India to Finland – The Road Taken

Hello. I am Abhishek and I am an aspiring Video Game Designer from Calcutta/Kolkata, West Bengal in India. I have always loved playing games and often been intrigued about its creation which led me to decide to pursue a career in the respective field. I am so excited to move to Finland to study New Media: Game Design and Production in Aalto University, Finland.

Somewhere in Finland

After getting refused by parents to join a game-related course in high school and college, I had to reluctantly join a pretty lame Multimedia course in the prestigious St. Xavier’s College in my city. Thanks to that unwelcoming choice, I found a few great teachers, many amazing friends and nothing substantive about game designing. For some reason, I also did not feel compelled to make it on my own till college was over, after which I started reading and researching pro-actively. I wanted to take up a course in Game Designing in a university abroad as India does not have any good institution offering this nor the industry requiring it. I also needed some experience to get into a reputed uni. After a few months of self-learning and tuitions (teaching literally everything), I started learning Unity and the programming associated with it to improve my chances of getting into a company. After a few months of that, I was in one.

Day Dreamz Studio. Yes! It is as horrible as it sounds but it did make me work hard to which I am thankful for. I made some games, applied to a few top-tier colleges and got in a few. I wanted to go to a college in the USA and was hoping for a scholarship for the extreme over the top expensive tuition. I did not find much success there. Now, I had checked for colleges in Europe earlier but none of them were as convincing as the ones in the States. Aalto University seemed a bit doable only cause of its reputation worldwide and not the uninformative course structure it has put up online. After applying, I asked the current and former students of the college and all of them said the same thing, “It is definitely worth it”. I grew more confident about the Uni after seeing the assignments they had given as a test. Most colleges did not do that and certainly not as interesting and unique as this. I had to make a game based on “Forgiveness”, which has to be interwoven with the rules and mechanics of the game instead of just being a thematic addition. They liked my game and I got selected. It is one thing to get selected in one of the top ten institutes of the world in design, it is another thing getting selected in the same with 100% scholarship. I was shocked and surprised. It seemed the best option. You tell me, spending around 50 Lakhs - 1 Crore just for tuition in the west and spending less than 10 lakhs in a Finland which also happens to be a giant hub for gaming. It was simple and I was sold.

Aalto University

The next few months were spent in researching about the college, its courses, visa and telling people that the college has nothing to do with the Maruti Suzuki’s Alto car. I expected the last one. Students staying for more than 6 months need a Residence Permit, which is not very difficult to get if you are careful and on time. I might write about it in detail in a separate post. Currently, I am waiting for my permit to come so that I can reschedule my flight and reach Finland once it for all. There has been a lot of unwanted delays cause of which I have to miss my orientation, an entire workshop, and a few classes. I am sure I will catch up pretty soon.

Somewhere in Kolkata

I can’t say that I won’t miss Kolkata. For the past few days, I am getting lost at the trees surrounding my house, at the sky and rain enveloping my area and the love, care and attention of my people around me. As difficult as it may be, I hope to become a better person and an influential and eclectic game designer to change the shape of my industry in my country. See you in the next post. Keep playing!