Strikethrough: an award-winning game

Final year BA (Hons) Games Art & Design student Marianne Skinner Cassidy was recently awarded a coveted Yellow Pencil in the D&AD New Blood Awards 2020. Here we take a look at her winning project.

The D&AD New Blood Awards aim to identify, showcase and nurture the creative superstars of tomorrow. Each year they invite entries from students, graduates and young creatives around the world, in response to real briefs set by real clients.

Marianne responded to the brief set by Rare & Xbox, to create a game that helps players create stories together. Her game Strikethrough sees players trying to complete all the weird and silly tasks on their to-do lists with wobbly noodle arms, with the first to ‘strikethrough’ their list declared the winner. 

In keeping with the brief of helping players to ‘create stories together’, players can find creative ways to complete tasks, with each game presenting a new combination of comedic player-to-player moments and unique shared experiences. 

Marianne’s response to the brief earned her a Yellow Pencil, awarded for ‘the most outstanding work that achieves true creative excellence. Amongst the jury in her category were top names from organisations such as Aardman Animations, Microsoft UK, Unit9 and Codemasters. 

Having just finished her BA (Hons) Games Art and Design, Marianne will now be starting a new job with Sprung Studios.