Hey everyone! I hope you’re all getting a chance to deep dive into “Everything Comes With a Cost” – I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s projects when we hit completion in May!
Some quick FAQs for things that came up last night – this isn’t an “exhaustive” list but definitely wanted to cover a few bases for things that came up.
TPAs (Third Party Assets)
For all projects, all tasks/assets SHOULD be completed by the team members (max five per team).
For Game projects, some code/tool assets created by others may be used, but must be approved prior to submission. Advisors need to fill out the TPA request (if an advisor doesn’t have the link, they should contact Jim). Determinations usually happen fairly quick (day or two), but may take up to two weeks. General criterion for approval is: 1) Is this something that should REASONABLY be done by a student? 2) Is this something that alters the game to a point where the project is about the asset rather than the other way around? (ie., ‘easy button’) If the answer to either of the above is a ‘Yes’, approval is unlikely. If the answer to both is ‘No’, approval is likely.
For Game, Film and Animation: Since most of our member schools do not have sound creation/editing/etc in the curriculum and doing so is far out of scope, third party audio MAY be used in those projects. This does NOT need explicit approval on a per-asset basis (no TPA requests), but all audio must be correctly licensed for our distribution (downloadable games via itch/ames website) AND must be cited in credits (even if licensing doesn’t require it). See Jim for validation on specific assets (“Is this song legal?”). Licensing includes performance rights for covers (even if performed by a student) – student performing a copyrighted song is still pirating a copyrighted song.
Using Third Party music/sound WILL disqualify team from winning music/sound related Outstanding Achievement awards (which are intended to recognize student creators) but will not otherwise adversely affect scoring. For example, a team could hypothetically import open-source sound effects and use them in their game, they would be ineligible to win the OA for sound but still could score a 10 in the Craftsmanship Criterion in the rubric (“Game is highly polished and publish-quality in current state. Sounds complement and enhance the game experience.”)
Broadly speaking: Rules around Sound (which loops are allowed, etc) are, by necessity, looser in Game/Film/Animation and much tighter in SoundFX/Music. For more specific rulings in your situation, Advisors can contact Jim (Game/Film/Animation), Nellie (Game) or Scott (SoundFX/Music) for clarity.
Performer Rule
Although teams are limited to five members, projects may include performances outside the five team members. For example, a student film may utilize actors outside the five team members, a game team may have a friend voice act a part, a music composition may have another student playing an instrument.
To qualify: the “Performer” must be explicitly following writing and direction from a Team Member (for example, Team Member writes a set of lines for Voice Actor, who then reads them). If the Team Member wrote the script for the Actor, that’s fine, but if the actor ‘wrote’ their own dialogue (improvised, etc) that goes against this rule. Advisors should use reasonable judgement when enforcing the rule – an Actor basically staying on script but doing minor ad-libbing is probably fine, rewriting their part is out of scope.
For music/sound competitions, ‘performer’ also applies to instruments – someone playing a piano part written by a Team Member is fine, but the Team Member telling the piano player to come up with some music to go with their work is out of scope.
In this challenge, every choice your game makes the player confront will take something away — time, energy, resources, relationships, or even stability. Think about systems where progress always comes with a tradeoff, and where players must constantly weigh what they gain against what they lose. Your project can explore this idea literally through mechanics like resource management or stamina, or metaphorically through themes like trust, reputation, or personal growth. The goal is to design an experience where decisions matter because nothing is free, and every action shapes what becomes possible next.
Our launch video is below, which includes both the prompt release above, and some of the Q&A!
For the tenth annual Advanced Media Entertainment Society (AMES) Game Design Competition and Showcase, students were required to make a game that used elements studied this year, from concept to design and implementation. They competed at their local school level, and teams won the right to represent their school and compete at this state-level event at Microsoft’s Studio B in Redmond, WA, on May 31, 2025.
2025 Prompt
All classes were given the same prompt and eight weeks to complete a game based on the prompt:
Crystal Reid Crystal started working in games in 2010 as a QA Tester at ArenaNet. Since then, her career journey has jumped disciplines multiple times, first starting in Design, then transitioning to Narrative, eventually taking on Audio and Cinematic department responsibilities, and now finally moving into the role of Production. Currently at Bungie, she is a Production Director on Destiny 2, overseeing the shared creative services for the franchise.
Matt Pennebaker Matt has worked in almost all areas of design over his 15+ year career, from QA to Design Director and many stops in between. Most of that time was spent working on Guild Wars 2, but also includes time spent working on Plants vs. Zombies 3, an unannounced Dungeons & Dragons game, and currently an unannounced game at Zenimax Online Studios. Matt’s primary role is to design and prototype design tools and facilitate content creation with other designers.
Kevin Martens Kevin started in games as a writer in 1998 on the Baldur’s Gate series at BioWare. While there, he made Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age Origins. He has also worked on Diablo III, and World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment and currently leads the Design Department at Bungie Inc. His favorite part of game design is finding new combinations of elements in a game that make all of them feel fresh again.
Caitlin Nairon Caitlin started out as an online instructor for iD Tech camps, teaching classes like 3D modeling and animation in Maya, 3D game design in Unreal Engine or Godot, and programming in Java or C++. They then migrated to the game industry in 2022 at Bungie as an Associate Technical Designer working on Destiny 2’s seasonal and expansion content, mainly working with object mechanics. Now at Zenimax Online Studios as a Technical Designer working on an unannounced project, Caitlin is primarily focused on designing and trailblazing sustainable workflows and systems for designers to use when creating core player content.
Kelsey Pickinpaugh Kelsey has long held an affinity for the multi-faceted world of player experience. Her first job working on virtual casino games as a UI artist was her introduction to UX, where it became a crash course in player psychology. After working in mobile gaming for several years, Kelsey joined ArenaNet (working on an unreleased title) before moving on to Undead Labs for State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition and leading UX design and direction of State of Decay 3. Kelsey’s passion for UX grows from her desire to make games more accessible to all players.
Competition Event Host
Nellie Hughes As a game design industry veteran of 20 years, Nellie Hughes has worked on games such as City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and Guild Wars 2 in various ways. She now resides as a Design Director at Xbox Publishing, helping guide the team and department to be the best they can be.
Three Bugs in a Trenchcoat “Entrailed” Art/Design: Kayla Fisher Programming: Nick Klusman, Morgan Erickson Sound: Morgan Erickson
Crystal River “Maskpocalypse” Programming/Design: Wyatt Guski Art/Music: Tristen Simon
Thank You!
We would like to thank our Advisory Committees for going above and beyond in their help with curriculum steering, helping students with their projects, and constant support for our programs.
We would also like to thank our industry representatives for attending this event and being part of our panel. We really appreciate everything you do!
A special thank you to itch.io for hosting our Showcase.
To all of our guests, thank you for sharing this day with us in support of our students.
For the sixth annual Advanced Media Entertainment Society (AMES) Film and Animation Design Competition and Showcase, students were required to make a film or animation that used elements studied this year, from concept to design, and implementation. They competed at their local school level, and five teams won the right to represent their school and compete at this state-level event in Mount Vernon, WA at Northwest Career and Technical Academy on May 17, 2025.
All classes were given the following prompt and eight weeks to complete a film or animation based on the prompt:
LOCATION: Northwest Career and Technical Academy (NCTA) 2205 West Campus Place Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Updates
Hi everyone! A couple quick updates this morning!
Animation and Film both have their rubrics added on the Film / Animation Competition page. No changes to either rubric from last year other than the updated prompt.
Added Animation Milestones to that page as well – Keira gave those to me last week, I posted them and then realized today they weren’t linked anywhere… they’re accessible now. Thanks Keira for sharing those!
If anyone has any other resources to share for the contest please let Jim or Scott know!
As I was updating the pages I haven’t been able to find the master copy of the Animation/Film contest rules. Functionally they are the same as the game design competition but with a different set of deliverables (the film itself and an itch.io page to access it) – I’m going to keep looking and/or draft a new set if necessary and get that posted ASAP, for the interim the Game Design rules are/have been what we’ve been following anyway.
Here’s an updated version of the prompt – the prompt remains “unchanged”, this version just has more supporting text/clarifications on intent/etc. “The Masks We Wear…” remains the ‘formal’ prompt title. Itch.io jam pages have been updated accordingly.
From the literal masks we’ve worn in recent years to the metaphorical ones we put on every day, the idea of masks is deeply woven into our lives. We wear masks to protect, to conceal, to transform, and to express. Whether it’s navigating social expectations, hiding secrets, embracing a new identity, or even stepping into the role of a hero (or villain), masks shape how we interact with the world and how the world sees us. Your prompt for this showcase is “The Masks We Wear…” There are countless ways to explore this theme—be creative, take risks, and most importantly, have fun! We can’t wait to see what you create!
Hey nerds! We are in week 2 of Showcase production! By now teams should have finished their ideation/planning phases and moved on to their next steps. Recommended goals for this week are prototyping for game, and getting through preproduction steps for other media (Decide genre, pick exemplar films or scenes to mimic, build a plot diagram, start script writing, create a mood board, storyboard on paper with camera position and movement notes, audio notes, and blocking detailed, sound design and music style decided)
AMES - Advanced Media Entertainment Society 