Spencer Wilson and Morgan Lander, University of Utah students and founders of Little Wanderers Studios, were so impacted by the entertainment and arts industry, they created a company and culture that aims to “uplift the world.”
Little Wanderers Studios is an indie game company that celebrates diversity of thought through the creation of fun and entertaining experiences that promote awareness and critical outlooks on the world. They do this through games that are created for everyone.
The company is currently working on the demo of their first game called Wandrian, which translates to “wanderer” in old English. The goal of the game is a world that people can be fully immersed in and can be representative of any player.
“Being a woman in the gaming industry and as a gamer myself, I do not see myself recognized in this industry,” Lander said. “Going beyond that, Spencer and I began to think about how the other communities, such as LGBTQ, people of color, and those who do not fit inside the lines of a typical gamer, are very much underrepresented.”
Both founders are in the Entertainment Arts & Engineering program at the U. They are also part of the Lassonde 400 community, living at Lassonde Studios. Wilson said, “Lassonde is a think tank of creative people that live in one building.” Lander added, “As soon I stepped into the Studios, I knew exactly that this is the place where I needed to be. It all felt so right.”
Little Wanderers Studios is in the Company Launch program and have competed in a Get Seeded monthly grant round, receiving $2,000 worth of funding that helped them continue their marketing efforts.
They plan to release a portion of the game in 2020 to give people a little taste of what their world is going to look like. They plan to release on PC, Steam, Epic Game Store, and maybe Switch.
The team also consists of Houston Fuller as the sound designer, Luke Schmidt and Ivan Lee as artists, and Crystal Huang as their marketing and public relations director.
More articles like this in ‘Student Innovation @ the U!’
Find this article and a lot more in the 2020 “Student Innovation @ the U” report. The publication is presented by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to celebrate student innovators, change-makers, and entrepreneurs.
