Screenshot from the U student-produced video game, “Little Traveler.”

A deep-sea diver investigating a mystery. A 4-inch-tall girl trying to bring joy back to a widower. An ex-Yakuza cat on the prowl in a Japanese city. These and more could become the next hit independent video game.

They are just a few of the student-produced video games that were on display during the University of Utah’s “EAE Launch 2021,” the annual event hosted by the university’s nationally ranked Entertainment Arts & Engineering video game development program.

The virtual-only day was held Wednesday, April 28, and was open to the public.

More than 20 video games from the program were demonstrated during the video stream including graduate-student project games, undergraduate capstone projects, and first-semester graduate-student prototypes. Students from The Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab (The GApp Lab), a collaboration between EAE, the Center for Medical Innovation, and the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, will also be demonstrating their medical-based games.

All of the entertainment-based games will eventually be available for digital download through online gaming markets such as Steam.

The day’s live stream also included student-produced machinima shorts (short films produced with video game engines) and visits with EAE alumni who are now working in the video game industry.

Click the video below to view the day’s video stream.