“My Mechanical Mother”, a final year game project from the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) Virtual Reality (VR) students was nominated as one of the finalists for the Level Up SEA Game Award 2023 for the category Best Student Game, recently.  

Nabil Faris Ubaidi, Muhamad Amirul Iqwan, and Muhammad Najmi Imran developed the game project, which was under the supervision of Ts. Dendi Permadi. The other 4 nominees in this category were Sedap! (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore), Asleep in the Deep (Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore), Retro Invasion (Binus University, Indonesia), and As I Began to Dream (Strayflux, Indonesia). Out of 248 submissions, the final 5 nominees competed in the Best Student Game Award category. The finalists were shown at the Level Up KL 2023 Indie Zone, KLCC on 28 September – 1 October 2023.

My Mechanical Mother is a virtual reality story-driven game based on the experiences of a young genius boy who has recently lost his mother. To recreate the love and care that his mother used to give him, he creates a robot that mimics the actions of his mother and tries to find happiness in her likeness. The lack of appreciation for parents in adolescents can have profound consequences on their emotional development. The game aims to create memorable virtual reality experiences which promote empathy and appreciation for parents that have the potential to positively affect adolescent development and well-being. 

The SEA Game Awards aim to provide prestigious recognition to the finest game projects of 2023, with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Senior VP emphasising that game developers are “the modern-day architects of the new dream.” To help support these champions of tomorrow’s digital experiences, MDEC provides nominees with exhibition booths at the Malaysia Digital Content Festival (MYDCF).