High school students have a multitude of creative outlets at school and at home. From choir, to ceramics, to speech, it is quite easy to see artistic talents expressed. However, a lesser-known creative outlet for students is creating their own video games. Students around the world have made thousands of dollars creating games on engines such as the Unity Engine, Unreal Engine, and the popular gaming platform, Roblox. These are examples of simple ways to create such programs, but some students even invest money in high-end engines. A few Xavier students have ventured into the creative world of video game development.

Sophomore Kieran Coe began his newest project during his time at Regis Middle School. It is a fantasy game titled “Quest for the Seasons.” The game is considered a “RPG” or role-playing game, which is a game where the player controls an avatar and plays through their experiences. He purchased the typically 80 dollar program, RPG Maker MV, for 40 dollars his eighth-grade year.

Coe never had to worry about following his original plan because he never had one.

“When I started, I didn’t really have a plan, I just went with whatever came to mind,” Coe said.

Like any other skill a high school student wants to improve, video game development requires plenty of commitment and dedication, along with time management skills. As Coe looks back on the process, he estimates that he invested 150+ hours into the development of the game over the two years he worked on it.

“It’s a little clunky, but I think it’s great,” Coe said.

Many students follow their video game passion into college and eventually pursue a career in video game development, but Coe is not considering that career path, he is just taking his love of video games to another level.

Derrick Voss

A&E Writer