Educational game named Best of Show at Serious Play contest

An educational game by a USC student has been named Best of Show at the 2013 International Serious Play Awards in California.

Covalence, by Jason Mathias, impressed the judges most. It attempts to teach players about the Covalent compounds, which is a strand of science taught at GCSE-level.

Six other student games were awarded medals. The awards, announced at the 2013 Serious Play Conference at DigiPen Institute of Technology honour exceptional examples of serious games created by students for corporate, healthcare, education or games for good segments.

“We are always excited with the student entries, but this year’s winners were the most impressive yet,” said Sue Bohle, executive director of the Serious Games Association.

“The qualities of these titles are a strong indicator of the increased emphasis educators are placing on serious game development and the bright futures that await these students.”

Gold Medal Winners:
• Coavalence, Jason Mathias, USC (Education)
• Zombie Yoga, Lab 707, DePaul University (Heathcare/Medical)

Silver Medal Winners:
• The Rig, Frozen Summer Studios, Frozen Summer Studios, University of Abertay, Dundee, UK (Business)
• An Occurrence at Owl Creek, James Earl Cox III, Miami University, Ohio (Education)

Bronze Medal Winners:
• Cell Motus, Cássio Felipe Fernandes de Oliveira and Liam Appelbe, Bioinformatics Institute (Education)
• The Ramayana Re-Imaginator, Kedar Reddy, Sujay Narayan, USC (Games for Good)
• IT Security Awareness Game, adidas AG & Zone 2 Connect (Education)