Here’s where in Serbia you can learn to make video games
On our platform Shift2Games, you can find a list of educational centers where you can learn game development skills. This time, we want to introduce some of them indirectly, through the games they have created.
Platformers from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts
Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade
The youngest university department for video game development is Visual Effects, Animation and Game Art at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, whose oldest generation is currently in its third year of studying. So far, the department has created several games: at least 5 platformers, 10 walking simulators and about 6 VR games. We can’t wait for the next academic year, because in the last year of study, their task is to create a complete complex game that goes on Steam!
VR game of Srđana Miljkovića
Faculty of Electronic Engineering, University of Niš
Within the Electronics module and the Multimedia Technologies submodule, Srđan Miljković conceived his thesis as an experimental game in which the player, using a VR headset, is placed in an extreme situation that will evoke feelings of threat. For such a scenario, he chose a performance where the player is attacked with knives.
Bonds of the Zodiac, Alex X
Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad
In the game by Aleksa Manja from the Video Game Design department, a grieving girl, Rei, is drawn into a mystical realm where the Zodiac spirits are bound by the Jade Emperor. Mediate their inner struggles and guide them toward freedom in a first-person journey steeped in myth, conflict, and emotion. You can try the game demo on Steam.
Stone Blade, Sleepy Hound Studios
Faculty of Contemporary Arts, Belgrade
The title by Pavle Trišović from the Animation, Illustration and Game Art department is an action adventure in which you fight monstrous enemies, befriend strange and otherworldly travelers, journey through a brilliant and ancient world, and discover its secrets – all in a hand-drawn pixel art-style. As a Stone Warrior, absorb the powers of your enemies and use them as your own.
Bad Week, Nitročelik Games
Metropolitan University, Belgrade and Niš
Bogdan Jocić (Game Development) and Lara Žigić (Interactive Media Design) are two out of four members of Nitročelik Games, an indie team that recently announced their debut title, Bad Week. Step into the role of Zoran, a middle-aged alcoholic trying to survive the challenges of daily life while managing his health, relationships and addiction. Your goal is to keep it together for a week and make choices that affect your life and family. Wishlist the game on Steam!
Poslednje detinjstvo, Teodora Pavlović and Borko Milošević
Master 4.0, University of Arts in Belgrade
At the Master’s program Video Game Art and Design in Belgrade, launched by the Digital Serbia Initiative, Teodora Pavlović and Borko Milošević created a video game whose progress you can follow on Instagram. This narrative 3D adventure is set in a realistic world 25 years after the apocalypse. There are no people, zombies, or mutants in it — only one child remains, the last witness to the human race. His peaceful life in Happy Valley is interrupted by the sudden death of his parents, which forces him to leave the safety of home and embark on a journey to discover the truth.
Colleges aren’t the only places where you can make your first game. 3Lateral, as part of Epic Games, and SGA organize courses in various formats where you learn to use UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite). Game Crafting participants had a finished and published game in the form of Fortnite Island in just a month, and here’s one of them:
Downtown Wars, shmee1
Game Crafting, Novi Sad and Belgrade
Miloš Karadžić has created a 5 vs 5 game where you team up and fight for complete domination of the downtown streets. Learn the fastest ways to move and reach the goal before your enemies. You can access the game at this link.