Girls Make Games teams with Google Play for Change the Game initiative

Submissions now open for game design competition

Google Play, in association with the Girls Make Games group, has opened submissions for this year’s annual Change the Game Design Challenge. The initiative encourages girls and young women to put forward their own original game ideas, with the possibility of earning a spot in a series of upcoming game design workshops.

“Though women are playing mobile games at record numbers and make up 45% of gamers, they are heavily underrepresented in the gaming industry and as protagonists in video games.” reads the initiative’s website. “At Google Play, we have a mission to make mobile gaming truly for everyone by enabling women to be celebrated and empowered as both players and creators. We’re calling on teens to become Game Changers by sharing an original game idea and a unique vision for the future of the gaming industry.”

The Change the Game Design Challenge is open to girls and young women in the United States and Canada. Interested applicants should fill out an entry form on the official website, briefly describing the concept for their video game. Participants selected by a panel of judges will then receive access to a series of workshops – to be held this summer in an online capacity for social distancing reasons. No previous experience is necessary.

The four-session course will offer its students a taster in all aspects of game design, with an eye to having coded a fully playable game by the end of the program. Each participant attending the workshop will receive some celebratory swag once the course ends, including a certificate of completion and a brand new Chromebook. The Change the Game program aims to provide young coders with encouragement, experience, and technical know-how, setting them on course to a brighter, more inclusive future in the gaming industry.

For more information on the Change the Game Design Challenge, please visit the official website. For further initiatives, workshops, and contests, check out Girls Make Games.com.