Game Design Challenge to Include Academic Instructor

Contestants for the annual Game Design Challenge, a staple friendly competition at the Game Developers Conference, have been announced. Reigning champion Alexy Pajitnov (shown) (Tetris), who unseated former winner Harvey Smith (Deus Ex), will compete against Steve Meretzky (Planet Fall) and Brenda Brathwaite (Wizardry), a game design instructor at Savannah College of Art and Design and consultant in the professional field. The Game Design Challenge, hosted annually by Eric Zimmerman at the Game Developers Conference, is an invitation-only contest in which a few notable game designers come up with the concept for a new video game based on a given theme. This year’s challenge is to create an “interspecies game,” one that can be played by both humans and one other species. The contestants have a few weeks to prepare their concepts, which are then presented at the crux of the challenge at a session at the Game Developers Conference. The winner is then decided by audience vote. Event Details Game Design Challenge Thursday, February 21 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Moscone Center West Hall, San Francisco, Calif. Room 2014