Tyler Blust from Mason, Ohio is a Senior Games and Animation major and the President of Ohio University’s Game Developers Association (OUGDA). OUGDA is a collaboration of Computer Science, Integrated Media, Marketing, Management, Sociology, and of course Games and Animation majors, that challenge themselves to create and develop new and exciting games in a very short period of time. This can range anywhere from 48 hours to one month.
Taylor Rohrig, Tyler Blust, Courtney Irby
Making video games is no easy feat, especially when challenging each member with tasks like creating a game where the only mechanic is to tap the screen. Creativity is soaring through the GRID lab during their weekly meetings but it doesn’t stop there.
To help students benefit beyond adding game creations to their portfolios, OUGDA provides one-on-one tutoring, lecture series from members within the organization, and the opportunity to travel to conferences like the Ohio Game Developers Expo in Columbus and the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Blust has done some pretty amazing work himself in his time with OUGDA. When he was only a sophomore, he had a major role in the development of the game Super Sloth. This game was published on Android and iOS (no longer on iOS), downloaded a few thousand times and received mostly 4+ star ratings. Tyler is currently working on the development of a new game (which he says is super secretive) containing a “Virtual Reality Narrative based game to be played on the Oculus rift.” It has been a project going on since July and will be premiering some of the content at the student expo in April.
When Blust isn’t making some of the newest and sickest games, he enjoys spending his free time writing. He is working on some longer stories as well as a script he hopes to turn into a film one day.
Although Tyler does enjoy playing some intramural soccer and Halo, he is still looking for Player Two (she can even be Player One if she wants) to watch a basketball game or indulge in some Netflix binge sessions. Daredevil and Jessica Jones are his favorites, but it would only take a little persuading to get him out to the movie theatre.
Students can join OUGDA by coming to one of the weekly meetings at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesdays at the GRID lab, which is on the 2nd floor of Scripps Hall. They accept members all year long and love to take the time to get new members up to speed so they don’t feel behind. You can also email them at Ohiougda@Gmail.com if there are any questions, or visit their website.