DA Game Development Club hosted the Spring Game Jam, a week-long competition where teams, made up of 140 college students, created original video games; winners were announced on Tuesday, May 27 in the Hinson Campus Center.
“It’s basically just a hackathon,” said Anjoelo Calderon, 24, computer science major, president of the club. “We wanted to create a space where students could explore game development, even if they were doing it for the first time.”
Calderon, who began organizing the event in January, said he originally hoped for 50 participants.
“As the date got closer to the start of the event, the numbers just kept going up – 90, then over 100. We ended with 140 participants,” Calderon said. “I’m happy that we got that many attractions.”
The club received 40 submissions from community colleges and four-year universities, such as San Jose State University, San Francisco State University, UC Irvine and others.
Competitors were required to follow a theme, “Not Enough Time” and prohibited from using artificial intelligence and pre-made games.
The DA Game Developers Club awarded first place, and a $125 prize, to the creators of “Before I Go.”
First place winners:
- Dicanio Darren Liong, 19, computer science major, project manager of the DA Game Development Club
- Anh Tuan Tran, 18, computer science major
- Fabiola Diaz, 18, computer science major
- Jasmine Tu, 20, computer science major
- Chyen Tong , 20, electrical engineering major
“You play as a terminally ill patient who has one day left to live and has to call all loved ones,” Diaz said. “And you are going to explore various relationships—familial, romantic and work—and try to come up with as many conversations as you can within the limited time.”
Katelyn Endow, De Anza English professor and adviser of the club, said the event offered more than just fun and games.
“There’s a lot of interpersonal skills, a lot of soft skills, in addition to some of the technical skills, like programming, writing and music production,” Endow said.
The second-place honor went to “52 Seconds,” a game created by Phoenix D. Steele where players fight monsters, and different suits the player gets determines difficulties.
The third place winner was the game named “Out of Jam,” developed by Ironbreaker where players are leveled up based on the frequency of them smashing the space bar. “It was very fast paced and very easy to understand,” Calderon said.
The club has plans to regularly host the event in the future.
“We plan to do the Game Jam quarterly,” Calderon said. “Right now we’re working on the Summer Game Jam.”
