mathew olson - portfolio

Oshi-Gokko

Original game and cabinet made for the 2023 New Arcade class, featured in the Super MAGFest 2025 Indie Arcade. Oshi-Gokko is an asymmetrical competitive game where one player (the mega fan) chases the other player (the pop idol or "oshi") around a top-down city map. I was primarily in charge of the cabinet's design and assembly. All major pieces were drawn up in Fusion 360 and cut from plywood using a ShopBot CNC. Collaboration with Kitty Guo, Mashi Zaman, An-Kai Cheng. In 2025, the cabinet will go on continuous public display at a venue in New York City.

Close up of joystick and illuminated buttons

For Amusement Only

VR storytelling project featuring a custom-built pinball controller, a mock neural interface wristband, and an illuminated sign. Programmed in Unity with use of the Oculus SDK, plus heavy use of 3D printing and vinyl wrap techniques in the design of the accessories. I designed the seven-segment display in the sign to include a hidden infrared message viewable only through a VR headset's passthrough cameras.

Playces

My ITP thesis project. A three-part collection exploring level design and the sense of place created by famous maps from '90s and 2000's FPS games.

Foamcore models of objects from cs_office

leveRAGE

A submission for the Lever Up! Alt.Ctrl game jam organized ahead of Super MAGFest 2025. My third collaboration with Mashi Zaman. All major 3D assets were designed and created within a 48 hour time limit. No automation or use of generative AI involved. This was my first time animating a rigged 3D character in Blender, creating walking, turning, shooting, and damage animations for the player-controlled mech walker.

screenshot from leveRAGE in first-person aiming view

attract screen for the game running on the MAGFest controller hardware

isolated GIF animation of one of the mech step forward animations I created in Blender

There Is a Hole

Minimalist Bitsy game, available to play at my itch.io page.

Audio Reactive Gundam Helmet (RX-69)

Wearable 3D printed helmet for a performance at ITP and Friends. Based off of the RX-78 design from the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Collaboration with Jess Shen on the lights and programming.

Gundam helmet worn on stage at Wonderville

Crab Mouse

Modified hardware made during the 2024 Stupid Hackathon. A mouse designed for letting humans surf the web like crabs (you pinch both buttons in to click, it moves easier side-to-side). A companion piece to Brent Bailey's Crabify browser extension.

Omega Stump

Unity game and custom Teensy-powered controller. 3D models and texture assets made from scratch using Blender and Photoshop. Shown at 2023's Brooklyn Alt.Ctrl Showcase at Wonderville.

K5 Robot Visual Journalism Piece

Researched and wrote an article on the K5 robot used by the NYPD in Fall 2023. Also sculpted and textured the piece's 3D model of the robot. Collaboration with Jane Cheng and Athena Zhou.

Reptilia PCB

Project for a class called Homemade Hardware. Custom PCB designed in EAGLE and milled using an Othermill CNC. Contains circuitry for two guitar distortional pedals for altering the sound output of an Arduino Uno playing a MIDI of "Reptilia" by The Strokes.

CARPG

Created low-poly, low-resolution 3D assets for this prototype RPG combat system (itch.io link). Made for a class at the NYU Game Center. Collaboration with Mashi Zaman.

Want to know more about any of these projects? Email me!