Third Time Entertainment, Inc. and Florida Poly students take home first places at the FIEA Game Jam
January 23, 2025
Winners from Third Time Entertainment, Inc. and Florida Polytechnic University took home first place trophies and Nintendo Switch Lites at the second annual FIEA Collegiate Game Jam at Creative Village last weekend. The competition challenged teams from around the state in two divisions, graduate/professional and undergraduate, to develop a game based on a theme in roughly 44.5 hours.
The event kicked off on Friday, January 17 at 6 p.m. with 34 teams, 15 graduate/professional and 19 undergraduate, ready and waiting for the announcement of the theme to begin development: theme parks. Development ended at 3 p.m. on Sunday when an impressive lineup of judges quickly and carefully reviewed each team’s game. Restless competitors gathered in the packed FIEA Soundstage to watch 30-second videos of playthroughs of each game before the first, second and third place winners in each division were announced.
“All in all it was a pretty exhausting but also invigorating couple days,” Ian Cummings, Third Time Entertainment, Inc. founder, shared on the social media platform X. Cummings and artist Brian Fleming developed an amusing game called After Dark Park based on a theme park security guard just three days away from retirement, Carl, who must combat evil duck-like creatures. Third Time competed in last year’s inaugural jam, but did not place in the top three. This year, victory was validation. “To take home the win against a lot of talented teams also makes me super proud because it was also only 2 of us against [15] teams of 4!”
To take home the win against a lot of talented teams also makes me super proud…
Third Time wasn’t the only team that effectively ran light with just two people. A dynamic duo who called themselves Madison, Wisconsin from FPU won first place in the undergraduate division for their game Click Here! This team included returning champ Cecilia Merion who won second place at last year’s jam. This was the second year that FPU produced a first-place undergraduate division win.
The undergraduate second and third place spots went to University of Florida teams Astronautilus Games and Gator VR ft. The Wizards. UF also brought a single-person team appropriately named Just One Guy, who gained popular support for single-handedly developing a game during the event, receiving some of the loudest applause.
Second place in the graduate/professional division went to Mana Overload, made up of FIEA alumnus Noa Baggs, along with Joseph DeMartini, Cole Montrose, and Erik Larsen representing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Hidden Roll. Three of its members recently won the Indienomicon MegaHealth Jam back in September.
Many competitors and winners who participated last year returned to compete again. The 2024 graduate/professional second place winners on Team N/A, which included members from Iron Galaxy, EA Orlando, UCF and FIEA alumni, still made the podium at third place this year.
Industry professionals from Orlando’s fast-growing game development industry stepped in to judge the undergraduate division games, including Johnathan Wolverton, director of development at Undead Labs; Renita Singh, engineering manager at EA Orlando; and Paul Weiler, game programmer at Iron Galaxy.
Judges for the graduate/professional division were selected from faculty among neighboring higher education institutions: Nick Heitzman from University of Florida Digital Arts & Science; Christian Navarro from Florida Polytechnic University Computer Science; and Brad Towle from Florida Polytechnic University Game Design.
…There could not have been a greater environment that was challenging, yet welcoming and unbelievably supportive at every turn.
Competing for the first time this year was the four-person undergraduate team called the Beacon Flamethrowers from Beacon College in Leesburg. Beacon College awards bachelor’s degrees (including a minor in Game Design) exclusively to students with learning disabilities and ADHD. The team came united and ready, decked out in bright yellow tees with their team logo across the front. They networked with teams from other colleges, worked with other teams and FIEA faculty to troubleshoot, and won a couple raffle prizes.
“For our students, who learn differently, there could not have been a greater environment that was challenging, yet welcoming and unbelievably supportive at every turn,” Melissa Bradley, Director of the Center for Career Preparation for Beacon College said.
First place winners in both divisions won Nintendo Switch Lites, donated by EA Orlando. GameSir donated game controllers that were distributed to second place winners in both divisions. EA Orlando also donated $50 Xbox and Playstation gift cards for third place, as well as game codes for College Football 25, Madden NFL 25, NHL 25, FC 25, and NFS Unbound. Game codes were raffled to game jam attendees present on the second day.
Raven Software donated a digitally signed poster, steelcase, and Xbox and PS4 versions of their latest release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which were also raffled on Saturday. Credited in the game is FIEA Cohort 20 alumnus Jordan Diaz, who competed with CAT4, the 2024 first place graduate/professional division champs.
Video playthroughs from each team can be viewed on our YouTube channel:
Congratulations to the 2025 Winners!
Undergraduate Division
Cecilia Merion, Mason Kazebeer
Florida Polytechnic University
Second Place: Astronautilus Games
Avery Birle, Andrew Kohler, Gianna Giliberto, Jennifer Purington
(Names are not in order of appearance)
University of Florida
Third Place: Gator VR ft. The Wizards
Miles Haase, Wells Benson, Hannah Imler, Keith Khadar
(Names are not in order of appearance)
University of Florida
Graduate/Professional Division
Brian Fleming, Ian Cummings
Third Time Entertainment, Inc.
Second Place: Mana Overload
Noa Baggs, Joseph DeMartini, Cole Montrose, Erik Larsen
(Names are not in order of appearance)
FIEA Cohort 20 Alumnus, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Hidden Roll
Third Place: N/A
David Buffkin, Kyle Conway, Peyton Ryan, Elaina Buffkin
Iron Galaxy, EA, FIEA Cohort 19 Alumni, UCF