Tariq Rakha
M.F.A. – 2nd Year
Game Design | Storrs
Hometown: Providence, RI
UConn location: 119 Bishop Center
Email: tariq.rakha@uconn.edu
M.F.A. – 2nd Year
Assistantship: ENG 1007 TA
Education: M.S. in Interactive Media and Game Development Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA
B.F.A. in Creative Technologies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Language(s) Spoken: Arabic عربي
Area of Research / Artistic Focus: Game Design, Humanities
Tariq has had a love for video games ever since he was a child. They represented an escape from reality and a means to explore a world that might otherwise not exist. At the same time, every game must always come to an end and thus the real world could never be forgotten.
This dichotomy has become a point of interest for Tariq as he creates games that transport players to new worlds while still being rooted in social commentary and reality. Inequity, failure, competition, empathy, and success are all things which occur simultaneously in both the real and virtual worlds. Tariq explores this mirrored reality in the games he makes with the hope of creating real social change.
Recent Achievements:
- NOLS Wilderness Leadership Award (Wyoming, 2022)
- Nominated for Best TA of the Year Award (WPI, 2021)
- Thesis Project of the Year Award (VT, 2019)
Industry Experience:
Indie Game Developer since 2021
Instructor for iDTech (Providence, 2022)
Developer for Microsoft Hololens (Worcester, 2021)
Fun Fact: I once ate so many carrots that I turned orange.
![](https://dmd.media.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3259/2020/04/photo_coming_soon-e1628548268792.jpg)
tariq.rakha@uconn.edu | |
Office Location | 119 Bishop Center |
Campus | Storrs |