Phl team 2nd in Microsoft's Imagine Cup 2011 Game Design Competition

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the number of teams who competed this year, Philippine team Signum Fidei emerged as winners, placing second in the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2011 World Finals Game Design Web Subcategory with its entry titled Conjunct!, a puzzle game where the player is required to clear boards overlaid with photos of real-life problems around the world. The Imagine Cup is the world’s premiere student technology competition, which gathers the best developers around the world and harnesses the creative minds of the youth to address problems faced by the world today using the power of information technology. “Winning in this year’s Imagine Cup is a big achievement for the Philippines. This is the second consecutive year that our students’ talents were recognized, even placing in one of the top spots in the competition,” said Tim Vergel de Dios, academic developer evangelist, Microsoft Philippines. “We at Microsoft congratulate team Signum Fidei as they have given their best to create a game that is both useful and entertaining, addressing the most important issues faced by the world today. With this triumph, we have once again demonstrated the ingenious and innovative skills and minds of the Filipino students, as well as their capabilities to leverage on technology in addressing real-world problems,” added de Dios. Signum Fidei is composed of students from De La Salle University. According to group, the concept of Conjunct! was inspired by the game Tetris and the millennium development goals. “As we realize the vast problems faced by the world today, we saw how Filipinos can make a difference and through our game Conjunct!, we have combined social awareness concepts in order to help make a difference by showing the people the various realities taking place in our world. We saw them with our own eyes and we hope to be able to make our own contribution in solving the world’s problems in our own simple ways,” said Thomas James Tiam-Lee.