College of Coastal Georgia Students Claim International Minecraft Tournament

BRUNSWICK, GA – College of Coastal Georgia students Mitchell Hodzen (left) and Eli Golden (right) won the Regional, National and International Minecraft Hunger Games competition held on Saturday November 21. Ninety-six libraries worldwide participated in the Minecraft Hunger Games tournament on the eighth annual International Games Day. The event was sponsored by the American Library Association. In the end, Golden and Hodzen defeated all opponents and claimed the title of International Games Day Minecraft Hunger Games World Champions.

Based on the popular commercial online construction game Minecraft, Minecraft Hunger Games (also referred to as Minecraft Survival Games) is a mash up of Minecraft and The Hunger Games series. Debbie Holmes, CCGA Dean of Libraries, organized events for the 2015 International Game Day with the help of students Malika Mosely, Brian Walsh and Chris Smith, all members of the Mariner’s gaming club.

In the tournament, each participating library—71 from North America, 11 from Europe, and 14 from Australia—selected two players. According to Holmes, to participate, each library registered as a “district” with its own specialty. Libraries conducted matches to decide who their participants would be.

“On Saturday^, there were regional semifinals,” says Holmes. “The winners from each region—northeast, southwest, etc.—played each other starting at 3 pm. Those winners moved on to nationals, and then the winners advanced to internationals.”

Golden and Hozden won each round, and eventually, topped teams from Germany and Australia in the international final.

“This was the first time the college has participated in an event like this and we actually won,” exclaimed Hodzen. “It was such an enjoyable experience and I look forward to participating in similar events in the future.”

Contact: John Cornell
jcornell@ccga.edu
912.279.5703