Artist Fellowship

Thunderbird Strike is an art game that will be my first where I fully adapt my digital art to active elements in a game. While I am an established game designer and artist and have contributed art as backgrounds to games, I have yet to develop a game with moving characters and interactive/reactive assets from my own art. My main goal is to make this transition and reach a new level of sharing my voice through games. The game will then be distributed for free online and through exhibitions and festivals. Success is thus based on (1) completion and (2) distribution: downloads, play-throughs and replays, exposure through exhibitions, and acceptance in festivals including imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and IndieCade. Completing Thunderbird Strike and merging my own digital art with my game design and code is the most vital outcome that will expand my body of work and serve as the step that transitions me into fully independent artful game development. The distribution of the game to players from all around the world through free web play and mobile downloads, exhibitions, and festivals is paramount to measuring the game's success. Finally, the number of play-throughs and replays can be measured to better understand games as art that can be revisited. The design and the reception from players will result in media articles and peer reviewed academic articles with credit attributed to Arrowhead Regional Arts Council for making the game possible.