A team of 15 students from the University of Wisconsin-Stout developed a cooperative computer game, Dread Not, which has recently received significant recognition in the gaming industry. The game, set in a sinking submarine, was initially plagued by technical issues as it neared its debut at the Stout Game Expo (SGX) last spring. According to Ryan Thiede, art manager and original pitch creator for the project, “It’s a crazy story, but it says something for the tenacity and drive from the people on the team. We went from an unplayable game to an award-winning capstone project, essentially, overnight.”
After resolving these challenges through intensive effort by lead coder Ben Rowan and gameplay coder Jacob Richardt, Dread Not won both Audience Choice and Best Art awards at SGX. Six months later, it earned further distinction as best student entry at M+DEV—the Midwest’s largest game industry conference—which took place in Madison and attracted 1,500 attendees.
M+DEV is organized annually by the Wisconsin Games Alliance and serves as a major networking event for indie developers, professionals, students, and gamers. The University of Wisconsin-Stout is one of its sponsors; its undergraduate game design program holds high rankings both regionally and globally according to Princeton Review.
The university offers several programs related to gaming: bachelor’s degrees in both art-focused (B.F.A.) and science-focused (B.S.) tracks for game design and development; a graduate focus within its M.F.A. design program; a B.S. in game and media studies—the only such program among public universities in Wisconsin—as well as an esports coaching minor. UW-Stout was also first among public universities in Wisconsin to establish a varsity esports program.
At this year’s M+DEV event, at least 90 attendees were current or former UW-Stout students or faculty members. Several presented talks or exhibited games—including three teams of recent graduates who showcased their capstone projects: Dread Not along with Tubular!! and Mega Dimension Ripper 9000.
Professor Andrew Williams highlighted the value of these opportunities: “Anytime you can get people to interact with your work, you are reaching your intended audience, and you learn how to improve your craft,” he said. “Game development is an incremental process and the more opportunities you have to talk with your players and build that community around your project, the better!”
Williams also delivered a presentation on using artificial intelligence for educational games through his work with immersionED.
Dread Not was conceived by Thiede as a capstone project aimed at encouraging collaboration between players—one acting as pilot and another as mechanic—to solve problems inside their submarine before time runs out. The team worked under producer Sarah Ziebarth who managed schedules while contributing lighting design and marketing tasks herself.
Ziebarth commented on their teamwork: “The game design and development program at Stout has always done an exceptional job of making sure both sides of development (art and computer science) work together in multiple classes throughout their college careers and thus learn the important skills of teamwork and communication.”
Thiede credited his education for allowing him to explore various aspects within game design: “The layout of courses grants you time to experiment to see what you like… All are possible at Stout.”
Associate Professor Kim Loken praised Dread Not’s creators: “Unlike the held-together-by-duct-tape world of their game, this team was high-performing and well-organized with clear goals, excellent communication and exceptional craft… We’re proud of the continued commitment they’ve shown to their work.”
Since launching on Steam last June—a leading platform for PC games—Dread Not has been downloaded over 250,000 times.
The core group behind Dread Not included majors from both art-leaning B.F.A. programs (Zach Adler, Eleanor Berg, Gabe Anderson among others) as well as B.S. computer science students (Guinness Bruce et al.). They collaborated with 11 Berklee College of Music students who provided music production support.
