Student video game fosters collaboration, creativity
The team behind acclaimed game “The WereCleaner” spoke about their process.
By JEFFERSON HERNANDEZ SEGOVIA
On Sept. 19, “The WereCleaner” team received the news that they were nominated for Best Student Project at the 16th Unity Awards. Moose Sabharwal, creative director for “The WereCleaner” took this special moment and reflected on the people who helped build this project. The appreciation that the team has for each other goes beyond what an award can measure, as they have supported each other through every step in the making of “The WereCleaner.”
“The WereCleaner” is a student-developed game featuring a janitor named Kyle who turns into a werewolf at night. His missions consist of cleaning up messes in the building but also cleaning up after his own rampage.
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Sabharwal ensured that everyone’s voices and creative vision were heard during his presentation at USC Games Expo 2024. From the game designers to the director, everyone made huge contributions to “The WereCleaner,” so the Expo was a way to showcase their hard work to parents and colleagues.
“The main thing that I was hoping to be able to achieve with that presentation was being able to properly showcase all the work that everyone on the team had done in a way where I do them justice, because I think everyone is very proud of what we’ve been able to do with the game,” Sabharwal said.
Every member of the development team had their own task, but their capacities also had limitations. Levi Pinkert, the design lead and a senior majoring in computer science games, searched for new ways to construct the vision of the creative director to fit the game in a way that was achievable, opening his mind to new creative ideas.
“A lot of [Sabharwal’s] ideas were very creative, but maybe not translatable immediately into something you can play,” Pinkert said. “A lot of what I did was bringing in real game inspirations as touchstones for what the game would really be like.”
Each detail in the video game was carefully manufactured, as the team met up every week to decide in what ways each item was essential to the story. The attention to detail highlights the passion the team had toward turning the project into something they could be proud of.
“‘How are we going to improve the power washer to make it feel better, or what are the next steps to make it feel better in a future week?’” said Charlie Heatherly, a senior majoring in game development and interactive design and the lead producer. “Getting everyone together to comment on all the different areas of the game is how you coordinate everyone together.”
Because everyone came in with different perspectives as to how the game should be developed, there were disagreements when the story did not make sense or the gameplay was bugged, but the team’s passion for “The WereCleaner” drove them to move past their differences to become one again, regardless of what department they were working in.
“I will say that we ran into a lot of issues and had a lot of small and sometimes large problems crop up from time to time during production, whether that is something in the game that was just not working, or even just having issues with team members,” said Amy Lu, the art producer. “So we really worked very hard to make sure that we could deliver.”
Samuel Demers, a senior majoring in interactive media and game design, knew that the game goes beyond him and the other people who worked on it. The game has reached people all over the globe, inspiring some to pick up their passions. “The WereCleaner” is a testament to how no matter how big or small a project is, it can cause a huge impact.
“There’s one person in particular who basically said, ‘Your game inspired me to start creating again.’ And for me, that’s what it’s all about,” Demers said. “That was the hugest thing, because that’s a huge reason why I went into games — to inspire and help people.”
The development team did not expect the game to have such a wide reach, but audiences’ reactions made them feel they had accomplished something bigger than themselves. Their teamwork finally paid off, as the year-long project turned into a game that people outside of USC cherished and applauded.
“We really worked very hard to make sure that we could deliver and after we released the game, we did not expect it would get the amount of attention that it has gotten,” Lu said. “We’re very happy and proud of the reception it has received. It’s really rewarding to see that our hard work, despite the trials that we went through during the school year, really paid off.”
