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USF CSE student wins first place in JointJam 2023

Computer Science and Engineering junior Christopher Brandt won first place in the 48-hour video game coding contest JointJam 2023.

“This was a big victory for me, as well as a win for the Game Dev Club and USF as a whole,” said Christopher.

Unlike the explicitly defined puzzles of competitive coding competitions, or 'capture the flag' security competitions that pit security teams against one another, a game jam has a single, creative and intimidatingly open-ended goal: make a fully functioning video game in 48 hours.

Video game development clubs from the University of South Florida, the University of Central Florida, Floria State University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the University of Florida all take part in the jam.

At the beginning of the jam, organizers announce a theme, and then participants come up with design constraints, make the art, write the story, compose the music, and code the game -- all in one sitting. 

This year's theme was "You really shouldn't mix those...", and Christopher won first place in both Best Sound Design and Best Overall for his game "Potion Panic."

His game is a clever combinational challenge where players match potions and try to avoid explosions.

"Potion Panic" is available to play on itch.io.

The full list of JointJam entries is availble at https://itch.io/jam/joint-jam-2023/entries.