On July 15, 2017, high school youth-artists from SAY Sí’s HIVE (Home for Innovation & Video Ecology) New Media program launched a full version of the original game, “Date Me Super Senpai.” The game’s student developers were inspired by their own differences to create a gaming experience inclusive to players of variant body types, gender identity and sexual orientation. Students designed the gameplay, created all art, formed the story and wrote the code. Youth-artists worked collaboratively as a studio to develop “Date Me Super Senpai,” an open-world RPG set in a high school for superhumans, where players can explore the school and make different choices affecting who they can date and how they are perceived by other characters. The highlight of the game is its diversity – any player can feel represented through the superhuman characters as they try to survive the stresses of school and find love. Having previously released a beta version of the game as a collective studio in January, three lead youth artists worked for the last 6 months to bring the dating simulator to completion. These students are: Ren Alvarez, Age 15, 10th Grade from John Paul Stevens High School; Luis Castañeda, Age 16, 11th Grade from Southwest High School; Chabriely Rivera, Age 17, 12th Grade from Lady Bird Johnson High School. Over a year in the making, the game’s final version was launched at the much anticipated Video Games Live™, a multimedia concert performed by fellow youth organization, Youth Orchestra of San Antonio (YOSA). Having previously been featured at PAX South 2017 and Alamo City Comic Con 2017, the game is now available for purchase online at https://say-si.itch.io/date-me-super-senpai. Follow
