Max Nichols ‘10
Game Designer
Empowering Play addresses the very real problem of violence and aggression towards women in developing nations. My life-long career goal is to inspire and change people’s lives through interactive entertainment experiences in the form of games. Although my visions of that future lean towards the creation of immersive entertainment and art, using my skills to enact real positive change in the world is a truly worthwhile endeavor. Every day, women are dominated and abused throughout the world. If our work can contribute towards improving their situation, then it is time
well spent.
The Emergent Media Center has always been a shining example of what we, as game developers and Champlain students, are capable of. Beyond that, the projects we have tackled and continue to tackle do more than simply entertain; they address important issues in the world at large, ranging from information literacy to cystic fibrosis. Empowering Play epitomizes this exploratory take on games as an emerging media, and represents the most ambitious and high stakes project yet.
As a game designer, I am drawn to complex or unusual design problems that will help me grow in my craft, and allow me to explore new facets of myself and of games. Empowering Play supplies these challenges in abundance, and as we overcome the myriad of problems and roadblocks thrown our way, we grow as a team and in our skills. I fully expect to finish this project with a far better understanding of what it means to be a game designer.
Ultimately, I joined Empowering Play because it attracted me on a variety of levels— intellectual, altruistic, and professional—and because I believe that every life touched by this project – developers and players – will be improved by it.
