The Endstar Game Maker Spark Challenge kicked off on Friday, Feb. 21, where ASU students began designing using Endstar’s dynamic 3D world builder. Photo by ASU/Tabbs Mosier.

ASU students craft and code on new video game making platform

Endless Games and Learning Lab debuts “Endstar” among student game developers at ASU’s Spark Challenge.

Joycelyn Munoz

February 25, 2025

Imagine a Sun Devil who never sees the sun. In Dungeon Unexplorer, you play as the final boss of a deep, dark dungeon, who is ready to defeat adventurers, solve puzzles, and climb up the levels of the dungeon to feel the warmth of the sun upon him once again.

“We wanted to flip the script of the usual dungeon crawler,” said team member Punit Shukal.

Team “Darkspawn Devils” took home the top prize for their creativity at the Endstar Game Maker Spark Challenge, co-hosted by ASU Enterprise Technology Community Partners and Endless Games and Learning Lab.

The Spark Challenge invited students from across ASU to design and build a playable game using Endstar’s dynamic 3D world builder. Endstar, a new platform produced by Endless Studios, will soon be taught in ASU courses.

“I never considered going into game making before this,” said Xingping Pan, who co-designed the winning project with Shukal. “[This Challenge] might have just changed my mind.”

The two ASU students behind Darkspawn Devils had never completed a game build before, and competed on the “Capstone Track,” a track challenging game makers to include their own custom scripting and 3D modeling techniques to add new tricks and features to enhance game play. This was the more advanced of two tracks available for participants at the recent Spark Challenge.

“I had an inclination toward software engineering because I wanted to eventually try out game development,” Shukal said. “It’s actually really amazing the way they have this entire visual, scripting, thing going on. I would say for someone who is really new to coding, it’s really great to get an idea of what it feels like to apply programming logic.”

The Endstar platform is expected to be included in ASU classrooms in March. The team at Endless Games and Learning Lab has built an AI assistant Ender, which teaches users how to navigate the platform and assist with other AI integrations for game development.

The ASU Spark Challenge took place across four days, with kick off on February 21. Over 50 ASU game makers divided into 13 teams were challenged to create Dungeon Crawler levels which met track-specific creative requirements over the weekend. Teams also created a trailer which was presented in a 3-minute pitch to a panel of industry experts, including Larry LaPierre (CEO, Supernatural Studios) and Ken George (VP, Rainbow Studios).

Track criteria included “game design and creativity,” “story,” “UX and balance,” and “use of Endstar and innovation.” Game makers can choose either a “coding,” or “non-coding” track to develop their games depending on their experience level.

The ASU and Endless Studios partnership launched the Endless Games and Learning Lab at ASU in 2024, with Mark Ollila named founding director. Ollila is a games and entertainment industry veteran, ASU professor of practice and organizer for the Spark Challenge.

"We’re using the platform (Endstar) and teaching it at the university level at the beginning of March, a studio course.” said Ollila. “We’re looking to really push the limits on Endstar as a platform and about what it can do, and what sort of games can be created with it. But more importantly, really getting feedback from the students and the hackers here about what they really enjoyed and how they worked together and what they believe they’ve learned from it.”

The Endless Games and Learning Lab is driven by ASU’s “Realm 5” for teaching and learning initiative, which focuses on merging together both “cutting-edge technology and engaging game environments.”

“Endstar is a very special platform,” said Ollila. “It’s really, purely, meant to be a learning tool. It’s really a stepping stone for young professionals who don’t necessarily have the skills yet to build their own Unity game … to create playable games.”

Team “Bing bing Bang Bang” was comprised of students competing on the “Launchpad Track,” a track designed for beginners in game developing. Many of these students had never done a hackathon, or previous developing experience.

This team was announced winner of the People’s Choice Award for their game Enchanter, receiving Meta headsets for each team member (Cathay Chen, Meredith Woodward, Wellen Lin, Michelle Chen).

“A great story is exactly what players look for to keep them engaged and playing,” they said.

Endless Games and Learning Lab at ASU objectives streamline a love for gaming into a learning environment for students who can create and credential their projects into income opportunities, business skills, internship experience, and more.

Several ASU students working on the Endstar platform for the first time said the challenge has been easy, fun, and intuitive.

Other Spark Challenge winners included:

Capstone Track: Team Darkspawn Devils (Xingping Pan and Punit Shukal) for Dungeon Unexplorer
Launchpad Track: Team C-Law (Lilliana Lopez, Anish Powar, William Martinez) for Coral Crawl
Best Prop Creation: Team Olympians (Anthony Kuhn, Krutarth Thakkar, Levi Donovan, Vishwas Harish) for Dungeons of the Gods
People’s Choice Award: Team Bing bing Bang Bang (Cathay Chen, Meredith Woodward, Wellen Lin, Michelle Chen) for Enchanter

Winners of the Capstone track earned a $2,000 reward while winners of the Launchpad Track and Best Prop Creation earned a $1,000 reward. Cash awards were sponsored by Endless Studios and E Line Media.

Winners of the People’s Choice Awards won Meta VR headsets for each winning team member. All participants earned professional digital microcredentials of Game Maker issued by the Endless Games and Learning Lab.

We would like to thank the following jury: Larry LaPierre, Ken George, Daniel Williams, Alex Bascom, Pavan Turaga, Stephanie Tomlin, and Daniel Felts, as well as sponsors Endless Studios, E-Line Media, and Axio.