The Next Wave Emerges

Animation Workshop Graduate Showcase

Part 1:
Game trailers

The Next Wave Emerges: Animation Workshop Graduate Showcase (part 1: game trailers)

WeAnimate 2025-05-07 | wam#0059

Series intro:

Every year, Animation Workshop students who are about to graduate go through a process of pitching films to each other, and then collaborating in teams to make the selected films. These films become the graduation projects of that year’s class, and often form the foundation of a career in the creative industries.

This year’s graduation films run the gamut from playful to heartbreaking, intriguing to horrifying, and showcase a huge range of skills and expertise in all aspects of animated filmmaking. Here are our reactions to the films of the 2025 Animation Workshop graduates.

Part 1:

Game Trailers

Rune Ravers

Rune Ravers is a vivid, retro arcade-inspired neon dream. This multiplayer rhythm game invites players to choose a colorful character, and engage in a unique gameplay where spells and attacks are timed to a frantic beat, and the winner gets to choose the next song. The rapid pace of the game is augmented by the striking visual design, dramatic animated effects, and unique gameplay.

Especially notable in this game was co-director and technical artist Noam Keasar’s challenge of making character motions and VFX synchronize with any player-selected music track. He also developed a procedural level generator that could generate game levels in minutes, based on just a photoshop file.

The Walls Have Eyes

The Walls Have Eyes is a surprisingly detailed, complex trailer, with striking visual designs and a thoughtfully executed story. This puzzle/adventure game has players controlling a Victorian-era detective as he seeks to solve the mystery of a murder and a missing will, with elements of horror and haunting in a Copenhagen mansion. This game trailer was an incredible technical and creative challenge, with 2D and 3D art and design, mocap and traditional animation, interactive and cinematic sequences, UI design, voiceover, and more. Art directors Julie Dinsen and Laurits Rask created striking layered illustrations with composited motion that beautifully enhance the story.

This game, however, is especially differentiated by its writing, in both the story and game structure, particularly notable in the character dialogue and voiceover sections. Writer/director Anne-Dorthe Seberg Hansen says that she was inspired by classic noir thrillers, but also wanted to use the game as a platform to discuss mental health care and changes in perceptions of mental health over time. She says:

I didn’t just want to write something for the sake of learning, I wanted it to have relevance and a message to share – maybe it could even do someone somewhere some good? I firmly believe that in order to survive in this world, a human being is capable of the most remarkable things, including living their life in hiding. People have always suffered, the only difference between now and then is that those who suffer dare talk about it. I wanted to make a game that despite being placed in a relatively dark and eerie game world, has a positive message to share that will hopefully help someone break free by reaching out for help themselves one day.

These game trailers showcase a huge range of skills and experiences on behalf of their respective teams, and represent significant technical and creative achievement. Whether these games eventually become playable experiences, or whether these talented graduates find other projects in the game industry, we wish them well on their next adventures.

Check out the trailer for these projects and all the graduate films here:

Trailer