, test basic controls, and figure out what makes their game feel good to play. Many initial ideas get revised during this phase.
Content Development
Months three through six involve building out levels, creating art assets, and implementing game systems. This is where students learn about scope management—most need to cut features to finish on time.
Testing and Polish
Final months focus on playtesting with real users, fixing bugs, and adding polish. Students discover issues they never caught during development. UI improvements and performance optimization happen here.
Release and Iteration
Projects launch in app stores with marketing materials and store descriptions. Students monitor player feedback and analytics. Some continue updating their games based on user response. Others move on to new projects with lessons learned.