InfoSci Lecturer Drew Castalia Earns International Recognition for Puzzle Game Built with Data-Oriented Design

Drew Castalia, a lecturer at the University of Arizona’s College of Information Science, has placed third in the Turbo Makes Games DOTS Jam, an international competition spotlighting data-oriented programming. His entry, Tic Tac Noo, is a clever inversion of the ubiquitous match-three puzzle genre, challenging players to avoid creating matches. Beyond its playful mechanics, the game stands out for its innovative use of data-oriented design—a bold, efficient approach to game development.

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Castalia, who joined the college in 2017, brings a wealth of experience to his teaching and game development. With a background spanning narrative design and interactive simulations, his work has reached diverse audiences through short films, comics, radio dramas and games. Castalia has developed gaming curriculum and taught game design and development courses since 2012. Between his roles at the U of A and Pima Community College, where he served as the principal instructor for the Game and Simulation program, he has helped launch the careers of hundreds of aspiring developers.

In creating Tic Tac Noo, Castalia embraced data-oriented development, a paradigm that shifts focus from objects to raw data. Unlike traditional object-oriented design or programming, which organizes code around objects and their relationships, data-oriented design structures data in linear arrays that a computer can process more efficiently. “It’s about aligning the way we code with the way computers operate,” Castalia explains. “Think of object-oriented design as a spider web of interconnected nodes—it can become messy and inefficient as projects scale. In contrast, data-oriented design is like a conveyor belt, where each piece of data flows smoothly through systems optimized for speed and adaptability.”

This approach is gaining traction in the gaming world, particularly as developers seek higher performance and flexibility in real-time applications. Castalia highlights its growing importance: “Major engines like Unity and Unreal are increasingly adopting the entity-component-system pattern, which is central to data-oriented design. As games demand more complexity, these techniques will become indispensable.”
  

While Tic Tac Noo originated as a personal project and teaching tool, it has since expanded to wider audiences, now available on the Microsoft App Store and Mac App Store. The source code, freely accessible on GitHub, serves as both a learning resource and a testament to the cutting-edge techniques Castalia advocates. “Even though I’m not a research professor, I see these projects as my research,” he says. “Sharing them helps push the boundaries of what’s possible in game development.”

Beyond his technical achievements, Castalia’s teaching philosophy is rooted in collaboration and real-world application. As the advisor of U of A’s Game Dev Club, he encourages students to participate in game jams—intense, time-limited competitions that mirror the collaborative, fast-paced nature of professional game development. “Game jams are invaluable,” he says. “They help students practice new technologies, hone their skills and learn from peers in a dynamic environment.”

Looking ahead, Castalia aims to integrate data-oriented design into the college’s curriculum for undergraduate degrees like Game Design and Development and Games and Behavior, ensuring students are equipped to navigate the future of game development. “Data-oriented design is still on the cutting edge, but it won’t stay there for long. As these techniques become mainstream, our students will be ready to lead.”
 

Learn more about Drew Castalia on his faculty page, or foster groundbreaking innovation by supporting the visionary work of faculty and students in the College of Information Science.