Jonah Warren of North Haven, assistant professor of game design and development at Quinnipiac University, recently won a 2018 Best Game Award at the Miami @ Play festival.
Jonah Warren of North Haven, assistant professor of game design and development at Quinnipiac University, recently won a 2018 Best Game Award at the Miami @ Play festival.
Warren’s game, “Sloppy Forgeries,” earned first prize at the festival, which features a curated collection of art and design work demonstrating a range of playful experiences. This exhibition champions the diversity and potential of play and the unique ways that games can build community, transcend language and serve as artistic media.
“Sloppy Forgeries” is a fast-paced, two-player, two-mouse, local multiplayer painting game for the computer. Each player is given a mouse, a blank canvas, and a few simple paint tools for choosing color and brush size. Every round, a famous painting from art history is revealed. Players have 90 seconds to copy the painting as quickly and as accurately as possible.
“Inevitably, it is sloppy and bad, which is part of the fun,” Warren said. “You are scored based on how accurate –– pixel-by-pixel –– your painting is versus the original.”
Warren said he hopes to release a mobile version of “Sloppy Forgeries” next year.
“The game is currently in development, but I’ve been showing it at exhibitions and festivals to keep the momentum going,” Warren said. “Of all the games I have made, this is the one that has had the best reception. Sometimes, very simple ideas make the best games.”
Warren, who joined the Quinnipiac faculty 4½ years ago, has a bachelor of arts degree in computer science and visual art from Bowdoin College and a master of fine arts in design and technology from Parsons School of Design. He has more than 15 years of game design experience and is co-founder of Feedtank, a Brooklyn, New York-based studio that uses new technologies to create playful interactive experiences. Feedtank has created interactive installations and systems for Adidas, NCAA, IAC, Kyocera, Crunch Fitness, and the Harlem Children Zone.