What is gamebIITes?

gamebIITes is a juried exhibit of student games organized by the Illinois Tech chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA IIT). Each year, student developers from across Chicago present their work at the Kaplan Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship. The event is free and open to the public, sponsored by the College of Computing, the Department of Humanities, and the Kaplan Institute alongside the GEM program.

gamebIITes 2025

April 10, 2025 | 5-7 PM | Kaplan Institute, Tellabs

The Showcase

2025 marked another successful year for the showcase. Student games from across the GEM program and beyond were presented to a live audience, with a juried awards ceremony rounding out the evening. The Kaplan Institute continues to be an excellent venue for the event.

GDC 2025

One of the bigger highlights of the year was the IGDA IIT chapter sponsoring students' travel to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. As IGDA president, I pioneered and planned the trip, submitting a formal funding request to the university and coordinating all the logistics to make it happen. Assistant Professor of Experiential Media and Design Bo Rodda served as faculty sponsor for the trip. Read the full writeup on the GDC 2025 trip here.

New IPRO Opportunity

GEM faculty member Arlen Moller proposed and helped develop a new IPRO course called Reimagining Social Recreation: Building A Campus-Wide Game, led by instructor and industry expert Pete Wendel. IPRO courses give students hands-on experience working in interdisciplinary teams on real-world projects, it is exciting to see game development represented within that framework at Illinois Tech.

Clinton E. Stryker Distinguished Service Award

I was honored to receive the Clinton E. Stryker Distinguished Service Award alongside fellow IGDA member Yailine. The award recognizes distinguished service to the Illinois Tech community, and receiving it as IGDA chapter treasurer and a GEM minor (CS '26) was a meaningful acknowledgment of the work we both put into the organization. Congratulations to Yailine as well!

gamebIITes 2026

April 10, 2026 | 5-7 PM | Kaplan Institute, Tellabs

The Showcase

This was the largest gamebIITes in at least 4 years. A huge part of that credit goes to the incredible coordination by Fannie Yu and Danish Nadar. Around 70 attendees showed up, and game submissions came in from schools all across the Chicago area:

This year we took over the entire first floor of the Kaplan Institute, which meant two rooms running simultaneously and enough space to actually fill with 70 people. To keep everything coordinated across the venue, I ran a microphone setup with two mics, one per room, piped through the speakers placed throughout the floor. I served as MC for the night, handling the opening ceremony, the closing and awards, and all the general coordination in between. It was a real test of communication and crowd management, and honestly one of the more fun challenges I've taken on with the chapter.

Flyers created by Fannie Yu:

Looking Back

Across two years of gamebIITes, it has been rewarding to help build a stronger game development community at Illinois Tech. Seeing student developers present their work to a real audience, and watching attendees genuinely engage with what's been built, is what makes the effort worthwhile.

If you are a student game developer in the Chicago area, consider submitting to next year's showcase. If you just want to play some great student-made games, the event is free and open to all.

*Contact igda@illinoistech.edu to get involved!