Five minutes with…Rune Finlayson

“I grew up on games, and now being able to make them is a dream come true,” shares Rune Finlayson a Game Design & Development competitor at this years National Championships. Rune is looking forward to competing at the National Championships and showing people that “it is never too late to pick up a new skill and follow what you want to do in life, you just have to be willing to put in the effort and fight for it,” exclaims Rune.

Rune graduated with a Diploma of Digital and Interactive Games from Swinburne Institute of Technology Hawthorn Campus in 2017. Rune is currently taking a gap year before commencing studies at Swinburne University, where Rune hopes to graduate with a double bachelor degree; in Digital and Interactive Games and Computer Science.

Rune shares that the passion for Game Design and Development is encouraged by the support received from Swinburne Institute of Technology and The Indie Developer community in Victoria. “The Indie developer community in Victoria. In all honesty, I never would have worked so hard at my Diploma if I hadn’t met those guys, I may not have even applied for it. Every developer I have ever met is nothing but encouraging and supportive – they’ve been the most welcoming and generous group that I’ve ever come across,” says Rune. Further explaining how Swinburne is supporting the preparation for the competition “My mentors at Swinburne have been so kind in teaching me a variety of things to prepare for this – my training so far has been an extraordinary experience,” Rune shares.

Rune was introduced to WorldSkills by a teacher at Swinburne “I was uncertain at first, I’d never done anything like it, but the confidence in completing it with finished work inspired me to try more like it,” Rune says. The focus of Rune’s preparation revolves around perfecting the craft of Game making. “Focusing on the coding aspects. It’s been a lot of fun learning how to make a variety of styles of games and how the code works behind that. Since there are so many ways to program a single aspect,” says Rune.

Through preparation Rune has gained a broader understanding of Game Design and Development commenting “most people that I competed with were classmates, but the ones that I hadn’t met before taught me a lot of how they make games. Those kinds of experiences have helped me learn a lot about the type of games that I want to make.”

“There is something special about making a game. In seeing the world, you built piece by piece come to life. Even when something goes wrong and breaks, it can happen in surprising ways,” shares Rune. Upon competing, Rune says the focus it to showcase “how much I’ve learnt in such a short time – I feel more determined then nervous. Of-course there are plenty of nerves, but I want to do the Indie Developers in Melbourne proud.”

From photography, graphic design and digital games, to fashion, make-up artistry, music and arts administration, VET opens doors to creative careers. Find out more at VET.nsw.gov.au #VETopensdoors