RIT student-faculty developed video game ‘That Damn Goat’ now available for purchase on Nintendo Switch console

A video game created by Rochester Institute of Technology students and faculty has reached a long-awaited milestone. That Damn Goat, developed and published through RIT’s MAGIC Spell Studios, is now available for purchase on the popular Nintendo Switch gaming console.

More than 60 RIT students and faculty from across the university’s nine colleges developed the game over three years.

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RIT

‘That Damn Goat,’ a video game developed by RIT students and faculty, is now available on the Nintendo Switch gaming console.

Aaron Nieboer, a production associate for RIT’s MAGIC Spell Studios, explained that “this game was meant to give students an opportunity to work on something that was going to be released into the marketplace. So, the fact that we’re able to have our game available on the Nintendo Switch platform gets us all excited and validates the work that we’ve done.”

Mike Santos, a second-year student in RIT’s game design and development master’s degree program, is the game’s console port engineer and is thrilled to have a published game on his résumé.

“Being able to have a game published on the Nintendo Switch allows me to show that I can apply my skills in various ways,” said Santos, who is from Rome, N.Y. “This looks great to companies in the game industry and will ultimately help me achieve my dream of becoming a senior-level development lead on a high-profile AAA game.”

That Damn Goat gets its name from the non-playable goat character, a conniving animal with the power to randomly change scenarios by switching environments and player-selected characters, teleporting itself or players to other locations within the game, and more.

The game development team also celebrated the release of That Damn Goat on the Steam platform in December 2023.

“Throughout my time at RIT, I have not only learned how to code, but I have also developed the problem-solving capabilities necessary to tackle challenging situations and develop games for multiple platforms,” added Santos. “I’ve been able to explore the path of optimization and learn different techniques that are required to excel at it. This has expanded my job options and has shown me that getting a job in an optimization or game-porting position is something I would really enjoy.”