Summer Camp Video Games: 6 studios share their ideas

For all its impact on movies, television, and books, America’s sleep-away camp has done extremely small damage to the digital world of video games.

The original psychonauts placed his government training facility at Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp and 2017 Friday the 13th the game brought us back to the legendary Camp Crystal Lake. Supermassive Games is also fresh from its latest release, The Quarry, in which nine camp counselors fight for their lives against supernatural forces. But these games are anomalies in the grand scheme of things. movies like meatballs, heavyweights, Values ​​of the Addams Familyand Wet hot American summer established summer camp films as a pop culture force and TV shows like Camp Laszlo and American Horror Story: 1984 followed. Video games have yet to treat summer camps like the mainstream genre they are.

But that won’t stop us from dreaming. Apparently, it hasn’t stopped developers from doing the same either. We reached out to six studios to ask them what their ideal summer camp game would be like, regardless of budget or schedule, and their answers were as varied as the games they’ve actually made.

Now we have a clear conscience and the responsibility rests with the publishers to give these guaranteed classics the time of the day.

The last summer at Camp Gloom

Image: Disney Channel

As Britons, our idea of ​​an American-style summer camp comes mostly from movies, and the Camp Chippewa that sticks in our minds is Camp Chippewa Values ​​of the Addams Family! We also really enjoyed the atmosphere and gameplay of Out in Nature with a Map fire clock, and would love to do an outdoor game in a similar style but with a little more emphasis towards puzzle/detective elements. And we Also love the atmosphere, humor and mystery of the TV show gravity falls.

To sum it up, our ideal summer camp game would combine the energy and detective mystery of gravity falls with the graphics and gameplay elements of fire clock and have a dark but wholesome narrative inspired by the Addams Family! let’s call it The last summer at Camp Gloom. – Evil Viking, developer of Strange horticulture

Bloodborne x Summer Camp Island

Image: FromSoftware

What happened if bloodborne met Summer camp island? Thousands of kids will come to a remote summer camp featuring a motley cast of Camp Counselors, Forest Friends and Bad Bullies. You play as an unnamed, silent protagonist whose only special ability is to nod or shake his head. Using your powers of communication, you must unite summer camp against the evil that lurks at the heart of Wicked Woods.

This is an always online game as much of the game doesn’t make sense and you have to rely on “fellow campers” from Other Timelines to drop messages, items and such. There is “The Lizard” in the game that will be called “Boo”. I want a significant chunk of the budget to go into rendering The Lizard. If you connect a second controller, you can control “The Lizard”. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE DON’T STEAL. —William Pugh, founder of Crows Crows Crows, developer of The Parable of Stanley: Ultra Deluxe

graffiti development

Image: Jackbox Games

It’s very jackbox-y, but I really love summer camp graffiti. Sharpened on cabin walls, under bunks, carved into trees, or crude latrine stands. I imagine a game where everyone is 10 years old and you draw and write graffiti about your fictional summer together. Five years later you are all 15. The drawing board is also showing its age. Some lines are still clear while others have faded or disappeared. You draw and write about your teenage summer again and reuse the remaining lines. Then you are a 20-year-old camp counselor. Again, paint on the partially faded wall. Maybe, over the years, Brad loves hot dogs will become Brad loves Jenny, which later becomes Stacy loves Jenny. Or you just draw silly stuff and over time the nose of one drawing later becomes the butt of another drawing.

Later rounds might include drawing from the perspective of a wedding party renting out the campground, middle-aged employees at a company retreat, woodland animals, or a group of off-season serial killers, to name a few. —Arnie Niekamp, ​​studio editor at Jackbox Games, developer of Jackbox party pack 8

camp earth

Image: Schell Games

STOCK EARTH uses a next-generation mixed reality headset. You only put it on to watch a summer camp bus or spaceship land in front of your house. Eager aliens from across the galaxy are here because Your House will be the headquarters for their summer camp. The game takes place in real-time as the aliens spend the next six weeks exploring your home while you guide them in activities of your choice. Crafts, space s’mores and interstellar romance abound. Help aliens make friends and not completely destroy your home while you learn their surprising secrets and maybe something about yourself. – Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games, developer of I expect you to die 2

Camp Tyrannosaurus Teeth

Image: Border developments

From the frontier perspective, it would be particularly interesting (albeit a little dangerous!) to see what might unfold at a Jurassic world evolution 2 Summer Camp! We even introduced a Camp Cretaceous dinosaur pack last year, so the Jurassic franchise has already explored some camp-related hijinks.

While the sights at a dino-themed summer camp would be amazing with impressive dinosaurs, flying and marine reptiles, and beautiful sprawling landscapes, there’s always that added risk factor – who knows what could go wrong! From dino escapes to weather disasters like hurricanes and even snowstorms, campgoers would have a lot to report on their visits. It would be worth getting close to triceratops when traveling in a gyrosphere or to see the powerful mosasaur plunge out of the lagoon water during feeding time. We advise all campers against it Tyrannosaurus rex Case of course… —Rich Newbold, game director at Frontier Developments, developer of Jurassic world evolution 2

Sleepaway FOMO

Image: The wild bakers

It’s summer and all your friends are going to different summer camps. Everyone except you You stay at home with your grandma and have nothing to do except take care of all your friends’ households: water the plants, feed the cats and dogs, sort the mail, etc. In the process, you discover little things that you discover nothing about yourself they and their relationships with you knew… and you can prepare something for each of them that will surprise them when they come back (crafting minigame). Eventually they come back and feel super touched. The game ends with a big party that all your friends throw for you because you are such a nice friend. – Emeric Thoa, Creative Director at The Game Bakers, developer of oasis