Tag Archives: game design

  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,…

Are you ready to travel the globe—digitally? In 15-year-old Sanja Kirova’s game Around the World, players have a chance to visit historical landmarks, discover different cultures, collect souvenirs, and even learn how driving rules vary in other regions. The Portage, Indiana resident won the Nat Geo Explore Game Design Document High School category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge, her second winning game design document in the STEM Challenge. (Learn more about Sanja’s 2015 game design, Ezcape, here.)…

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…

Since the age of 11, Aventura, Florida resident Samson Simhon, now 15, has been fascinated with game design. After mastering the basics of the Scratch platform, he taught himself increasingly complex code that allowed for 3D visual effects and advanced game mechanics. “I’ve created over thirty different projects,” says Samson, “including an iOS app called Jealous Bird.” Samson’s game design Prism won the High School Scratch category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. Prism is an updated take…

With only one level to go before receiving his black belt, 11-year-old Nathan Kuravackal drew on his extensive training in Taekwondo to create Can’t Catch Me!, winner of the Nat Geo Explore Game Design Document Middle School category in the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. The Tacoma, Washington native was inspired by his instructor Master Shon to create a puzzle-based game with a ninja as the main character. In Can’t Catch Me!, players travel through real-world destinations avoiding obstacles,…

Thanks to early exposure to robotics and Scratch in elementary school, 14-year-old Georgia Martinez of Chicago, Illinois is now an avid game developer. “I was immediately hooked,” she explains. Georgia’s game, Fractured Forest, won the Middle School Scratch category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Fractured Forest, players search for resources and battle monsters as they navigate 20 floors of colorful gameplay. Georgia’s other hobbies include playing euphonium and piano, and her favorite subject in school is…

Last month, the National STEM Video Game Challenge co-hosted a game design workshop with Black Girls CODE, a non-profit that leads coding and technology workshops for young women of color across the country. More than 50 girls  attended the workshop to learn the basics of game design, teaming up to create both physical and digital games over the course of the day. Check out highlights from the event in this brief video. In the growing push to ensure early and ongoing exposure to STEM education for…

Brooklyn Humphrey won the Best Middle School Unity game in the STEM Challenge last year. Here she shares her memories of what it was like to develop her first game, and what she is working on now. I never would’ve thought that I would win the STEM Challenge. I didn’t even think that I would make a video game in the first place, but now I’ve learned that anything is possible. Here’s a glimpse of my experience making my first video game.…

I have been working with the brilliant minds in the video game and design industry since my introduction to the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006.  While I am a scientist and tech savvy, I had no idea what the world of augmented reality, gaming, and videos could mean in the age before the iPad, especially to kids who are growing up immersed in the opportunity to not just consume games, but create them. We’ll get…