RIT student will take ‘Year Unknown’ on the road in hopes of winning Best Student Game

Julian Heuser, a fifth-year computer science major from Potsdam, N.Y., is taking his game Year Unknown on the road to the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco in March. His game is in the running for Best Student Game at the Independent Games Festival, which is held during the conference. Released in October, Year Unknown is available on Steam and Itch.io and was also the Best in Show winner at the 2024 RIT Experiential Development and Games Expo.

What’s the concept behind Year Unknown?
My game, Year Unknown, is a short, story-driven exploration game about the very far future. With the help of two artificial intelligences, players explore a universe conquered by humanity, uncover their purpose in it, and try to stop it from falling apart. To clarify, not real AI, just written characters. When I started developing the game, I didn’t have to clarify that!

How long have you been developing games and where did your interest for game development come from?
It depends on what you consider a game. The earliest I remember was when I was probably around 8 or 9 years old. I tried making a game in PowerPoint, where you had to quickly click a button or it would auto-advance to the next slide, which showed “game over.” Eventually, I started using a platform called Scratch and then I got into modifying games like Half-Life and Portal.

I’ve always been curious about how things work, and learning programming and computer science in general is where that curiosity took me. I’m also the type of person that needs a creative outlet. Right now, that’s mostly in the form of music. I play cello and make electronic music in my free time. Game development has always appealed to me because it lets me combine all of my interests.

What are some of your academic or personal highlights from your time at RIT?
For me, the best part of RIT is the people. Through clubs and my on-campus job, I’ve gotten to know a lot of super cool and talented people, and that’s something I really value.

As for a more specific highlight, last year I took “Interactive Music Experiences,” which was the most fun class I’ve taken at RIT. Along with a few friends (shout-outs to Orion, Chris, and Andromeda), I made a short game and presented it at Imagine RIT. Seeing people of all ages and backgrounds play and enjoy it was super rewarding and reminded me why I make games.