DigiPen Institute Student Games Showcase

Below you'll find all the publicly released games made by the DigiPen Institute's student body, starting around 2003. These selections pull from their Showcase catalog, plus games.digipen.edu and other verifiable sources I find. Some of the software here later found freeware or commercial release on other sites and platforms. I'll do my best to list those versions under entry notes, but let me know if there's any details I'm missing. This list will not feature any of the few DigiPen Game Studios releases, ex. Bloody Bunny, because they're official commercial products, whether or not of student origin.

The DigiPen Institute, a private for-profit university founded in Redmond, Washington in 1988, started offering video game developer degrees and courses in the late-'90s. Initially focusing on art, audio, and programming, the curricula soon encompassed every industry-relevant part of creating game software. Some notable (under)graduate projects from the mid-2000s, like Narbacular Drop, caught the attention of mainstream gaming press and other outlets, boosting the school's media presence. Many DigiPen alumni went on to join larger game companies across the country, or produce indie games during the movement's rise from obscurity.

As a pioneering force in game design research and vocational training, DigiPen's been the subject of much praise and criticism over time. Some point to the institute's rotating faculty, impressive student works, and industry-recognized accreditation as a positive. Others, including former alumni working in the field today, have highlighted the mismanagement, profit motives, and exploitation of students via crunch culture which feeds into negative trends across game development today. Regardless, there's no denying the impact this college has had on post-2000s game development in North America and the indie sphere.

Please notify me of anything missing from the list which qualifies. I'll keep the changelog updated as usual. Each game's notes should list whether they're general release or a Showcase game, plus links to their official pages/downloads. List's already in yearly order based on the DigiPen versions' release dates, with some notes marking each new year. Update priority goes to Showcase games and then others from earliest year forward.

| Changelog |
Mar. 19, 2023: Initial list with just Showcase games, still missing a bunch on IGDB.

Missing from IGDB/Backloggd:
(2006) Base Invaders
(2008) Glitch
(2009) Kabloom
(2011) Leshy, not the Slavic fantasy game
(2011) Be Good
(2011) Astrobunny
(2012) Muffin Factory
(2012) Project Albatross
(2012) Stonewick Manor
(2013) Return to the Sky
(2013) Exitus
(2013) Reboot
(2013) Evac
(2013) Whispers of the Goddess
(2013) Ecliptic 2
(2013) Super Space ________
(2013) A Beever!
(2013) Unfolding Tale
(2013) Rekkage
(2013) Frozen Masquerade
(2014) Ping
(2014) Sunder, not the Doom mod though that would be funny
(2014) Chained
(2014) Game School Simulator 2015
(2014) SibRay
(2014) Wingman, not the Japanese PC adventure
(2014) Coffee Break
(2015) RumbleTV
(2015) Chronomancers
(2015) Super Orc Puncher
(2015) Shadow Tag
(2015) Crystallite
(2015) Book of Dreams
(2015) Lord of the Bats
(2015) Giga Gravity Games
(2015) Relic
(2015) girl, i see right thru u
(2015) Ripple
(2015) Lightmare
(2015) AEON
(2015) Cardboard Kingdom
(2015) N.U.T.S.: Forest FriendZ
(2016) Revolver Star
(2016) Planetary Pest Squad
(2016) Paper Cut
(2016) Mika
(2016) Among the Clouds
(2016) Somnus
(2016) Fusion Force
(2016) HARD_CODE
(2016) Animus Fault
(2016) Ascension
(2016) Magnolia
(2016) Dye or Die
(2016) Chrono-Drive
(2016) Antigen
(2017) Suara
(2017) How May I Haunt You?
(2017) Night of the Living Bread: Dough Rising
(2017) UFO: Unusual Frog Odyssey
(2017) Penny Blue Finds a Clue
(2017) Aegis
(2017) Prysm Break
(2017) Alatheia
(2017) CrystalBound
(2017) RAILZ: The Shooting Train Game
(2017) Bittorio
(2017) Resistor
(2018) Trouble in Flubville
(2018) C.C.P.
(2018) Shortstack
(2018) Quasar
(2018) Reprise
(2018) Goat Herd
(2018) Trappist Landing
(2018) MarsBall
(2018) Punchy Punchy
(2018) Field Punk
(2018) DayBreak
(2018) Valo: Frozen Light
(2018) Rocket Go Fast
(2019) Zero Day
(2020) Descend Into Stone
(2020) Recoil Riot
(2021) Faded Path
(2021) D-BUG

Close Your Eyes
Close Your Eyes
2014 [2015 version listed here]
Showcase
https://www.digipen.edu/showcase/student-games/close-your-eyes

2 Comments


IIRC, "The Blob" (de blob predecessor) was also a Digipen project, or at least from another game design school and so.
That was made by Utrecht University students, so it’ll fit better on a list of games from that college. Any recommendations for DigiPen releases to try? Seems like you’ve played a bunch of them.


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