Chillennium Game Jam Returns To Hildebrand Equine Complex Feb. 24-26
Students from around the state and beyond will converge on Texas A&M University Feb. 24-26 for Chillennium, known as the world’s largest student-run game jam.
The event at the Hildebrand Equine Complex, sponsored by the School of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts, challenges students to create a video game in 48 hours with a single prompt.
Chillennium started in 2015 and earned Guinness World Record honors for “most participants in a collegiate in-person game jam” in 2017, when 311 students participated. Participation reached 403 in 2019. The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and returned last year.
Teams of up to four people compete, and students that don’t have a team are matched up according to their skill set. Games are archived and available on the Chillennium website.
Among the Texas schools that will be represented: Blinn College, Baylor University, Houston Community College, Lone Star College, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas and University of Texas at San Antonio. Traveling from out of state will be students from Louisiana State University, University of Central Missouri, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of Pennsylvania.
“Students are able to learn a new skill and try something they may never have done before — designing and making a game,” said André Thomas, associate professor of practice in the School of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts and faculty adviser to Chillennium. “They are only investing one weekend to do so but have at their disposal amazing industry mentors from the top gaming companies, great food, great prizes and can make new friends from other schools all across the country.”
Andersen Wood, a sophomore visualization major and assistant director for the event, said last year’s Chillennium had its challenges after two years off, but watching it come together was “really amazing.”
“Seeing those tables filled out with people and computers, and people coming in from all sorts of different schools, it was a really cool atmosphere,” he said. “A lot of creativity flying off the walls.”
Given the nonstop nature of the 48-hour event, some students find ways to turn the venue into a temporary home, Wood said.
“Some people will just live at the equestrian center that entire weekend,” he said. “They’ll bring sleeping bags and sleep under their table. Some will work all night. I pulled a night shift the first year and was there almost 36 hours. I saw people not leave their desk and just keep going the entire time. I don’t know how they did it.”
The theme will be revealed at the opening ceremony on Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. Organizers aim to pick something that has “the easiest jumping off point, and can create a bunch of different games,” Wood said. Last year’s prompt: “You really shouldn’t mix those!”
“They come in a lot of different shapes and sizes,” Wood said of the games. “Some people do 2D pixel games, like fun little adventure games. Some are like mobile games. One of the winners last year was a game in which you had to make smoothies and buy fruit ingredients. Some make party games where you and your friends log on to the same website and do drawings. And then we have 3D games. One game last year was a big 3D catapult game where people were throwing different elemental balls at little chicken enemy things.”
Industry mentors and alumni will be on hand to advise and to give presentations throughout the weekend. Among the companies set to be represented are BioWare, Blizzard Entertainment, Bluepoint Games, Bungie Inc., Cloud Imperium Games, Electronic Arts, Gearbox Software, Insomniac Games, Marvel Studios, ProbablyMonsters, Rockstar Games and Virtuix.
Wood said these presentations are ideal for students who need a break from creating the games, and to make industry connections.
“You can talk, network,” he said. “They will look over resumes and talk to you about how to get a job, and here’s what you should look for when applying for jobs.”
More information is available on the Chillennium website.
Above photo: Brad Padgett, Marshall Jennings, Kirby Key and Macey McCuller were among the participants at Texas A&M’s Chillennium game jam in 2022. Photo by Laura McKenzie/Texas A&M Division of Marketing & Communications.
