Second Penn College 'game jam' engaging, experiential

Approximately 30 local “gamers” attended a Dual Enrollment Visit Day at Pennsylvania College of Technology for a “game jam” event based around the theme of “Platformer, Magic, Vehicle.”

“A game jam is an event where individuals or small teams create a game from scratch within a limited time frame,” said Alicia L. McNett, co-department head and assistant professor of computer information technology. “Game jams are a fun way for students to practice their skills, build their portfolio and network with other developers.”

Open to all skill levels, participants included dual enrollment students taking the three-credit Introduction to Gaming & Simulation course and Penn College game & simulation programming students. Activities featured a 3D Modeling with Blender workshop, which was taught by members of the popular Wildcat Games Studio. The short tutorial taught attendees basic 3D modeling and guided students in generating a 3D model of a donut with sprinkles.

Prior to the visit, students from Upper Dauphin Area High School, Monroe Career & Technical Institute, Milton High School and Penn College developed and submitted their projects for judging during the game jam, which was part of a Dual Enrollment Visit Day.

“Students submit a short game. It may be a single level or several levels,” McNett said. “The game had to have some element of the theme, even if it was only one element. Most games appeared to be made in GameMaker Studio 2. One was made with Gadot game engine, and another was made with Unreal Engine. Students were permitted to use whatever tools they preferred to create the game. We judged them on a variety of factors, with awards for different categories.”

Winning submissions were:

• Best Cinematic Experience: Gabe Heiser – Penn College 
• Best Art Direction: Christian Andrion – Penn College
• Best Vehicle(s): Dakota Boyer, Gabby Sutter, Austin Heim and Caleb Walsh – Upper Dauphin Area High School
• Best Platformer: Matthew Batista, Dominic Shearer, Jairo Ortiz and Jasmine Gonzales – Upper Dauphin Area High School
• Best Multiplayer: Anthony Dillard – Upper Dauphin Area High School

“The students appeared to be very engaged and had a great time exploring the games created for the event,” McNett said. “Game jams are a great way for students to build their skills and get valuable feedback. Events like this one allow them to see their games through the eyes of playtesters so that they can fine-tune their experiences. Employers like to see that students are building things outside of the classroom, and these events are great ways to encourage that work and to help students build their portfolios.”