Video game summer camp LaPixel celebrates 10 years of training young designers

Over the past decade, more than 150 students have participated in the camp, creating approximately 45 distinct 2-D video games complete with storylines, unique characters, villains and final bosses.

According to Garcie, this year's Team Spirit award winner, Om Ganapathy, highlights how the camp builds peer confidence. Ganapathy accepted the honor during a closing ceremony on June 26, where students showcased their finished projects to friends and family.

“Students are learning about storytelling and character design while also learning software like Photoshop and GameMaker in the first two weeks,” said Garcie, an LSUS digital arts faculty member and director of the LaPixel Academy. “They begin to form their own game ideas, and the class votes on their favorites before we form game studios with designated roles to create the games.

“Om is a quiet guy, and even though his game idea was selected, he was very shy at first and let other people run the show a little bit. But at some point, this little switch flipped, and he started running the show. He’d ask his group members what they were working on and taking charge. It was amazing to see him turn into a leader of the group, and the way he communicated with his group really stood out. It’s not just the software skills we want to focus on, we want to teach soft skills in creativity, communication and leadership," Garcie said.

Garcie noted that instructors and assistants lead the instruction during the first two weeks, but the three-person student studios take full control during the final two weeks to manage their own development schedules.

Camp staff members form the teams by balancing individual student strengths, such as graphic design versus character creation, before letting the student-led groups guide their projects to completion.

“I wouldn’t say we’re totally hands off in the last two weeks, but it’s really the teams working with each other and deciding how to best use their time,” Garcie said. “We help keep them on track, but they get in their studio groups, and they run the show.

“The neatest aspect to me is seeing how they work together.”

Although the core structure of the academy has stayed consistent for 10 years, artificial intelligence entered the mix last year and became an essential tool during the current session.

Garcie mentioned that participants successfully utilized ChatGPT as a primary tool for troubleshooting technical issues.

“For example, maybe they were having a problem in GameMaker, and ChatGPT would offer solutions based on their description of the problem,” Garcie said. “Where in the past, students may come to me with this problem, now there are students jumping into ChatGPT to solve their own problems.

“ChatGPT isn’t always correct because it’s not physically in their game, but it’s a tool that students can engage with that can show them the path to a solution.”

Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 who maintain at least a 2.5 GPA and submit an interest essay are eligible to apply for next year's camp. Applications are accepted online at www.lapixelacademy.com, with participants selected from the pool of applicants.

The camp is sponsored by LaPREP and provided entirely free of charge to all attendees. LaPREP operates as a no-cost math and science summer enrichment initiative at LSUS, supported by grants and community sponsors.

Looking ahead, Garcie hopes to expand the academy to include an advanced second-year program where returning students can refine their existing games or build entirely new creations.

Securing extra funding will be necessary to make that expansion a reality.

“It’s something participants always ask about us, and it’s something we’d love to do,” Garcie said. “I would love to see the program grow in that way.”