MAGE: From Dorm Project to Steam Debut

What started out as a simple “What if?” will soon reach a huge milestone for anyone looking to break into the industry. And the team behind MAGE — Game Programming and Game Design double major Benjamin Adams ’28, Game Design major Harry Tomasco ’28, Game Programming major Alex Weiswasser ’28, and Game Design major Maxwell Totten ’27 — go by something more formal than just “roommates” or “friends” these days. They’re now their own LLC and fledgling indie studio: FunRug Studio LLC.

The 2–4 player online or couch co-op fighting game gets its name from the selection of wizard-like characters that players choose from to be their fighter. The catch is that players only have three control buttons to battle it out with: a jump/movement button, a shoot button, a counterspell button and the joystick to aim. The controls are deceivingly simple, but the skill ceiling is high.

Players have their option of 21 mages, all of whom have different kits and ways of modifying the controls. Some options include Dark Mage, where players must spin their joystick quickly in a circle to recharge their shot, or Bug Mage, who has a creature named “Buggy” who fires alongside them. Other mages move faster but shoot lighter, and others have boomerangs. They designed the kits across a variety of styles, giving players plenty of options to find their perfect mage match.

“Everyone has a favorite Mage,” Tomasco explained, “Every time we bring the game to testing, it’s great to hear that nobody can come to a clear conclusion as to who the best Mage is.”

Similar to games like Towerfall and Boomerang-Fu, it’s a quick game that’s perfect to pull out with a group of friends and sink a couple of hours into during your next game night.

That winter, they formed an LLC for their fledgling indie studio: FunRug Studio. For them, officializing it was necessary not only from a business perspective to set up their Steam page, but also from a brand perspective — they had no plans of stopping after MAGE.

Over the next six months, development continued at a rapid pace. What started as four characters became a roster of 21 characters and over 200 maps. Each character was voiced by friends, family, or even supporters of the game (such as Siegel himself, who voices ‘Storm Mage’).

With advice from professors Robbie Wakefield, Dana Steinhoff, and Career Collaborative Coach Connor Holtkamp, they began marketing their game to a wider audience.

The team hosted regular meetings and settled into their different roles creating the game. This was also when the developers had a chance to expand their development skills.

“I’ve gotten way more into game architecture than I thought I would,” Weiswasser explained. “Having solid game architecture where anyone can work from anywhere on it without creating new bugs is vital. It’s important to have architecture that makes every single person’s job easier.”

With guidance from Game Design student Matthew O’Neill ‘27, Adams picked up pixel art and updated all of the game sprites without any prior experience. He quickly became the lead artist on the team, creating 21 character portraits, the UI/UX design, and original art for each Steam Achievement.

Tomasco had a background in band and choir, but no experience in musical composition for a project like this. He stepped up and built the backing track that added in a new instrument in the game’s main theme for each mage selected during a round. What started as an experiment has since grown into something more: he’s now pursuing a minor in Game Sound Design, turning a passion he’s had since high school into a core part of this creative project.

Totten, who had never done marketing work before, also tried his hand at making regular clips, videos, and advertising pushes for the game. Since daily uploads of clips began, the game received 250 more wishlists.