Lately, it seems like we only hear about one thing and the world, in general, has been crazy. But let’s take a break from that and remember that there are some good things happening in the world. One such good thing is the Indie Game Club on Drury’s campus.

President of the club Hana Kawaguchi stated that the group usually meets on Tuesdays and has two workdays: Friday and Sunday. But with the campus shutdown, she says they “decided to continue working on personal projects.”

Vice President Isaac Schmidt elaborated, saying that meetings are a time for people to brainstorm. “Someone might pull up artwork from an obscure game nobody has heard about for inspiration,” he said.

The club has two different projects going on during the semester. They have a group project, which Kawaguchi said is about “developing a 3D adventure game, MMOnster.” Each member has a personal project that they can work on individually or with other group members. But, Kawaguchi says, “considering people who might not have access to the internet and tools, we might suspend the group project and stick with the personal projects.”

How the club started

When asked why they started the group, Schmidt stated they “want[ed] to build a community of people that have an interest in game creation.” He continued, “I like to think that everyone in the group shares a passion for games. We have many unique people with unique interests that can connect through the process of creating games.”

(Photo via unsplash.com)

Kawaguchi said, “Since we have many students with various majors in this school, developing video games as a club would be a great experience for students who are eager to work for video game industries in the future.”

The two officers agree that bringing people together with a shared love of creativity is more important than divisions between majors. Both want a way to unite people through something people enjoy doing.

Game recommendations from the members

Kawahuchi and Schmidt also elaborated on what their favorite games were, and what kind of indie games people might not realize were indie. Schmidt’s favorite games are “Risk of Rain” and “Dwarf Fortress,” though he wouldn’t recommend the latter to a casual gamer—there’s “an extremely steep learning curve,” he stated. He explained there are some obvious indie games like “Minecraft” and “Undertale,” but some not so obvious games are favorites like “Cuphead,” “Terraria,” “Subnautica,” and “Stardew Valley.”

Kawaguchi prefers puzzle games like the “Professor Layton” series and “The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince.” Her favorite though, which she wants to recommend to every single person she’s ever met, is the “Danganronpa” series. Some “small(ish) companies” that Kawaguchi likes are Giant Sparrow, ustwo games, and Seec—just in case you want to do some research.

Anyone can join

The two game lovers are enthusiastic about anyone interested in joining the club and know that it can seem daunting. Kawaguchi stated that “game development involves various majors and interests, so anyone can contribute to developing video games.”

Schmidt agreed, saying that anyone who is interested, “even if it’s just a passing interest,” should contact them, because “the game creation field is crazy broad.” These two can definitely help you find something you enjoy.

To contact Vice President Isaac Schmidt for information about the club or the Discord server they host, you can email him at ischmidt002@drury.edu. Or you can contact President Hana Kawaguchi at hkawaguchi@drury.edu. These two are more than happy to help you get interested, find a place in the group or just help out and explore the world of games.

Written by Cheyenne Heavener.