Nathan and Adriel represent Shire Christian and present their game Shooting Stars to PAX Convention in Melbourne

08 November 2024

Nathan and Adriel represent Shire Christian and present their game Shooting Stars to PAX Convention in Melbourne

Last term Nathan Donaldson and Adriel Tsui won the Year 7-9 GODOT Engine category of the Australian STEM Video Game Challenge. Their prize included hoodies with their winning game design on it and the opportunity to visit PAX for the 3-day Convention and present their game as part of the event.

PAX Melbourne is a major gaming convention, featuring a wide range of activities and exhibits designed for gamers, industry professionals, and fans. The boys and families experienced the vibrant gaming culture.

Key highlights included:

  • Sharing their game and the process of designing their game to a theatre of more than 130 people. 
  • Opportunities to try out new game titles and meet developers who are showcasing upcoming games from major studios, as well as indie developers showcasing their games for the first time. 
  • Watching visitors to PAX play, “Star Shooter” the game the boys developed – was a highlight for us all!  

We also visited different theatres where industry experts led talks covering topics such as game design, storytelling, and the future of gaming.  There were opportunities to participate in tournaments, competitive gaming events for popular titles, allowing attendees to test their skills against others.  We watched Cosplay Events: A celebration of fan creativity and parades featuring elaborate costumes based on favourite characters. We played games in Tabletop Gaming, an area dedicated to board games and tabletop RPGs. There were opportunities to play video games from the past – we enjoyed games such as, Pong, Frogga and Tetras!

I am so proud of the way the boys represented our school. We learned so much at the convention. I am also thankful to the Donaldson and Tsui families for their enthusiasm and taking part in all PAX had to offer. It was an exciting and memorable time. 

Congratulations also to the 12 other teams from Grades 5 and 6, who worked hard applying their newly learned programming skills in Scratch to design and create a game based on this year’s theme, Stars - all making it through to round 2 of the judging!

Mrs Leonie Hampson
Junior School Enrichment Coordinator



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