Arludo Game Design Challenge

In Term 3, the Year 5/6 students became game designers! They thought of an idea for a video game that could teach a science concept to other primary school aged children. 537 other teams of students entered the challenge from all over Australia. - two  Athol Road teams were shortlisted and one of them made it to the top 10.

On Tuesday 10th October, Steven H, Jordan T and Ryan T had the incredible opportunity to fly to Sydney to represent Athol Road for the Arludo National Game Design Challenge. They were excited, nervous, and a little sleepy due to the early start! When they arrived in Sydney, they went straight to the University of NSW, where they met Associate Professor Michael Kasumovic, the founder of Arludo, who introduced them to the other teams in the top 10. Then it was down to business! Students were whisked off to the green room to film their game pitch for the gala evening. Afterwards, they had the incredible opportunity to pick the minds of Arludo’s Director of Games, Andrew Harris, and game developer, Matt Batchelor. Both Andrew and Matt expressed how much they loved the idea of Neutron Light - what a huge compliment! 

The afternoon was filled with behind the scenes tours. Firstly, they got to see the Museum of Human Disease where they saw all kinds of fascinating displays. Next, they visited the Quantum Computing Labs. Here, they saw a clean lab where physicists work on quantum computer chips, as well as the room where the quantum chips are stored. It contained a refrigerator that was set just above absolute zero. That’s zero kelvins, which is -273 degrees Celsius - and we thought it was cold in Melbourne! Afterwards, the students needed some down time before the big gala event. It was lovely to see the students making friends with other students from around Australia.

Finally, it was time for the gala. They were welcomed like celebrities! They had their photo taken on the red carpet and had wait staff offering them all sorts of delicious food and drinks. During the gala, the top 10 game pitch videos were played. It was so exciting for the students to see their faces and ideas on the big screen! The guests had to vote for their favourite pitch during the evening while the students were entertained with photo booths, a roaming magician, gaming tables and lots of special guests from the Arludo team. 

Now the moment everyone had been waiting for…The winners were announced! Neutron Light came 4th! While it was not the outcome the students were hoping for, Andrew and Michael found them to tell them once again how much they loved their idea and hope that they will create it on their own. 

After a long day, the students were happy to head to Sydney Central to check into the

 hotel. They were very surprised to find a fish tank in the floor of the lobby! Still buzzing from the excitement the day before, they did not sleep in! We headed to McDonald’s for breakfast before starting the journey to the airport and back home to Athol Road.

On behalf of Steven, Jordan and Ryan, I would like to thank the students, staff and wider community for getting behind both ARPS game designs: Planatia and Neutron Light. Without your support and daily voting, the boys would not have made it as far as they did. Thank you!

Bec Meade

STEM Teacher