Zineth is a celebration of speed, movement, and Twitter. The game was created as a final project for Experimental Game Design, a senior-level course in RPI’s Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) department. I worked with six very talented classmates to build the game over the better part of three months. My involvement was primarily with concept art for characters and world, developing world character (mainly through copious in-game billboard advertisements and PSAs), and some of the 3D modeling. The majority of the gameplay, plot, themes, and visual style were collective decisions.

A proof of concept prototype was shown at RPI’s Gamefest in May 2012. Of a selection of games evaluated by judges from Vicarious Visions, it placed third best in show. The audience vote, which included all games being shown, ranked it as tied for best in show.

While my involvement with the game ended at the close of the semester, a couple of the team’s GSAS majors continued with its development, adding missions and content and further refining gameplay. A more final version of Zineth was released later in 2012. After its completed release, the game began to attract attention from indie game sites, who praised it for its jarring audio and visual aesthetic, the vast amount of exploration and experimentation offered, its simultaneous embracing and mockery of social media and casual gaming, and its unexpected and silly design decisions.

In Fall 2012, Zineth was selected to be shown in the Indie Games Arcade at the Eurogamer Expo. Early in 2013, Zineth was nominated as one of eight Student Showcase finalists for the annual Independent Games Festival. At the festival itself in March, the game was awarded first place in its category.

The game can be downloaded from the Arcane Kids site.