2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest Winners Announced
Apr 05, 2022The 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest just wrapped up, with more than 1,000 students from 18 countries joining the fun! In this STEAM competition, students from grades 3-12 competed with machines that they imagined, designed, and created in Minecraft Education Edition.
The competitions encourage teamwork and out-of-the-box problem-solving in a fresh learning environment and level playing field. This year's challenge was to use Minecraft to build a wacky virtual machine that will Open & Illuminate a Book.
Before joining the Big Build, students watched pre-season livestreams to learn about the engineering design process and get ideas for building machines in Minecraft. They practiced both by participating in pre-season challenges. Find recordings of the pre-season events on NASEF’s Rube Goldberg page.
Congratulations to the following winners!
@Home Division
- Winning Team: Team Zombie Apocalypse | Glen Rock, New Jersey
- Best Final Step: Team Crazy Aliens | Sunny Isles Beach, FL
- Technical Excellence: Space Shark | Sunny Isles Beach, FL
- Technical Excellence: Team Izzy and the Marionettes | Windsor, United Kingdom
We received several entries for the @Home Division that didn’t quite align with the guidelines, so we opted to offer a few awards for technical excellence and the best final step in lieu of 2nd and 3rd placements.
Junior Division (ages 11-14)
- 1st place: Team Cube Goldbergers | San Diego, CA
- 2nd place: Team Mask of Darkness | Greensboro, NC
- 3rd place: Team Front Street Boys | Sunny Isles Beach, FL
Senior Division (ages 14-18)
- 1st place: Team Double Triple Torque Cannon | Flemington, NJ
- 2nd place: Team Gornails Gamers 2.0 | Miami, FL
- 3rd place: Team TNT Clan | Sunny Isles Beach, FL
You can watch the VOD of the livestream and see videos of each submission below. NASEF appreciates the generous support of Greenberg Traurig for this Big Build Finals livestream!
Jennifer George, chief creative officer for the Rube Goldberg Institute for Innovation and Creativity, said,
“The entries this year were absolutely amazing! We were so excited to see how students used their creative skills and technical prowess to build these digital Rube Goldberg Machines in Minecraft. The task for 2022 was to OPEN & ILLUMINATE A BOOK and we saw a wide array of themes, from Harry Potter to the Zombie Apocalypse to a French Chef in search of his lost cookbook. Submissions came in from 18 different countries, proving once again that Rube Goldberg and Minecraft are each a universal language, spoken by a global community of designers and problem-solvers -- who in this competition pushed their Minecraft skills to the limit to create these crazy contraptions.”
“NASEF is helping thousands of students learn STEM skills and the engineering design process as they join our Minecraft challenges. When you listen to students describe their Rube Goldberg machines, you can hear the pride in their voices for what they’ve created with their teams. We’re thrilled to give them this opportunity for blended learning and play,” said Gerald Solomon, founder and executive director of NASEF.
Not only did students get recognized by the NASEF, the leading scholastic esports program, they also received awesome prizes! Prizes for each team are outlined below.
Technical Achievement/Best Last Step
- Individual official 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest certificates
- Showcased on the North America Scholastic Esports Federation website and social media
- $100 Amazon gift card
3rd place Junior Division | Senior Division
- Individual official 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest certificates
- Showcased on the North America Scholastic Esports Federation website and social media
- $100 Amazon gift card
2nd place Junior Division | Senior Division
- Individual official 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest certificates
- Showcased on the North America Scholastic Esports Federation website and social media
- $225 Amazon gift card
1st place Junior Division | Senior Division | @Home Division
- Team admission for 2023 Rube Goldberg Machine Contest
- Individual official 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest certificates
- Showcased on the North America Scholastic Esports Federation website and social media
- $450 Amazon gift card
Through a partnership with Tallo, NASEF also awarded digital badges to participating students. Students use the Tallo platform to build a portfolio and showcase interests, experiences, and goals. Tallo connects them with meaningful educational and career-related opportunities, whether through college and employment recruiters reviewing information on the site, or by presenting events like our recent joint college fair with esports coaches and directors.
A badge earned in the digital Rube Goldberg Minecraft competition demonstrates that students have skills in design, engineering, technology, teamwork, and more. Students, be sure to build a profile in Tallo and add your badge as a participant, finalist, or winner![1] That profile will help you build college and career connections.
Congratulations again to every student who participated in the 2022 Digital Rube Goldberg Machine Minecraft Contest. Stay tuned to the NASEF newsletter for announcements about the next event!
[1] Note that Tallo does not currently service or promote internationally, resulting in limitations on international data selection, including current school attending (can skip) and college interest (cannot skip - please select a US college/university if preferred selection is not available). Future enhancements will allow for international data selection and profile updates.