Students Build Community and Video Games in a SUNY Canton Club

With growing student interest and emerging opportunities, the new Game Design Club is positioning itself as a creative engine on campus.

What began with a student wanting to push her creativity has grown into one of SUNY Canton’s most collaborative, creative and wholesome student-run organizations.

Lucy Battiste, a senior in the Game Design and Development major from Kings Park, said she helped launch the newly formed Game Design Club to build upon the concepts she and other students were learning in class.

“I’ve always wanted to make fun things and to be a source of fun for other people,” she said. “I was learning programming and art, and I really wanted an extra layer. I really wanted to make more games.”

Their games are typically debuted at student and community gatherings, including the Children’s Holiday Celebration held in December 2025, where the club released its first widely showcased project, “Penguin Game.” Inspired by mobile classics like “Subway Surfers,” the endless‑runner arcade game lets players guide a penguin down a three‑lane path while rolling an expanding snowball and dodging obstacles.

The game drew a steady crowd, with some children returning repeatedly to compete for the high score. Users could customize the penguin’s appearance by selecting from several hats or a tiara.

“That personalization was huge,” said club member Jesse Daniels of Commack, who noted that the concept for the game was suggested by Kyle (Ky) Benvenuti of Rochester. “Sometimes kids didn’t even play the game. They just liked making the penguin pink and laughing at it.”

Building on the success of Penguin Games’ customizable characters, the club has now turned its focus on a new ambitious project called “Physhbowl,” developed for the college’s recent Comic Con and Carnival of Clubs events. In the game, participants use a computer to build a custom avatar, which is then uploaded to a shared world. The characters then walk, dance, wave, and occasionally bump into one another.

“It’s really a proof of concept,” said Ryan Bender of Middle Island. “People really love seeing their characters come to life.”

Although primarily consisting of Game Design and Development students, the group welcomes students from all majors.

Game Design and development Lecturer Morgan Hastings, who serves as the faculty advisor for the club, said it’s become a learning environment that helps students collaborate and problem-solve their own creative projects. “Their creations will serve as portfolio pieces and resume material as they seek employment after college,” Hastings said. “I’m proud of their ingenuity and overall inclusive environment.”

In addition to Battiste, Daniels, Benvenutti and Bender, club members include Nick Johnson of Cheektowaga and Jenna Szalay of Tonawanda.