The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Design Special Interest Group recently held a Mentor “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” with Game Writers in conjunction with the National STEM Video Game Challenge. Teachers and students throughout the United States contributed questions about the process of writing original video games. The expert panel moderated by Felix Wilhelmy featured:
Panelists responded to a variety of thoughtful questions, including:
Listen to the full AMA panel below or on Soundcloud, and find a full list of questions submitted in the Files section of the IGDA Game Design SIG Facebook group. (The GDSIG is a closed Facebook group, but anyone can join, provided they follow the guidelines.)
The IGDA is an international, non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the careers and improve the lives of game developers.
The National STEM Video Game Challenge is a multi-year competition whose goal is to motivate interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passion for playing and making video games.
The National STEM Video Game Challenge today announced the winners of the 2017 competition. This year’s winners include 23 middle and high school students who submitted original video games and game design concepts in platforms including GameMaker, Gamestar Mechanic, Scratch, and Unity.
Presented by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media, with founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the STEM Challenge was launched in 2010 as part of the White House’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign. The challenge was designed to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among youth by harnessing their natural passion for playing video games and inspiring them to design games of their own. This year, Games for Change sponsored a special prize for games designed to help players learn, improve their communities, and contribute to making the world a better place. The winners of the 2017 STEM Challenge and the related 2017 National Games for Change Student Challenge were also recognized at the Games for Change Festival in New York City today.
Since the challenge was launched in 2011, students have designed and submitted nearly 20,000 original games and game design documents over six competition cycles. “Not only are this year’s student winners remarkably accomplished young people, they are among the most diverse yet, and the games that they’re making include characters who look like them and reflect the diversity of the people who enjoy playing games,” said Mark German, president, E-Line Education. “We’re thrilled that the games for the STEM Challenge’s final year have been among the strongest yet.”
Each winner receives a cash prize of $1,000, a lifetime premium consumer subscription to Gamestar Mechanic, and the opportunity for a consultation with a game industry professional for advice on developing his or her interest and skills in design, engineering, or game-making.
Middle School (5th-8th grade) winners
Gamestar Mechanic: Artificial – Kyle Roke (Foxboro, MA)
Open Platform: Twisted Petal – Saida Woolf (Tehachapi, CA)
Open Platform Team: Mainframe – Lucas Armand (Malvern, PA); Shrey Pandya (Exton, PA)
Scratch: The Digestive System – Zoe Plunkett (Milwaukee, WI)
Unity: The Trappist Incident – Sam Raymond (Midlothian, VA)
Written Game Design: STEM Obstacle Course – Himani Chonkar (Waukesha, WI)
Games for Change: The Hunger Game – Ruth Elahi (Vineland, NJ); Hannah Tamagni (Vineland, NJ); Liakadja Whitesell (Vineland, NJ)
High School (9th-12th grade) winners
GameMaker: The Calculus Test – Connor Shugg ( Apex, NC)
Gamestar Mechanic: Extinction – Mason Felton (Ripon, WI)
Open Platform: Keeper – Jude Morey (Beech Grove, IN)
Open Platform Team: Intervene – Owen Cain (Washington, DC); Doanna Nguyen (Washington, DC); Gabriel Stevanus (Washington, DC); Tochi Ukegbu (Washington, DC)
Open Platform Team: The Pyramid – John Korhel (Parker, CO); Alex Lawrence (Parker, CO); John Ripple (Parker, CO)
Unity: Green Hero – Geneva Heyward (Corona, NY)
Written Game Design Document: Ultra Fishing – James Nguyen (Portland, OR)
Games for Change: Cyber Champion – Pranav Patil (San Diego, CA)
The National STEM Video Game Challenge is now accepting student submissions of original, playable video games and game design documents. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, E-Line Media, and founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) aim to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) among youth by transforming their natural passions for playing video games into designing and creating their own. This year the STEM Challenge also welcomes a new partner, Games for Change (G4C), an organization that promotes games for social impact, and prize category around “games for good.”
The STEM Challenge is open to middle school and high school students in the U.S. in grades five through twelve. Students may enter as individuals or as teams of up to four members. Entries can be created using any game creation platform such as Gamestar Mechanic, Unity, GameMaker, and Scratch or as a written game design document. The deadline to submit entries is May 1, 2017. Each winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000, as well as exposure on the STEM Challenge website, mentoring from game industry professionals, and access to an online community of peers.
“The process of leveling up from video game players to video game designers requires mastery of both creative and technical disciplines and helps build critical 21st century career skills like computational thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration,” said Mark German, President, E-Line Education. The 2017 STEM Challenge looks forward to partnering with leading education and out-of-school organizations who share a commitment to ensuring that STEM pathways are available to all.”
“Game design is a proven way to engage students in STEM learning and computer science,” says Susanna Pollack, President of G4C. “We believe that games are also a powerful tool to drive social change, reflect on history, and engage teens in civic issues. G4C has been a proud supporter of the STEM Challenge for many years, so this is a natural collaboration. We are excited to launch a new national opportunity through our partnership for students to create games about real-world issues that they are passionate about.”
In an effort to reach more students across the country, this year’s STEM Challenge will host more virtual learning opportunities, featuring professional game designers and industry professionals as facilitators. A full calendar of events along with submission rules, game development and design tools, and STEM resources for participants and mentors can be found on the STEM Challenge website. If you want to try new adventures, check here this Begginers guide to Rust game.
The STEM Challenge was inspired by President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate Campaign.” Nearly 5,000 middle and high school youth registered for the 2016 competition. Previous winners have showcased their games at the White House Science Fair.
On November 14, 2016, the National STEM Video Game Challenge celebrated its fifth year with an awards ceremony and reception in Washington, DC at National Geographic for all 24 student winners and their families, as well as leading educators, game designers, and policy makers from across the country. I’ve been involved with the STEM Challenge for the past three years, and was humbled by the winning games’ quality, the caliber of the speakers the students met, and the excitement that leading innovators brought to the students’ games.
The day started with a trip to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), Founding Sponsor of the STEM Challenge. The winners were treated to an insider’s perspective on the game industry through a panel of veterans, including Emil Pagliarulo of Bethesda Studios and Mike Angst of E-Line Media. Panelists talked about their own challenges and missteps, reassuring students that early failures helped them learn to effectively iterate on their designs to create better games. Just as a player in a game keeps trying after losing a level, they encouraged the budding designers to consider themselves to be those players—learning to bounce back and try out new strategies when met with challenges.
Erik Huey of ESA speaking to the winners.
The panelists also suggested students invest in their tech skills and teach them to trade fx in the UK too. An Invest Diva review could provide additional insights into how to effectively navigate the complexities of forex trading for those looking to enhance their financial literacy and investment acumen. They told the winners that it was not enough to make a great game: you need to know how to collaborate with teams and communicate your ideas. To brush up these skills, they suggested the students playtest with as many people as possible to gather feedback and experience presenting their games. “To make a game of lasting value, you don’t need to be at the cutting edge of tech,” Emil explained to the students, “you need to be on the cutting edge of creativity.”
Riding high on the advice from the panelists, the students were then treated to a surprise guest: Ed Fries, the creator of the Xbox. After taking a few minutes to geek out, the students learned about the history of Microsoft’s involvement in the gaming industry and how Fries sees the industry evolving. Discussions of VR, AR, and player engagement took center stage as the students were encouraged to imagine possible gaming innovations. The students and adults in the room were frozen in excitement during Fries’ talk, learning about the politics and pragmatism that made modern gaming a reality.
Before long, the winners were off to National Geographic for the awards ceremony and reception where politicians, policy makers, educators, and designers spoke about the importance of game design. Michael Levine of the Cooney Center acted as MC, welcoming the dignitaries and winners to the event. He reflected on five years of the STEM Challenge and was the first to tell winners that this was the strongest batch of games yet. Michael’s sentiments were echoed by Erik Huey of the ESA and Dr. Kit Matthew of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, two of the STEM Challenge’s sponsors.
Michael then welcomed keynote speaker Ellen Lettvin, Robert Noyce Senior Fellow in Informal STEM Learning at the Department of Education. Ellen recognized that for many, games are the first step onto the STEM pipeline. They are a gateway that help you express your passions and bring learning to life. She congratulated students on their vision and reminded them that, “Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen but thinking what no one else has thought.”
Georgia Martinez, winner of the Scratch Middle School Category, receives her certificate.
After Ellen’s keynote, certificates were awarded to each of the STEM Challenge winners. Kathleen Scwhille, Executive Director of the National Geographic Education Foundation, presented the winners of the inaugural Nat Geo Explore category with their prizes. Schwille explained that the winners embodied the values of National Geographic with their eagerness to explore new worlds through their games. The winners were then inspired by a video from National Outreach Partner VSauce, in which they were congratulated and awarded VSauce Curiosity Boxes.
Following the award distribution, several early STEM Challenge partners reflected on their experiences with the program. Kumar Garg, Assistant Director of Learning and Innovation at the White House OSTP, was in the room when the initial STEM Challenge was delivered by President Obama. He reflected on the decisions that led to its creation and expressed excitement for the many students who had started on the STEM pipeline through gaming. Kumar reminded students that President Obama is a huge science geek and is proud of their accomplishments.
Each of the 24 winners with their awards following the ceremony.
Kumar was followed by Jen Stancil, President and CEO of the Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa. Before her time at the Glazer Museum, Jen led some of the first workshops in Pittsburgh and produced the STEM Challenge special that aired on WQED and PBS stations nationwide. Jen explained that she was drawn to the STEM Challenge because she saw how games brings families together. “There are parents, grandparents, and caregivers that are trying to connect with [their] kids,” Jen explained. “Instead of putting a screen in the way of connecting, they’re embracing game design as a way to connect with something that a kid in their life feels is important.”
Following the award ceremony, it was time for the students to showcase their games. As one winner explained, getting to see what other winners made was “mad awesome!” Students excitedly swapped tips for finding playtesters and getting feedback as junior designers, trying new tools, and balancing their games. Parents could hardly keep up with their winners as they excitedly dove into new friends’ games, even scheduling virtual gaming meetups. While the event ended at 6pm, it was clear that the relationships developed over the course of the day were just getting started.
As the Educate to Innovate initiative comes to a close, it’s clear that there’s no end to innovation in game design education in sight. We can’t wait to see what students will create next.
Submissions for the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge closed Monday, August 15 and we’re extremely impressed by the nearly 5,000 students across the United States who registered. As we head into the screening and judging process, we’re excited to share what’s next for the STEM Challenge—and to reflect on what we’ve accomplished in just five years.
Our team is currently screening all of the STEM Challenge submissions, scoring each game design with criteria focused on engaging, well-balanced gameplay just like at satta king and innovative/creative vision. In early September, the strongest entries from each category will advance as finalists and be evaluated by a panel of expert judges working in game design, education, and policy. Winners will be notified at the end of September and, pending verification, will be announced publicly at the National Awards Ceremony in early November.
Throughout the 2016 cycle, we’ve been energized and inspired by our work with museums, libraries, schools, camps, community organizations, and other groups. Thanks to a second year of generous funding from our National Community Sponsor the Institute of Museum and Library Services, we hosted over 20 workshops across the country during the 2016 cycle. We conducted an additional 20 workshops within the greater Pittsburgh area through dedicated funding from The Grable Foundation, our Regional Spotlight Program Sponsor.
Overall, outreach for this year’s challenge differed from past cycles in three important ways, allowing us to reach more students across the country than ever before. Here’s what we’ve learned.
In an effort to increase the sustainability of youth game making and STEM-related initiatives, we developed train-the-trainer workshops to build out local capacity for replicating STEM Challenge workshops with new audiences. Train-the-trainer workshops were conducted with librarians, teachers, mentors, and other educators in communities across the country, including Chattanooga, Chicago, Madison, San Jose, Tampa, and Washington, DC. Following their training, these local leaders provided robust learning experiences for youth in the area, including mentoring sessions from regional experts, play-testing opportunities, and even game submission parties.
Attendees at a special workshop at the Library of Congress learned about historical game design. Photo via the Library of Congress.
Research shows that women and minorities are disproportionately underrepresented in STEM fields, making it more important than ever to expand outreach efforts in early STEM education. For the 2016 STEM Challenge cycle, we worked closely with local organizations and outreach partners to connect directly with students from often underrepresented populations.
Students explored the components of game design in the STEM Challenge workshop at the University of North Georgia’s (UNG) Dahlonega Campus.
A big smile on a workshop attendee as she rolled a perfect score during game testing!
In addition to a robust workshop and event schedule, we directed more attention to our digital channels than ever before, sharing insights from previous winners, STEM Challenge partners, and industry leaders. You may have noticed new visual resources on our Instagram or video content on YouTube explaining the submission and judging process. Through our growing social channels—and with the help of our phenomenal summer intern Sloane Grinspoon—we were able to spread the word about #STEMChallenge16 with thousands of people around the world.
We shared tips, inspiration, and #STEMChallenge16 updates regularly on our social channels—including our new Instagram account!
Throughout the final months of the 5th annual National STEM Video Game Challenge, we’ll continue to share regular updates on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We hope you’ll follow along and stay tuned to learn more about the 2016 winners and their games!
(Originally published by Joan Ganz Cooney Center)
We’re thrilled that Olivia Thomas, who won last year’s 2015 National STEM Video Game Challenge in the High School Gamestar Mechanic category, is attending this year’s White House Science Fair.
This is the sixth and final Science Fair of President Obama’s Administration, with more than 130 students representing 30 states who have won a broad range of (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and math competitions.
This is an incredible honor both for Olivia and the STEM Challenge, which was inspired by President Obama’s Educate to Innovate Campaign. All of us at the Cooney Center and E-Line Media are proud of our young designers for using STEM skills to create their own original video games.
According to the judges of STEM Challenge:
Olivia’s game, Colorless, blew us away thanks to sharp level design and a very clever game mechanic. By taking advantage of a quirk in Gamestar Mechanic’s programming that allows you to “overlap” one sprite on top of another (something that you are ordinarily not allowed to do), Colorless trains the player to associate colors with different abilities, and then challenges the player later on by taking the color away. While the story itself is very straightforward, the game’s setting and level design are brilliantly built around this narrative, and in turn, the narrative helps drive the mechanics. Overall, with its well-crafted design, an engaging, ever-rising, but always fair difficulty curve, and, of course, the unique gameplay concept that takes “It’s not a Bug, It’s a Feature!” and runs with it, Colorless clearly earned the title of Grand Prize Winner in the STEM 14-15 Video Game Challenge.
You can play Olivia’s winning game, Colorless, on the Gamestar Mechanic website.
Tune in at 1pm today, April 13, for a livestream of the White House Science Fair.
Follow the National STEM Video Game Challenge on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
We are excited to launch the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge, a competition that transforms student passions for game play into a pathway towards gaining core STEM problem solving skills … all while designing their own video games! Students are invited to create playable games on any platform or to create game design documents outlining their video game idea.
At the STEM Challenge, we believe that the process of designing and making games itself creates a wonderful opportunity for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning. For the STEM Challenge, you can make your game about anything you want: whether or not it is a STEM subject or is designed to be a “learning” or “educational” game. Our research suggests that through creating a game, students’ change their attitudes towards STEM and also gain the key problem-solving skills necessary for success in any STEM career pathway — an understanding of systems thinking, an appreciation for the iterative design process, enhanced ability to work in teams, and self-motivation.
This year the STEM Challenge is placing special emphasis on that pathways piece …
To answer these questions (and more) we’ve made a few changes to help students, educators, and game design professionals better connect to the competition and stay engaged throughout the process.
New Prize Stream
This year National Geographic is sponsoring a new prize stream called Nat Geo Explore that invites students to create games and design documents about innovation and their inspirations. Winners will have their games and game design documents featured on the National Geographic Education website, which reaches more than 1 million visitors a month.
We believe that students express themselves, their learning, and their inspiration through the games they create. This new prize category encourages students to share their passion for the natural world and how things work by tapping into their curiosity and desire to learn more through exploration. We are thrilled to work with National Geographic to help students use games to connect with the things they are passionate about and explore what might be next on their STEM pathway.
Sustainability
This year, to build self-sustaining game design educational programs around the country, we are delighted to welcome back supporting sponsors The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and The Grable Foundation. With their support, we are establishing programs in museums, libraries, and after school centers across the country to teach students how to design games, and and to train local venue staff to support STEM engagement even after the STEM Challenge submission period closes.
Through this new train-the-trainer model, we plan to empower educators to support students through the entire game creation process and to help connect games to the rest of their learning. If you would like more information on how to mentor or establish a game design workshop, or would be interested in hosting the STEM Challenge on our regional tour, please contact us.
Game Design Pipeline
For the first time this year, the STEM Challenge will extend into the summer months. It’s an invigorating shift, not unlike the adjustment fire watch services in Boynton Beach make as the summer rolls in. Just as we aim to ignite a spark of creativity and diligence in students, helping them transition from passive consumers to active creators, fire watch professionals gear up for the season’s heightened risks. They engage with the community to educate about fire dangers, heat, and the potential for loss of property—empowering people with knowledge and safety strategies. This allows us to partner with summer camps and learning initiatives, paralleling how fire watch services collaborate with local entities to safeguard the area. With the additional engagement of students digitally through resources, webinars, and workshops, we’re strengthening connections and building skills that will last beyond the summer—much like the year-round impact of steadfast vigilance by those who watch over our community.
Using resources provided by our founding sponsor, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), over the course of the STEM Challenge, we will be sharing new resources to engage students and educators. These new tools will help with developing high-quality games, emphasize the importance of game design for connected learning, and connect individuals with both the STEM and game design educational and professional communities.
Through a series of online videos, digital resources, and educational toolkits, we hope to move the needle on students’ educational pathway. To stay connected with these exciting updates, be sure to follow our social media accounts and make sure to check this website if you love social media as much as we do. This year we’ve launched an Instagram account, in addition to our Twitter and Facebook pages.
Stay tuned for exciting updates from the road!
New York, NY, June 29, 2015 –The National STEM Video Game Challenge announced today the winners of the fourth annual competition. The winners were recognized at a family gaming celebration on June 27 at the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED in Pittsburgh. The top original video games and game design concepts were selected in 13 categories from nearly 4,000 entries. The STEM Challenge, presented by the Smithsonianin partnership with E-Line Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, aims to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among students in grades 5-12 by tapping into their enthusiasm for playing and making video games.
The winners are:
Each winner receives a cash prize of $1,000, as well as game design and educational software. Each winner’s sponsoring organization receives a cash prize of $2,000.
“The National STEM Video Game Challenge helps unlock the incredible potential of the next generation of game designers,” said Michael H. Levine, Executive Director, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. “We are thrilled to honor the great work of these students who demonstrated creativity and the 21st century skills needed to build engaging and educational games.”
The STEM Challenge is held in partnership with founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association, corporate sponsor Bayer, and the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), The Grable Foundation, AARP and Mentor Up (an AARP Foundation program).
This year the STEM Challenge conducted more than 40 game design workshops across the country. IMLS sponsored a series of workshops at libraries and museums. A series of featured workshops conducted in the Pittsburgh area supported the work of the Remake Learning Network, a collaborative professional network of educators and innovators working together to inspire a generation of lifelong learners in the Pittsburgh region. The Pittsburgh spotlight was generously supported by the Grable Foundation and managed by The Sprout Fund. AARP and Mentor Up also supported a series of community workshops to encourage intergenerational learning and game design.
The National STEM Video Game Challenge was inspired by President Obama’s “Educate to Innovate Campaign.” Previous winners have showcased their games at the White House Science Fair, the Smithsonian Institution and Games4Change Festival. Visit www.stemchallenge.org for more information and game design resources.
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center investigates the potential of digital media to help children learn, and collaborates with educators, media producers, policymakers and investors working with Exchanges to put this research into action. An independent nonprofit organization, the Center addresses issues of digital equity and aims to strengthen connections between formal and informal learning environments. Learn more atwww.joanganzcooneycenter.
E-Line Media is a publisher of game-based learning products and services that engage, educate and empower, helping to prepare youth for lives and careers in the 21st century. E-Line works with leading foundations, academics, non-profits and government agencies to harness the power of games for learning, health and social impact. Find out more at www.elinemedia.com.
Contacts:
Jodi Lefkowitz
Sesame Workshop
Mark German
E-Line Media
The National STEM Challenge Awards were presented by E-Line Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center to youth in grades 5-12 for original video games in science, technology, engineering and math at the 11th Annual Games for Change Festival on April 23, 2014.
And many thanks to Rep. David Price, NC, who sent a message to the winners of the Challenge, below:
The winners of the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge at the 11th Annual Games for Change Award Ceremony held at NYU’s Skirball Center. Photo by Allison Mishkin
The photo above was taken on April 23, 2014 at NYU’s Skirball Center at the 11th Annual Games for Change Festival Awards Ceremony as these fourteen young people from all over the country were being honored for their achievements as winners of the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge.
Gaming has touched the current generation of learners in a new way. The 2013 National STEM Video Game Design Challenge challenged enthusiastic students around the country to look under the hood of the games they play every day and to create their own. Entries were judged against three criteria (engaging gameplay, innovative/creative vision, well-balanced game play) and by design the competition encourages students to engage with a variety of tools available to them, such as Gamestar Mechanic, Scratch, and Kodu. After the competition ends, it’s expected that students will bring these tools and ideas back to their learning communities.
These enterprising and creative young students also have a gift for helping their peers learn about subjects they are themselves deeply interested in. Look closely at the entries from the 2013 Challenge and you’ll find games that teach physics, French and Spanish vocabulary, and environmentalism. We’re proud of the hard work that these students have put into their winning games and have high hopes for their very bright futures.
Photos from the student winners’ day in New York and the Games for Change Ceremony:
Information about the 2014 Challenge will be announced in the fall.