Tag Archives: stemchallenge16

“I’ve always been interested in crafting stories,” says Caleb Koo, a 15-year-old from Galena, Ohio. “And telling stories through a video game is very easy.” Caleb designed Conquering the Underworld, which won the Middle School Gamestar Mechanic category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In this “choose your own adventure”-style game, players navigate a complex underworld collecting tools, defeating enemies, and exploring new levels. “The idea of meeting a variety of characters under different circumstances appealed to me,…

Aspiring programmer Elisha Azaria, 13, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania learned about the National STEM Video Game Challenge from his father — whose work with artificial intelligence helped to inspire Elisha’s winning game design. Created as a complex 3D game, Alien AI Abduction won the Middle School Unity category of the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. In Alien AI Abduction, players run, jump, and blast evil robots as they navigate four levels of increasing difficulty. “I started with a basic Unity3D game,…

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…

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,…

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.)…