🎮 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.

🔗 View Bea’s Final Board →


💬 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.”


🔗 Sophie’s Final Board


Rana Barua – Galaga: Xenosphere

“Incredible sci-fi horror flavor.”
“The Mysterio pilot was a standout.”
“Painted environments were dreamy, surreal, and sinister.”


🔗 Rana’s Final Board


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.”


🔗 Grace’s Final Board


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.”


🔗 KC’s Final Board


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.”


🔗 Bee’s Final Board


Phillip Zhong – Galaga: Survivors of Nowhere

“Moody, eerie, and cinematic.”
“Creature and ship designs were rich and memorable.”


🔗 Phillip’s Final Board


Carl Cheng - Galaga: Saga

“Felt like a natural sequel to the original Galaga.”
“Strong character-ship relationship and visual consistency.”


🔗 Carl’s Final Board


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.”


🔗 Rachel’s Final Board


Krow Zhang – Galaga: Cosmo Claws

“Retro-future charm. Loved the cat-pilot silhouette.”
“Creature designs were playful and well-composed.”


🔗 Krow’s Final Board


📸 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 🎮

Next
Next

Staring Down Giants: Galaga Key Image Check-In