Still from the VR game ‘The Wish Granter’
Created by a talented group of young designers, virtual reality (VR) game The Wish Granter recently clinched the bronze award in the 8th Indigo Design Award held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Indigo Design Award is a prestigious annual international competition which recognizes visionary students and practicing professionals on the global stage and champions outstanding designs across digital, mobile, graphic, and branding disciplines.
Indigo Design Award bronze winners Kyle Correa, Katrina Santos, and Dian Felix
The winning team is composed of Katrina Santos, Dian Felix, and Kyle Correa from the Multimedia Arts (MMA) Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB). They placed third in the Student Category of VR Design for Digital Design.
Santos served as the game’s writer, concept artist, and audio designer. Felix took on the 3D modeler and audio editor role. Correa was the game programmer and designer.
The trio was mentored by full-time faculty Rexcel Cariaga. “I’m incredibly proud of the team’s creativity and drive. I hope we continue to explore beyond VR and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and venture into new frontiers like brain-computer interfaces, pushing boundaries in design and technology education,” he noted.
The Wish Granter, inspired by the idea of loss, healing, and memory, was set in a post-war world. The game invited players to be a witch who had the power to grant the wishes of grieving customers by traveling back in time and helping them recover the sentimental objects of their lost loved ones.
“They wanted to explore how technology—specifically VR—could be used to create emotional resonance and assist people to reconnect with moments and memories they’ve lost,” Cariaga stated. “This immersive gameplay experience highlighted memory, healing, and empathy through interactive storytelling.”
The students used VR as a medium for ‘sharing meaningful tales.
According to Cariaga, The Wish Granter exudes depth and has a compelling narrative. He also highlighted the ability of his former students to use VR as a medium for sharing meaningful tales, instead of only using it as a source of entertainment.
“With their empathy-driven approach, combined with technical proficiency, the project stood out,” he said. “This win isn’t just an award—it’s global recognition. It validated the students’ hard work, vision, and potential to shape the future of immersive media.”
The Wish Granter explores how technology—specifically VR—could be used to create emotional resonance.
Cariaga likewise commended the collective support extended by the school to the design team as a way of recognizing their efforts, providing them with the opportunity to build networks, and learning from other global creatives.
“This achievement reflects not just the talents of our students, but also the direction we, as an institution, must continue to pursue. Let it be a spark that drives us to dream bigger, invest in innovation, and lead the way in shaping the future of immersive experiences and digital creativity,” he concluded.
