RPI’s Game Development Club recently hosted their annual Rensselaer Games Showcase, an event that brings together students and local professionals to play, preview, and discuss one another’s developing gaming projects. 

The Games Showcase is an opportunity for students to share their work with and learn from local professionals, for local gaming companies to preview what they are working on and scope out local talent, and for the RPI and broader community to come together for a fun day of play.  

This year’s showcase included 25 participating teams, five being local game studios and the rest RPI students. Studios participating this year included Velan Studios, Peripheral Playbox, Rushdown Studios, Wolfjaw Studios, and Tech Valley Game Space. At the event, participants were able to demo everything from video games, game prototypes, board games, and other interactive programs. 

The event was run entirely by the Game Development Club officers, including Aiden Crossfield ’26, (president); Alex Genchev ’27 (vice-president); Anisha Biswas ’27 (secretary); Lune DiFulco ’26 (treasurer); Alex Hertz ’27 (publicity officer); and Eduardo Huamani ’27 (publicity officer). 

"We feel incredibly lucky to be able to participate in an event like this,” said Crossfield. “It means a lot to us to be able to provide a place for students and professionals to come together and learn from each other, and to just have fun with a group of people who are passionate about gaming." 

Crossfield and seven of his classmates presented a game together titled Karkinos’ Ascension, where players are a crab in the lost city of Atlantis, searching for star fragments hidden buried in the sand, which are the key to returning home in the constellation Cancer. The game was developed as part of a project for RPI’s Game Development 1 class over the span of only eight weeks. At the showcase, attendees were able to play and comment on the game, along with many other fun games, helping the student developers learn and make improvements. 

This year’s showcase also raised money, through selling baked goods, to donate to Black Girls Code, a charity selected by club members which works to ensure that the coding industry is accessible to all, “regardless of background, zip code, or identity.” 

“We wanted to support the efforts of a group that truly means something to our club members,” said Crossfield. “Knowing the positive impact of opportunities like the showcase, we wanted to do our part by raising money that will go towards providing more students with coding education and experience.” 

Game Development Club was founded in 2001 to provide community and resources for game developers at RPI, and the club welcomes students across disciplines and skill levels. They host game development workshops, events, weekly meetings, and monthly “Game Jams,” where students have 48 hours to make a game, either working with a team or on their own.  

The annual Games Showcase is a great way for RPI students, some studying game development and some not, to explore interests and in some cases, apply what they are learning in the classroom. It’s also a fun day of play and collaboration with local professionals, providing all involved with a chance to share what is being worked on, learn from others, and play new games.