You should play these 2 games from NYU’s latest No Quarter Exhibition

The NYU Game Center prides itself on being “dedicated to the exploration of games as a cultural form and game design as creative practice.”
The school definitely delivers that through a wide range of programming and showcasing opportunities for its students and alumni, and there’s no greater evidence of that than its annual No Quarter Exhibition.
Every year, the school commissions a handful of game developers and designers to create original projects, which will then be presented at the Exhibition a year later.
Nina Freeman, who we featured early this year when she decided to move to Oregon, is a game designer and alumna of NYU. She presented her game, “Bum Rush,” at this year’s No Quarter.

Last night was Good. Can't wait to show Bum Rush at more parties~ Hoping to find some soon pic.twitter.com/1lJUskWqQA

— ✿ nina freeman ✿ (@PersocomNina) October 10, 2015

“It was a huge honor for me to be commissioned for this,” Freeman said. “I came to No Quarter as a student and a fan years ago, and it’s just amazing for me to now be here showing this game.”
Freeman described Bum Rush as a “frantic car combat dating sim racing game” — simple enough, right?
Basically, Bum Rush pits multiple players against each other in the setting of college life, where roommates frantically drive around completing tasks and picking up “dates.” From there, it’s a race to get back to the dorm for “some alone time” before the other roommates arrive.
The game was a hit with the attendees, who were often found laughing and yelling with enjoyment while competing to pick up their dates and race back to their dorm.
Complete with retro graphics and being played on original Nintendo controllers, Bum Rush’s simple gameplay and fast rounds made the game reminiscent of titles from the early ’90s, proving once again that everything eventually comes back into style.

Another big hit at No Quarter was “Lesberation,” by Leah Gilliam.
This tabletop card game with an RPG-vibe puts players in a lesbian commune where they need to solve problems as a team.
Gilliam’s work as a designer and creator is fairly well-known, and she has a significant history of exploring social topics.
One of the goals of Lesberation is for people to get a sense of a lifestyle they might not totally understand, and Gilliam said that exercise typically creates empathy.
“It’s OK to acknowledge that people are different,” Gilliam said. “This game shows that, and it shows how different people have different sets of problems.”