Newport graduates' BAFTA-winning game set to go global
29-06-2012
A computer game by five recent graduates of the University of Wales, Newport is set to hit the Windows Phone marketplace next week.
Angry Mango, the team that has been working on the game for two years, is made up of three programming and two design students who met while studying courses in Computer Games Design and Games Development and Artificial Intelligence.
Kate Killick, Henry Hoffman, Ahmed Zaman, Matthew Dennis and Greg O'Brien first caught Microsoft's eye in 2010 when they entered – and won – Dare to be Digital, an international game development competition held by the University of Abertay in Dundee.
Since then they have completed both their degrees, and the game – which won a BAFTA Cymru last year – has been showcased around the world and featured in national publications such as The Guardian and Edge Magazine.
Dr Barry Atkins, Head of the School of Film, Photography and Digital Media, said: “Mush reflects the very best of what students can bring to the games industry - fresh, innovative ideas supported by some lovely visual design.
“It is through outputs such as Mush that you can see the clear link between what a University environment can provide in terms of developing ideas, and what a new generation of devices demands in terms of content.
“Not every student project can have the clear commercial potential of Mush, but it does represent the kind of creativity, skill and innovative thinking that can be nurtured inside a University.”
Henry Hoffman, Project Lead for Angry Mango, said: “It’s been such a hectic process, working on Mush and studying at the same time, but we’ve been very lucky to have such fantastic support from the University of Wales, Newport.
“It’s exciting to be part of the growing games industry here and we hope that the University keeps running this great course.”
The game lets the user change how their character feels, allowing them to touch, tilt, rotate and shake Mush to alter his mood. It also allows the user to unlock new abilities for the character with each emotion, as well as evade ‘beasties’ and solve physics-based puzzles as they travel through the game.
To try Mush for yourself, go to www.mushgame.com or for more information about Angry Mango, go to www.angrymangogames.com.
To find out more about studying Computer Games Design at the University of Wales, Newport go to www.newport.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/Pages/ComputerGamesDesign.aspx