Two Mathews High School seniors—Cameron Proulx and Porter Seals—took first place in the category of Interactive Application and Video Game Design at the 55th annual SkillsUSA State Leadership Conference and Skills Championship, held on April 12-13 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.

The pair won the competition for “Punch Off,” a two-dimensional physics-based video game. In “Punch Off,” players land in a spaceship on an alien world and must collect parts in order to rebuild the ship and leave the planet.

Proulx and Seals had taken the modeling and simulation class at MHS and spent this year in independent study, spending much of that time developing this video game, according to MHS technology teacher Jason Smith.

Smith said that “Punch Off” is an excellent game and he has been encouraging the two students to make it available to the public through the app store. Proulx and Seals both plan to attend Rappahannock Community ...