LT's Youth Debut Nine Video Games at the Gameheads Showcase (see the previews!)

A group of 17 teenagers and young adults from Liliʻuokalani Trust (LT) have developed video games that invite players to battle moʻo monsters, string together flower lei, order from a food truck, and tackle various missions related to social and economic issues in Hawaiʻi.

The themes sparked plenty of curiosity at the 10th annual Gameheads Showcase this past summer when the LT youth — hailing from Hilo, Waiʻanae, Molokai, and Maui — traveled to the Bay Area to present their works.

LT has a partnership with Gameheads, an Oakland-based mentorship program for students across the nation to pursue careers in the video game and tech industries.

The partnership began in 2023, when three youth attended the Gameheads Showcase to reveal their first-ever video game, "Night March," inspired by Hawaiian warriors. This year, 17 youth from LT created a total of nine video games, scheduled for release at the end of 2024.

Game development required hundreds of dedicated hours from the group.

Every Saturday for nearly six months, the LT youth met virtually or in person with Gameheads participants to learn about software programs including zBrush, Substance Painter, Blender, Intermediate Unity development, and Linear Algebra.

They also were taught Unity development, Adobe Photoshop animation, Trello, and the open-source software Twine.

The weekly lessons taught more than technology, however. The youth also honed their social-emotional skills necessary for college life and adulthood. 

 “We used video games as a carrot, a delivery system and an educational tool,” says Gideon Devendra, a Gameheads mentor and teacher in Hawaiʻi. “In school, failure is often frowned upon, and that's antithetical to our philosophy at Gameheads. This was a safe space where students are supposed to mess up and reach beyond their comfort zones.”  

Creating Hawaiʻi-centric storylines also allowed the youth to strengthen their cultural identities and introduce Hawaiʻi to other game enthusiasts on the Continent. Culture is central to LT's programs and services, designed for Hawaiian youth ages 0-26.

“The students have the opportunity to shift how others view Hawaiʻi,” Devendra says. “It's a big responsibility, but it's also a really exciting for both the students and the industry altogether.”

Below are four game previews, courtesy of Gameheads.