Inspiration

As Wing Mentors for the Innovate Living Learning Program at Virginia Tech, we work to ensure that freshman students have a seamless transition to college life. But they have so many questions, and can't figure anything out until they get to campus. Yes, that's part of the learning curve of college, but for such a large school, we wanted to provide a resource that students would actually use. We landed on a Virginia Tech themed game that includes Hokie traditions, important characters, and fun facts that will genuinely help freshman students understand VT culture before they even get here, resulting in more confident and knowledgeable freshmen.

What it does

A current gameplay with 7 quests, 3 mini games, and one bonus scavenger hunt. Some of the quests include attending Cheesy Nights, meeting the therapy dogs and president Tim Sands, and visiting the Pylons and the Hahn Horticulture Garden. The mini games include the Civilians vs. Cadets snowball fight, a Hokie Kart race track, and an Enter Sandman themed piano tiles game. Traditions, characters, and comfort: all found on Hokie Quest.

How we built it

We relied a lot on google AI studio because it provided stunning and adaptable visual effects as well as Claude and Chat GPT for some error handling.

Challenges we ran into

Integrating audio and matching the piano tiles to the audio was a difficult challenge that required experimentation with both the background audio and the piano tiles. The layout on the game was a challenge to get right as everything had to fit but also be practical.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that the whole thing came together and all the games are playable. People that explored our work had fun and were intrigued by the options. We love how the retro feel as well as the Hokie spirit really comes through as you play the game.

What we learned

We learned how fun it is to build games and how customizable it is, but we also understood just how many traditions and opportunities are available at Virginia Tech, and how important it is for freshmen to feel like they're a part of the community as soon as possible.

What's next for Hokie Quest

We want to turn this into a real web and mobile app. With permission from Virginia Tech, we would like to make this a game that every student has on their phone. With regular quests, more seasons, and way more fun, every student will experience VT in the digital world.