Full Sail Stories

From March 6-8, Full Sail University hosted their second annual Hack & Jam in collaboration with Epic Games, as well as a global group of Unreal Academic Partners and Unreal Authorized Training Centers. Local middle school and high school students, as well as Full Sail students and alumni, gathered for a weekend of coding, community, and competition led by the university’s Emerging Technology and High School Outreach teams. The event was part of Emerging Technology’s roster of Hall of Fame 2026 activities.

During the competition, participants formed teams of two to four creators and developed original games based on the theme “Outgrow Hunger” from the Games for Change Student Challenge and sponsored by the World Food Program’s Zero Hunger Generation initiative. The goal was to design a playable game prototype where users cultivate an ecosystem that supports a community and highlights sustainability, protecting an environment, and caring for natural spaces. Full Sail alumni, faculty, and staff provided real-time playtesting, technical support, and mentorship to participants.

At the close of the weekend, teams presented their completed projects via a recorded playthrough and were judged on four criteria: use of theme, gameplay, aesthetics, and fun factor. Judges reviewed the builds and announced the winners.

The Intermediates won third place with their game “Cabbage Patch” where users earn points by harvesting and storing up cabbages. Garden of Game came in second with “Clockwork Harvest” where players are robots gathering and delivering food to a community on the brink of starvation. The coveted first place spot went to Big Three with their game “RATZZZ” where users play as a hungry rat collecting scraps of food and growing big enough to eat their prized block of cheese. Lastly, fans voted online for their favorite build, which was “Hungry Cat: Devour the Universe…or Not” by CMD Studios, where a starving feline tries to eat as much food as possible.

In addition, Epic Games sponsored a special prize category for games built in Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Second place went to Baja Shrews, a team consisting of recent grads and current students, and first place was awarded to Group Dev Projects, a team of students currently in the Game Design degree program.

Throughout the weekend, the budding game developers got to network with others in the game industry, create builds for their portfolios, and have fun in the process.

“Participants gained hands-on experience working in a fast-paced collaborative development environment similar to professional game studios,” said Shawn Kendall, Hack & Jam facilitator and Program Manager for Full Sail’s Game Development bachelor’s degree program. “Our goal was for participants to leave with a playable prototype, practical experience working with a team under real production constraints, and a deeper understanding of how games can be used to address meaningful real-world challenges.”

Phoebe Elefante, Hack & Jam lead facilitator and Program Director for the Game Design and Interactive Technology degree programs, also shared about the weekend.

“We've seen that game jams are an incredibly effective way to accelerate student learning, encourage cross-degree collaboration, and build community at Full Sail,” Phoebe said. “Expanding that to embrace the Games for Change mission of real-world problem-solving with an international group of collaborators models the way we want students to engage with each other and with the industries they'll shape as they grow into their professional roles.”