Introducing Team AFS and their student game: Asylum Runner

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Team AFS made Asylum Runner. Leading the pack was Josh O'Connor, Project Manager and Programmer on the team. Leading the design was programmer Mark Hankins with lead programmer being Daniel Knezevic. As for the art team, they did an extremely great job, creating a rather mental environment, the team led by Chevy McGoram was made out of Adelene Potgieter and Kyle Di Leo.

But let's talk about the game.

For having actually played Asylum Runner, I have firsthand information about it. And let me tell you, it does actually make you go a little crazy. Locked in a mental institution, Patient #23 has been dreaming of his freedom for a long time. One afternoon, his hallucination of a ghost bear chasing him leads him to run around the institution as he tries to escape capture. Josh O'Connor, Project Manager on the team says: ""I loved the idea of being chased by a ghost bear from the start. We really had a lot of freedom with what we could get away with because of Patient #23's insanity."

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Asylum Runner is a side scrolling running game, where the player must dodge obstacles in order to escape from the pursuing ghost bear. The challenge is set around getting the high-score, and you do get a thrill when you realise that your first attempt at it gets you a higher score than a seasoned gamer and game art tutor, Leon Woud. (I had to brag a little here - go me!)

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It is a fairly simple game to play and pick up as a casual gamer and for those hard core guys and girls out there, the pursuit for the highest score will keep you entertained for a bit. But there is one really cool feature that for me really makes the game a little unique: the further you get in the game, the crazier the environment gets with impressive distortions in the images. That's what I mean by you actually get to become a little mental yourself.

Josh O'Connor concludes: "I'm amazed at what we managed to achieve in only four weeks of production. This was my first time as project manager, so I had a lot to learn about managing a team of programmers and artists. There may still be bugs, some things may still need polish, but in the end it's a game I'm really proud of."

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