Meet the Winners of the XPRIZE Connect Code Games Challenge

Feb 23 2021

Article cover image

XPRIZE Connect Code Games: A Global Game-Making Challenge in partnership with E-Line Media and supported by Endless Network, is the world’s first international youth game design challenge, encouraging young people to dream up a game and code it into reality. Now, the winners are in, and we have an all-star line-up of global youth innovators. From a game that asks you to replenish the earth’s resources to another that asks you to become an agricultural tycoon, the breadth of games reflects the breadth of talent that this challenge has discovered; we have nine male and six female winners, aged 10 to 17, from the US, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

On February 23, 2021, we hosted a virtual celebration to announce the winners, feature highlights from the winning games and learn game-making from industry experts in multiple breakout sessions. There were also inspiring speakers from the gaming industry, including Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games, our host; Heather Chandler, developer and former producer of Fortnite; Eyram Tawia, game developer, founder of Leti Arts, and author of the book Uncompromising Passion; and Virginia MacArthur, Executive Producer at Endless Studios. 

Find out more here, and in the meantime, meet our winners below. 


Code Games Challenge: Meet the Winners


JUNIOR DIVISION

The Code, Sadnan Pranto, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Gamestar Mechanic, $1,000

Sadnan Pranto is from Brooklyn, New York, and started coding in Scratch, but moved onto Gamestar Mechanic for creating The Code. He was inspired to enter the competition thanks to his computer science teacher. 


Red and Blue, Brydan Cotichini, Canada

Award: Best in Class -- Open Platform, $1,000

Thirteen years old and from Anmore, British Colombia, Canada, Brydan created his first video game when he was ten. He learned coding from YouTube videos. In Red and Blue, you strike a deal with other warring planets to help replenish earth’s depleting resources. His favorite YouTuber is amustycow.


Flash Trash, Kayla and Alyssa Villanueva De Raeve, Mexico

Award: Best in Class -- Open Platform, Teams, $2,000

Kayla and Alyssa are sisters from Mexico City, Mexico. They’re both 13. They wanted to join the XPRIZE Connect Code Games Challenge to encourage and teach people to separate and recycle trash through their game. 


How to Fall, Dominic Darby, Jamaica

Award: Best in Class -- Scratch, $1,000

Living in St. Catherine, Jamaica, Dominic is 10 years old. This is his first video game. He learned coding from books, videos, and taking classes. His game is a platformer action style game where you have to get the character to the exit door. Right now, Dominic is into Minecraft and Roblox, but he also loves tennis and chess. 


Energy Tycoon, Erica Liu, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Scratch, $1,000

Erica is 13, from Brooklyn, New York, and has been using Scratch for over three years to code. She first learned at school but gained more experience from self-teaching at home. The goal of her game is to gain as many energy points as you can by buying machines and upgrades. Among Us is her favorite game of all time. 


Whisper of the Past, John Xu, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Unity, $1,000

Award: Best in Class -- Playable Game, Exploration Theme, $2,000

John Xu comes from Los Angeles, California, and is currently 13. His game Whisper of the Past was developed after a teacher recommended that John enter the challenge. He’s previously developed a 3D parkour video game called Run.


Climate Catastrophe, Ezra Cotton, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Playable Game, Environment Theme, $2,000

Ezra Cotton is from Bethlehem, New York, and is in seventh grade. He was inspired by previous contest winners whose games had thousands of plays. He’s used code.org to create projects before, and to create Climate Catastrophe, he used Gamestar Mechanic. What’s it about? Saving your polluted city. 


SENIOR DIVISION

C#, David Turner, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Playable Game – The Endless Mission, $1,000

David, 17, is from Brooklyn, New York, and went to an after-school program in the Manhattan area where he learned game design. The game he made is about escaping after waking up on a mysterious planet. He used the Endless Mission because he got to playtest it and learn the controls. His favorite video game ever is Sonic the Hedgehog. 


Save Nature, Save The World, Gyven Liddell, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Gamestar Mechanic, $1,000

Save Nature, Save The World was made by Gyven who is 15 and from Canton, Oklahoma. The game is about a girl named Emily who, while in the forest, hears a meeting between a group of animals about the human threat, leading Emily to try finding solutions to help the animals. In terms of other games, Gyven is enjoying Pokemon Sword right now. 


Banana Pie, Matthew Zhu, USA

Award: Best in Class -- Playable Game, Exploration Theme, $2,000 

Award: Best in Class -- Open Platform, $1,000

Matthew is from Lake Forest, Illinois. Banana Pie started out as a way to challenge his friends before the game went on to win two awards in the XPRIZE Connect Code Games Challenge. His favorite game to play is Tetris. 


Colonialis: Jamestown, John Anthony Luna, Saudi Arabia

Award: Scratch, $1,000

John is from Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia and developed Colonialis: Jamestown, which takes place in early 17th century North America. The only objective, he says, is to survive – pandemics, starvations and attacks. John explains that he entered XPRIZE Connect Code Games “for the fun of it” and we can’t think of a better reason. 


PLANT, Noah do Rego, Canada

Award: Unity, $1,000

Noah is from Ottowa, Ontario, Canada. PLANT was the longest amount of time he’s ever spent on a game; he worked on it for months. The game tells you oppressors have taken over your town’s government, but as you trek through the town… something is off. The game has a deeper message: what the earth could look like if we don’t do more to protect it. 


Spirit d'Aventure, Carinn Gaspar, New Zealand 

Award: Written Game Design Document

Award: Written Game Design Document -- Environment Theme

Carinn is 16 and entered XPRIZE Connect Code Games Challenge from Dunedin, New Zealand, where she lives. To win her game, you have to navigate her two-dimensional universe safely, collecting all of the collectible items along the way. She was inspired by playing games and also watching YouTube video tutorials for designing games, and learned Python and Javascript, among other programs, at school. 


Revive, Felicia Yan, USA

Award: Playable Game – Environment Theme, $2,000

Felicia Yan is from Cary, North Carolina. She learned to code online. Revive is a 2D platformer where you travel through regions on earth and learn about topics like pollution, climate change, and deforestation. At the end of each level, a nature guardian talks to you about how human behaviors impact natural ecosystems. Overall, the game raises awareness about how we can all be more environmentally conscious.


AS WE SHOULD HAVE DONE, Batool Ali Akbar, Pakistan

Award: Written Game Design Document – Environment Theme, $2,000

Batool is 16 years old and comes from Karachi in Pakistan. Her game is all about surviving the industrial revolution and making it to the 22nd Century. To win, the character has to exploit as few natural resources as necessary. 



XPRIZE Connect Code Games Challenge would not have been possible without the help and hard work of our amazing panel of judges, a diverse range of technical leaders and thought leaders in the world of gaming. Meet the Judges of the Code Games Challenge.