Texas A&M Students Sweep Top Honors At Annual Chillennium Game Jam
Texas A&M University students took first, second and third place honors at Chillennium — the world’s largest student-run game jam — on March 1-3 at the Hildebrand Equine Center.
Sponsored by the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, the event brought in 265 students from 25 colleges across the country, competing to create a video game in 48 hours with a single prompt: “Hang in There.”
Participants came from both in-state (Prairie View, Tarleton State University, University of Houston, University of Texas, Trinity Valley Community College, Houston Community College, University of Texas at San Antonio) and out (Southern New Hampshire University, University of Massachusetts, University of Tulsa, Full Sail University, Louisiana State University and University of Central Missouri).
Aaron Thibault, director for games and esports and associate professor of practice, said he was grateful to lead his first year as the faculty adviser for Chillennium, following in the footsteps of André Thomas.
Thibault said the reception for Chillennium — which earned “most participants in a collegiate in-person game jam” recognition in 2017 — was impressive, and game developers and students were excited to be together for the experience. Thibault said the energy in the building was palpable.
“Just seeing the numbers and excitement of everybody who is participating — the volunteers, all of the energy and discussion that is happening on their Discord channels and conversations — you can’t help but just get caught up in that excitement,” Thibault said.
Andersen Wood, Chillennium director and junior Visualization student, said it was great to see the room fill up for the three-day event. Having planned the event for more than a year, Wood said he was eager to see the students have fun and enjoy the competition.
“We are seeing people get in the groove, which is great,” Wood said on Day One. “And people who have been practicing for a long time, they are really excited. We have a rhythm, and I know these students are going to do some cool stuff.”
Networking opportunities are a major part of Chillennium, with mentors from gaming companies available to discuss future job opportunities and to help students with their game development. Companies including Infinity Ward, Marvel Studios, Bluepoint Games, Electronic Arts, Bungie, Activision and Gearbox were present for students.
Thomas Abrams, director of recruiting for Probably Monsters, called the students “brilliant” with “incredible talent.” Abrams commended the Visualization program for equipping students to be proficient in the gaming industry.
“They are getting a good education around the program, and events like this helps more,” Abrams said. “I think this school is helping students prepare for the real world, so that is a good thing — and this only perpetuates it.”
Abigail Blevins, a senior Visualization student, and Claudia Gatica, a junior Visualization student, were excited and nervous to start the competition. They teamed with Elijah Blevins — who is Abigail’s brother and a Computer Science major — and Ethan Edgington, an Electrical Engineering major.
Abigail Blevins said she was optimistic going into the event, and was excited for the networking opportunities.
“There are tons of mentors here from tons of different gaming companies,” she said. “Especially with the way the game industry is, and as I am about to graduate, getting these connections is really important to me.”
Joshua McCain, a senior Computer Science student from Louisiana State University, traveled about six hours for the game jam with team members Maggie Stewart, Steven Seiden and Rebecca Hutto. From Baton Rouge to Texas A&M, their journey naturally had to include a stop at the Buc-ee’s, he said.
“We are all first-time game jammers, and we are all excited to learn new things,” McCain said. “We all want to come up with a cool idea. But at the end of the day, we wanted to know more things about making games, because it is something we are relatively new to.”
James Hill, an educational technical artist for Epic Games, served as a mentor to provide insight and support.
“I hope, through this experience, they all try to jump into something new,” Hill said. “This is a great opportunity for them to get out of their comfort zones. I hope they all learn a little bit more and have fun.”
Awards
Winners were selected through a blind judging process, in which the students’ universities were not disclosed with submissions.
First place: “Plugged In” by Texas A&M students Peter Schlenker, Casey Pei, Christin Park and Dallas Coggins.
Second place: “The Art of the Climb” by Texas A&M students Kirthika Piratla, Eden Kim and Hanna Harmon.
Third place: “Orbital Hook” by Texas A&M students Jared Bartz and Zachary Thomas.
Best in Originality: “Buggin’ Out” by Texas A&M students Lizzy Yoon and Naveen Iyer, with Blinn College student Katherine Nguyen.
Best in Visuals: “Dimension 925” by Texas A&M students Brenna Porterfield Casey, Hayden Hanna and Rick Molinar, with University of Tulsa student Sebastian Spirit.
Best in Sound: “Overtime” by Texas A&M students Cason Quisenberry, Bryn Shellenback, Vivian Gatica and Cameron Close.
Best in Game Design: “The Biggest Cheese” by Texas A&M student Kiran Iyer.
Best in Programming: “1 Hit Wonder” by University of Central Missouri students Greg Burns, Caleb Karp, Corbin McCalister and August Cross.
To view all games entered in the competition, visit the Chillennium submission website.
