Florida Polytechnic University computer science seniors Cecilia Merion and Mason Kazebeer won first place in the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) two-day Collegiate Game Jam on Jan. 19.
A team of students from Florida Polytechnic University took home top honors this week at the second annual Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) two-day Collegiate Game Jam, which challenged 34 teams from across the state to create a playable video game in under 48 hours.
Computer science seniors Cecilia Merion and Mason Kazebeer won first place in the undergraduate division on Jan. 19. This marked the second straight year the University earned the top prize.
“I think our game turned out great; it was designed so that the only directions would be in the title – Click Here! – and the player would not need any further instruction on how to play,” Merion said. “This concept was seen as novel by the judges and the game proved to be very easy to grasp and extremely hard to put down.”
Their game tasks players with managing the queues of an infinitely growing theme park using only their clicking skills and three commands: starting a ride, speeding up a ride, and adding more rides. It aligned perfectly with the event’s theme park framing. The two now plan to refine it and exhibit an updated version at Florida Poly’s Game Expo on April 19.
“Florida Poly achieved a strong performance at the recent game jam, a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students,” said Christian Navarro, senior instructor of computer science at the University, who was a judge for the graduate/professional division of the competition alongside associate professor Dr. Brad Towle. “The competition was fierce, showcasing the exceptional talent of all participants.”
Navarro said the game jam mirrors real-world professional experiences, requiring students to work under compressed timelines and utilize their diverse range of technical and collaborative skills.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, which to me, absolutely is analog to real-world jobs, whether it's game design or not,” he said. “In the real world, students are going to have timelines that they have no control over. They'll need to work with people to accomplish whatever project they're working on and will have to do troubleshooting and fix the problems before they can deliver it to a client.”
Florida Poly’s Media Club sponsored the five teams that attended the event.
“After last year, we knew for sure that FIEA was amazing, and we wanted to do it again,” said data science junior Melanie Najera, president of the Media Club and a member of last year’s winning team. “We wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to participate was able to go.”
Five Florida Polytechnic University teams competed in the second annual Florida Interactive
Entertainment Academy (FIEA) Collegiate Game Jam Jan. 17-19. The students’ participation
was sponsored by the University’s Media Club.
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