DUTCH GAME CLASSICS
The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision presents three classic student games from its games collection. The creators of these games managed to make artful products which helped them in their career paths after their studies.
Being able to study games wasn’t always a given, but the Netherlands was an early adopter. The first game design study on the European continent started in 1998 at the University of Arts Utrecht (HKU). From there a study field grew, from which the first people graduated in 2005. Since then the Netherlands has seen the number of studies grow, including in Breda at the renowned Breda University of Applied Sciences.
Sound & Vision is the Netherlands’ media archive and dedicates itself to preserving Dutch media heritage. Videogames have been an integral part of this cultural history. To show and celebrate our gaming heritage, Sound & Vision happily presents three classic student games made over the past three decades. Game on!
In 2006 the city of Utrecht was entering a huge transition and renovation of the area around its central station. A group of students from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht got the assignment to make a game, showing what the area would look like in ten years’ time. Developed as a ‘serious game’, to inform players, it turned out to be a hugely entertaining experience. So much so that the game got picked up by international distributor THQ for regular release. This way the game was played on a much broader scale, which helped launch the careers of its creators.
Tom van den Boogaart, one fourth of game collective Sokpop, designed this game during the summer of 2014. As a student at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, he was designing a lot of 2D games in GameMaker. One of his teachers told him “…je bent op een heel leuk, maar doodlopend pad. Misschien moet je eens een game in 3D maken.” The end result was Bernband, a sci-fi walking simulator which became a modest hit. One of the highlights of the early Sokpop game catalogue, the art and vibe were already very much hallmarks which Sokpop became known for. So much so that they announced a remake of Bernband, coming in the near future.
What started as a graduation project, turned into something a bit bigger. Ewout van der Werf started SCHiM while studying at the Friesland College. With the help from one of his guest teachers, Nils Slijkerman, he continued work on SCHiM after graduation, to make it into the fully formed game you’re playing now. The game stands out for its visual style and level design,
incorporating a lot of Dutch architecture. Simple but precise, this mix got the game enough attention, while still in development, to carry this student project across the globe.
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