University of Advancing Technology's Official Technology Blog

On the fifth day of UAT’s annual Techmas, we’re hitting play! 🎮 Today, we’re spotlighting five games that come with the coveted UAT professor seal of approval—titles that aren’t just fun, but also showcase creativity, innovation, and lessons worth learning. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just looking for something engaging to try this holiday season, these picks are guaranteed to level up your downtime.

Instructor RaLen Watson-Davis Game Art & Animation "The game that gets my seal of approval is Hi-Fi Rush! This game is a rhythm action game, and it play similar to Devil May Cry. Everything in the game moves to the beat of the music, from the environment down to the combat! Along with some great rock genre songs, the art style has an awesome comic book style look and plays like a dream. I like fighting games and I like music, and the bonus of having a sick art style really made this game stand out to me! It innovates on both action games and rhythm games with the gameplay and mechanics introduced. This game is great for anyone to play, so give it a shot! It's fun and satisfying to play!"

Professor Dane Cavanaugh Toft Game Studies "My favorite game would have to be "Splatoon 3". It is a 3^rd person 4v4 shooter created by Nintendo. The player is a character that can transform between two forms, a "Kid" form and a "Squid" form. The goal of the game is to best the opponent team in "Turf Wars" where the goal is not to always get kills on other players like other shooters but instead to paint the most turf on the ground at the end of a 3 minute fast paced match. The players use a variety of weapons to dish out massive paint such as giant paint rollers, buckets to fling ink around the map, or even sniper rifles shaped like a giant pencil. "

Dr. Hue Henry Game Programming "World of Warcraft- Peaking in 2010 at over 12 million subscribers ( that's more than the population of Sweden! ) WoW is the most popular MMORPG of all time. Even now, more than 20 years after the game was released, there are still millions of passionate players who spend their free time hanging out in Azeroth. Understanding how this game can entertain this massive world-wide audience for such an incredibly long time is critical for any game design students who want to make their own popular, long-lasting games. Plus, it's a lot of fun! "

Game Studies Regent Derric Clark Game Design & Virtual Reality "Stardew Valley is an open-ended cozy RPG originally released on February 26, 2016. Stardew Valley’s longevity is fostered by continuous updates over the last 10 years including multiplayer support, new events, new areas, and new gameplay systems. The 1.6 update boosted the average active daily players on Steam with Stardew Valley regularly ranking in the top 50 and often in the top 25. The game even hit over 200,000 concurrent players in 2024. After inheriting your Grandpa’s farm, you move to Stardew Valley and start your adventures. Meeting the local villagers, starting your farm, and exploring the Valley kick off the gameplay and the player experience within the game. Starting with your Grandpa’s old tools, you will Farm, Forage, Fish, Mine, and Fight your way through the story arcs, task completion, and upgrades to many systems in the game over hours and hours of gameplay and potentially, multiple play through. This retro graphics, cozy game has an amazing amount of content and with modding, has unlimited possibilities for gameplay style and fun."

Professor Jake Perrine Esports Coach "I have been playing this one game that came out last month a lot called 'ARC Raiders'. Its a multiplayer extraction shooter where you fight other players and robots for better equipment and weapons. "

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