Local alumni collaborate on new game app

A host of CCAD alumni working at the gaming app company Sidebolt Studios are putting the finishing touches on Viking Command, a new game to be released in the next month.

Alumni Will Handford (Animation 2010), James Haskins (Media Studies Time-Based 2008), David Hovey (Illustration 2009), and Nathan Ziggafee (Illustration 2010) all contributed to Viking Command's gameplay design, character design, and animation.

Recent Illustration alumnus Tyler Justice (CCAD 2013) also works for the company as an intern.

Hovey, who works as a background and concept artist, wrote a blog post about the artistic journey of game design. The most challenging part of the process, he said, is ensuring that all the design elements are cohesive.

“It was amazing watching this game change from the initial idea to the finished product,” Hovey said. “Every time we made a decision, the design would have to adapt to better serve the app. It was a fun, hectic process.”

Handford is from Hillard, OH (Hilliard Davidson High School); Haskins is from London, OH (Jonathan Alder High School); Hovey is from New Knoxville, OH (New Knoxville High School); Justice is from Stockton, NJ (Hunterdon Central Regional High School); and Ziggafee lives in Columbus, OH.