🎮 Galaga Reimagined 2025 – Final Wrap-Up 🚀
This spring at MICA, students in the Advanced Concept Art course were challenged to reimagine Galaga, the legendary 1981 arcade shooter, through the lens of modern design and genre reinvention.
Over 14 weeks, they built entirely new universes inspired by the original’s core mechanics—recasting Galaga as everything from a bioluminescent horror game to a Saturday-morning-style racing series. Students explored pilots, bosses, ships, environments, UI elements, and tone. The final results: bold, risky, visually rich concept pitches ready for the modern entertainment industry.
🧠 Industry-Led Judging
To cap off the semester, over 20 game industry professionals—including art directors, illustrators, concept artists, UI/UX leads, and technical artists—joined us to select their Top 3 projects.
These judges came from companies such as:
🎮 Firaxis Games
🎮 Midsummer Studios
🎮 Walt Disney Games
🎮 UX is Fine
🎮 Woodfired Games
🎮 Legends of Learning
🎮 And numerous freelance and animation studios
Judges evaluated projects based on originality, nostalgia, creativity, execution, and presentation clarity, and many went above and beyond by offering detailed feedback without being asked.
👾 Judge’s Top Pick: Bea Parlade – Galaga: The Fallen
Judge’s Top Pick:
Bea Parlade
Galaga: The Fallen
Bea’s concept transformed Galaga into a dystopian urban fantasy with stylized motorcycle combat, crisp visual identity, and commanding character design.
“Most unique concept, fantastic visuals.”
“Grand prize winner! Just a really bold, complete, and exciting interpretation.”
“Stylized character and composition in the key art stood out.”
“Motorcycle design had story, realism, and strong form.”
Bea took home a Galaga Class of ’81 Countercade, now part of her own home collection.
💬 Expanded Judge Feedback by Student
Zora Troupe – Galaga: The Depths
“Underwater horror? Yes. Harpoons? Amazing.”
“Creature designs and color palette were haunting and powerful.”
“The concept had strong tone and clear execution — reminiscent of The Abyss or Alien.”
🔗 Zora’s Final Board
Sophie Sala – Galaga 500
“Totally unexpected — and it worked. Sponsor suits were brilliant.”
“Feels like a game you’d see on Switch today.”
“WipeOut meets Saturday morning cartoons in the best way.”
Rana Barua – Galaga: Xenosphere
“Incredible sci-fi horror flavor.”
“The Mysterio pilot was a standout.”
“Painted environments were dreamy, surreal, and sinister.”
Grace Doeller – Galaga: Swarmfall
“Bioluminescent sea creatures were a standout idea.”
“Great cohesion across pilot, logo, and ship design.”
“Strong atmosphere and color sense throughout.”
KC Tovera - Galaga: The Rebellion
“Best callouts of the class. Extremely readable and clear.”
“Boss Galaga variants were thoughtful and well-executed.”
“Key image had strong cinematic appeal.”
Bee Lawhorn - Galaga: Online
“Fun, whimsical, and clean. Totally nailed the Galaga vibe.”
“Boss Galaga and key image were clever and immersive.”
“Presentation was easy to follow and engaging.”
Phillip Zhong – Galaga: Survivors of Nowhere
“Moody, eerie, and cinematic.”
“Creature and ship designs were rich and memorable.”
Carl Cheng - Galaga: Saga
“Felt like a natural sequel to the original Galaga.”
“Strong character-ship relationship and visual consistency.”
Cierra Mercer – Galaga: Starset Strife
“The Matriarch sketch was a standout.”
“Top-down ship silhouette was excellent.”
“Great worldbuilding and visual identity.”
🔗 Cierra’s Final Board
Rachel Liu - Galaga: the Movie
“Boss Galaga was elegant and distinct.”
“Strong cohesion across pilot, ship, and creature design.”
Krow Zhang – Galaga: Cosmo Claws
“Retro-future charm. Loved the cat-pilot silhouette.”
“Creature designs were playful and well-composed.”
📸 Class Wrap-Up
Our final in-person class, with the group holding the signed Galaga Reimagined show poster from the Fox Gallery exhibit.
🔥 As the professor for this class, I’m incredibly happy that the signed poster from our Fox Gallery show is heading to my home arcade—where it’ll eventually hang beside the Galaga Class of ’81 machine. Every time I fire up a game, it’ll be a reminder of just how fun this class was to teach, and how well you all embraced the concept and brought it to life. You took the idea and ran with it—and the results were unforgettable.
📝 What’s Next
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing:
A closer look at each student’s final key image assignment
A deep dive into their environment design work
A downloadable version of the Fox Gallery show poster
🔥 To the students: you built imaginative worlds, took creative risks, and brought the Galaga universe to life in ways that genuinely impressed a wide range of industry professionals. You should be proud.
This class set a new high-water mark in my time teaching at MICA—not because of the assignment, but because of how fully you all embraced it. Thank you for letting me be part of the ride.
—Dave 🎮