Build a game. Join a team. Create a portfolio-ready game development experience.
The Arcade is a volunteer-driven game development experience where SNHU students and alumni collaborate via Discord to create small, modular games that may become part of a larger virtual arcade-style project. Participants can contribute technical, creative, design, writing, or production skills while gaining experience with real project workflows. (This experience is volunteer-based and unpaid. There is no financial compensation or promise of compensation).
What Is The Arcade?
- The Arcade is a collaborative game development experience designed to give students and alumni a place to contribute to small-scoped games that can showcase skills, creativity, teamwork, and project follow-through.
- The larger project vision is to create a virtual arcade-style experience where individual games are developed by teams and integrated into a shared arcade hub. This experience is designed to help students and alumni showcase polished work, demonstrate collaboration, and build portfolio-ready experiences.
- Participants may work on individual game projects as part of smaller teams, with team leads helping manage structure, review, and integration. Individual game projects are intended to function as modular components, with teams contributing their own games into a larger arcade hub experience.
Platform Requirements
- Discord Use: The Arcade uses Discord to plan and discuss all sessions. This includes game planning, sprint meetings, and general discussions.
- Accessibility: Discord is completely free. Users can access it via a web browser or the mobile/desktop app.
Why Participate?
- Students often hear that they need experience to get experience. The Arcade is designed to help address that challenge by giving participants an opportunity to practice collaborative project work, build visible artifacts, and contribute to a larger shared experience.
- The Arcade can help students create project examples they may later use when applying for jobs, internships, freelance opportunities, or other career-building experiences.
Session Schedule
- Participating in The Arcade is based on a rolling admissions format; participants can join at any time, not just at the start of a session.
- Team Sessions:
- Summer: July 1 – September 30, 2026
- Fall: October 1 – December 31, 2026
- Winter: January 1 – March 31, 2027
- Spring: April 1 – June 30, 2027
Interested In Participating? Have Questions?
- Students and alumni should contact The Arcade project team leaders to get started:
- Adjunct Joe Whitworth (j.whitworth@snhu.edu)
- Alumni Michael Peck (michael.peck@snhu.edu)
- Adjunct Austin Todd (a.todd@snhu.edu)
- When reaching out, consider including:
- Email Subject Title: I’d Like To Join The Arcade!
- Your name
- Your SNHU major or career area of interest
- Whether you are interested in programming, art, design, writing, production, documentation, or another role
- Any questions you have about participating