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Submissions Open For 2014 SGS&C


Game submissions for the 2014 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge open tomorrow, August 1 through September 15. Finalists will be notified on October 15 and shall be prepared to attend the I/ITSEC conference to be held in Orlando, Dec 1-4.

The SGS&C, that occurs at each year's I/ITSEC (Interservice/Industry Training & Simulation Conference) in Orlando, FL, is the world’s largest modeling & simulation event, incorporating evaluation teams from Industry, Academia and Government.

All finalists are provided free entry to the conference as well as space in the SGS&C booth to demonstrate their game to a worldwide training, simulation and education audience in Orlando, Florida.

All award winners are announced on the final day of the conference and invited to the I/ITSEC Awards Reception. Finalists are also invited to sit with the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Planning Committee at the Awards Banquet.

New This Year!

The SGS&C Special Emphasis Award category is open to entries that address a serious challenge or problem using a prescribed technology or technique.  This year’s Special Emphasis is on games that use social media crowdsourcing as a multi-player opportunity for peer learning and distributed problem-solving.

SGS&C is looking for games that use social media to create learner engagement, reflection, and action! The idea is to use social media to scale gameplay to include large groups of people (even thousands!), all contributing to individual and collective learning experiences. For example, games in this category might create a conversation on a topic to help players solve puzzles in a serious game. Social media inputs to gameplay could also include results from polls, feedback, videos, and links—just about anything you can imagine being part of a serious game.

This SGS&C invites entrants to submit their solutions for using social media crowdsourcing as a multiplayer opportunity for peer learning.  Whether for middle and high school, university, defense, or industry, your innovative solution is welcome!

Before entering make sure you read the rules and understand what categories your game qualifies for. Prepare your paper work, taking care in all of your answers. Paperwork does play a role in the judging process. Submit your forms early.


There are 7 awards to be reaped:

Students’ Choice Award – The Students’ Choice Award category was started in 2013 in cooperation with Orange County Public Schools in Central Florida.  The evaluation and award determination now includes many school systems from around the United States.  Unlike the other awards, the Students’ Choice Award will be determined uniquely from a student’s perspective among finalist games that address secondary education topics. 

Best Game Special Emphasis – Social Media Crowdsourcing for Peer – as described above.

Best Game Business Category – This award is commonly the hardest fought award for the historically largest category. The best game entered in the Business category as judged by a panel of evaluators earns bragging rights as the Best Business Game.

Best Game Student Category –Go up against other top colleges and universities through the Challenge! In addition to great I/ITSEC networking opportunities with top-paying employers, this award often comes with high-value sponsor prizes.

Best Game Government Category – Who has the best game ideas: DoD or DHS? US or Australia? These games may have been funded or internally developed by non-academic government agencies. International federal, state and local Governments vie for recognition as the Best Government game.

Best Game Mobile Category – How well does your mobile game deliver in this unique platform? SGS&C evaluators are looking for the game that best leverages the mobile environment.

People’s Choice Best Game – The people of I/ITSEC will get their say. This award is decided by ballots collected from I/ITSEC attendees all week and is not known until the eve of the last day of I/ITSEC.

Important Dates

Sept 5 Game Submissions Close
Oct 15 Notification of Finalists
Dec 1-4 SGS&C at I/ITSEC 2013
Dec 4 Awards at I/ITSEC in Orlando, FL

Game On!

About The Challenge

The Serious Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C) was born in 2005 from the desire to stimulate industry creativity and generate institutional interest towards the use of digital game technology and approaches for training and education. 

A partnership was formed with the organizers of Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), the National Training Systems Association (NTSA), and the first SGS&C was held at I/ITSEC 2006. 

SGS&C has been a growing staple of the I/ITSEC event ever since.