Category Archives: STEM Challenge

Kimberly Do, 16, has a deep fascination with outer space. An avid member of her school’s NASA Student Astronaut Challenge team, the Plant City, Florida native used cosmological interest to inspire her game design, Escape Velocity, winner of the High School Game Design Document category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. Kimberly learned about the STEM Challenge when she participated in a workshop at the Glazer Children’s Museum, and was excited to combine her love of art and…

When 12-year-old Ronan Boyarski first started playing Minecraft, he quickly became curious about how video games were designed. The Locust Grove, Virginia-based student started investigating the process using Scratch before taking classes in Minecraft Modding, app making, and programming in C and Swift. His latest game design, Hungry Black Hole, won the Middle School Open Platform category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Hungry Black Hole, players navigate a maze feeding stars into a black hole and…

When Shrey Pandya, 13, of Exton, Pennsylvania and Lucas Armand, 14, of Malvern, Pennsylvania set out to create their own fast-paced first person shooter game, they were determined to come up with a concept that was educational, nonviolent, and engaging for young players. The result, Outbreak: Cellular Warfare, is an exciting adventure in which you take on the role of an immunity cell, combating pathogens within your host in order to keep them healthy. “The immune system provided a very…

Zane Godil, age 12, learned about the National STEM Video Game Challenge from friends in his community of Beaverton, Oregon who had entered in previous years. “It was interesting and exciting to see what they’d come up with and hear about their experiences,” Zane says. With a little encouragement from his mom, Zane was empowered to create Deep Space Mayhem, winner of the Middle School GameMaker category in the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Deep Space Mayhem, players…

For 10-year-old Puja Chopade of Madison, Alabama, major world problems like global warming served as inspiration for her video game design. Puja’s original game, Save the World!, won the Middle School Game Design Document category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Save the World!, players learn about ecological problems around the world, and suggest possible solutions in order to earn points. As points are collected, the player is able to grow a variety of animals through different…

Teammates Calvin Khiddee-Wu, 14, and Jagdeep Bhatia, 14, of Green Brook, New Jersey knew from the start that they wanted to design a video game with an apocalyptic setting, and ultimately decided to use their game to tell a story of survival in the wake of nuclear fallout. Their original video game design, Reconstruct, won the Middle School Team Open Platform category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge after they were encourage to enter the competition by their…

When 17-year-old Brent VanZant looked up at the night sky while on vacation in New Mexico this summer, he didn’t just see hundreds of stars—he also saw the inspiration for an original video game design. “I thought it would be cool if you could control the height that an object orbited a planet and built my game off that idea,” says Brent. Thanks to that fateful gaze upward, the Los Alamitos, California native was inspired to create Orbit Arena, winner…

  As a dedicated long-time member of his school’s marching band, 17-year-old Connor Shugg of Apex, North Carolina didn’t need to look far in order to find the inspiration for his original video game design. Inspired by his extensive training as a trumpeter, Connor’s music-themed game Allegria won the High School Open Platform category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Allegria, players defend the kingdom from an encroaching evil empire, combining musical notes in combat to damage…

With a shared passion for 2D art, Mingze “Jimmy” Shi, 16, of West Windsor, New Jersey, Chi Cheng “Jerry” Hsu, 17, of Cupertino, California, and Anthony Ma, 16, of Sunnyvale, California decided to team up this summer and create an original video game this summer while attending the Carnegie Mellon National Video Game High School Academy pre-college program. Their resulting game, Radiant, won the High School Open Platform Team category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Radiant,…

After years of training as an artist and animator, Angela He, 17, knew she was ready for a new challenge that would encourage her audience to take a more active role with her creations. The Oakton, Virginia resident decided to develop a game design based on her research into the refugee crisis, hoping to encourage players to develop empathy and understanding as they moved through the game. When Angela learned about the challenges North Korean refugees were facing, she decided…