REGISTRATION FOR SUMMER 2025 IS NOW OPEN!

If you’re interested in making the most out of your summer, register soon. Space is limited!

Champlain Offers offers intensive residential programs for high school students looking to explore or expand their knowledge of the world of game development. Both Academies utilize the methods of our highly acclaimed Game Studio and are taught by our own industry-expert faculty. Using the most current technology and modeled after the most successful game studios, these Academies offer an ideal setting in which to study game development in a hands-on, collaborative environment.

Champlain Game Academy

The Champlain Game Academy offers high school students entering grades 10-12 and recent high school graduates the opportunity to explore what it’s like to study game development at a college level. Like the Game Studio, our program emphasizes teamwork and creative collaboration across all the game development disciplines. In order to understand how a professional game development team works, students will be introduced to all aspects of game development, including:

• Game Art and Animation
• Business
• Design
• Narrative
• Production Management
• Programming
• Sound
• Testing

Then, under the direction of professors and industry professionals, students will gain real-world experience in their areas of special interest in this field by learning to work together across game development disciplines to build original game prototypes using:

• Maya
• Unity
• C#

By the end of this program, students will have an understanding of the behind-the-scenes operations of the world’s professional game studios, a game prototype that can be used in a portfolio for college applications, and first-hand experience of what it will be like to study game development in college.

Champlain Game Academy is designed for:

• Students entering grades 10-12 and recent high school graduates about to enter college
• Students who want to know what it takes to make games
• Students thinking about studying game development in college

Indie Game Studio

The Indie Game Studio offers students entering grade 11 through those who have completed their first year of college and who have experience with game development (using Unity, Unreal, or 3D modeling software such as Maya or Blender) the opportunity to experience what it’s like to start their own independent video game studio, work with a team, and develop game concepts! Students will learn about the various roles necessary for a successful game development team while getting intensive practice in collaborative problem-solving and effective communication. 

The course covers the full game development process, from concept to publishing through marketing and community development, teaching the language and values common to game development environments. Sessions will include in-class technical instruction and lessons on the game industry, but will mostly be structured like a real-world studio with critique and work sessions. Game concepts will be rapidly prototyped with easy-onboarding game engines. 

The Indie Game Studio will cover:

• Game development roles and responsibilities
• Game development phases, processes and pipelines
• Team prototyping, problem-solving and iterative development
• Entrepreneurism, publishing, ethics and games as a business
• Personal and professional conduct for game development teams
• Giving, receiving and responding to critique
• Time management, personal initiative and responsibility

For the culminating project, students will present their “game pitch” informed by real-world industry data and a playable prototype they can share with friends and family!

The Indie Game Studio is designed for:

• Students entering grades 11 through completion of the first year of college (ages 16 – 19)
• Students who may have completed the Champlain Game Academy in a previous year
• Students with some experience in game development software such as GameMaker, Unity, Unreal, or 3D modeling software (such as Maya or Blender), including self-taught students.
• Students interested in studying game development in college who want to deepen their knowledge of the Indie Game industry