Take a young peasant girl in a medieval era, sword-fighting and the avenging of her parents’ death by killing the king, and you have Heiress, an interactive video game created by a group of eight fourth-year students in the RTA School of Media.
The students call themselves Black Canvas Games and they are only the second group from the RTA program to risk going beyond radio and television to create a one-player, interactive video game for their thesis.
“We’re challenging ourselves by using what we’ve learned and translated those skills into game development,” says Amanda Barrios, the group’s project manager. “There are no other video games in our program… We’re proud to say our practicum project is unique.”
Heiress works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It takes its gamer into a two-dimensional reality that blends retro aesthetics and audio with fast-paced combat.
“We wanted to contribute to the gaming community as a nod to the games that were so influential in our childhood,” Barrios says. “Hopefully it’ll encourage other people in our program to start creating games.”
There are visual similarities between Heiress and Minecraft,
“Ryerson’s media production program fosters a great deal of visual content like television shows and short films, but Black Canvas is one of the only teams creating something that demands audience interaction,” Khan says. “Our game is a linear experience that is much more guided by us, the developer. The focus is to take out enemies or sneak by them without being noticed. It’s your choice… Everything is left up to the player to determine for themselves.”
Khan also says that their video game is just a prototype for more developments prospects in the future.
“Heiress is our first game but we hope we’ll be able to prototype some more unique ideas and develop even more projects in the future,” he says. “Only time will tell.”
Ashani Jodha was the Features Editor for the Ryersonian. She also interned at Flare Magazine. When she is not writing or chasing breaking news, she is hooking up with Shane Oman in the projection room above the auditorium.
Ashani graduated from the Ryerson School of Journalism in 2015.