Imagine walking across the Mount Saint Mary College campus. Only this time, instead of hiking the steep hills of the Hudson Valley on your way to class, you are navigating a vibrant, pixelated 2D wonderland.
Thanks to the creative vision and technical chops of two junior Game Development majors, that virtual campus isn’t just an idea – it’s fully playable.
Meet Ennis Cruz ’28 of Newburgh, N.Y., and Leandro Ortiz ’28 of the Bronx: Together, they spent their summer turning the grounds of MSMC into “Mini-Mount: MSMC in 2D,” an interactive digital love letter to the college community.
The project came to life through the Mount’s 2026 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), an intensive eight-week program pairing students across all academic disciplines with faculty mentors to tackle collaborative, hands-on research and creative initiatives.
Working under the guidance of Lee Fothergill, professor of Mathematics, Cruz and Ortiz set out with an ambitious goal – take the essence of the college and pack it into a retro 16-bit adventure.
Housed within the Division of Mathematics, Media, and Computing Sciences, the Mount’s Bachelor of Science in Game Development is designed for exactly this kind of creative problem-solving. Students don't just learn theory; they master programming languages, software engineering, modern game engines, and digital artistry.
“Mini-Mount” captures that interdisciplinary spirit in every frame. It functions as both an interactive campus map and a retro arcade. Playing as the college’s beloved mascot, Mack the Knight, users explore a top-down view of the grounds packed with campus-accurate details—right down to the familiar blue “MSMC” lawn chairs parked outside the Kaplan Recreation Center.
Even better, every major building unlocks a custom mini-game inspired by campus life.
- Kaplan Recreation Center: Dodge basketball hoops in a fast-paced, Mount-themed clone of Flappy Bird.
- Dominican Center Library: Navigate a top-down labyrinth where collecting books unlocks hidden passageways.
- Sakac Hall: Run and jump through a classic side-scrolling platformer.
- The Villa: Test your memory with a card-matching game featuring real photographs of iconic campus spots.
- Aquinas Hall: Race the clock to serve up the right drinks.
Building an expansive, multi-game universe in just eight weeks is no small feat. To pull it off, Cruz and Ortiz had to operate like a professional indie studio.
They coordinated code via GitHub and embraced modern AI tools like Copilot and Gemini to streamline their workflow. Rather than letting AI do the thinking, however, they treated it as an efficient production partner.
“We didn’t have the time to create the graphics we wanted by ourselves,” Ortiz explained. “So we used AI as much as possible as an efficient partner, as opposed to something that just creates everything.”
Copilot helped generate raw base concepts, which the pair then refined pixel by pixel using design tools like Piskel and Resprite.
“I used a pixel knight as a reference so I could make Mack the Knight,” Cruz said, noting how carefully she matched the on-screen palettes to the Mount’s official colors.
To top off the nostalgic vibe, the duo even composed an authentic chiptune soundtrack in FL Studio, straight out of the golden era of mid-’90s PC gaming.
Through the hurdles, late afternoons, and tight deadlines, their partnership never wavered.
“Our teamwork was phenomenal,” Ortiz said, reflecting on how their shared momentum kept them pushing through every bug.
Whether you’re an alum feeling nostalgic, a current Knight dodging hills between classes, or an incoming student scoping out the quad, “Mini-Mount” offers a whole new way to experience the campus.
Step into the armor of Mack the Knight and explore Mini-Mount: MSMC in 2D today by visiting msmc.edu/programs/game-development.