For the University of Wisconsin-Stout game design and development program, four years in existence was all it took to have a class’ project chosen as a finalist in the E3 College Game Competition.

E3 is the big daddy of the video game industry, and Stout’s entry, Flash Frozen, was selected as one of five finalists out of over 400 entries to be featured in the Entertainment Software Association’s trade show this summer in Los Angeles. The 12 students and two professors who created Flash Frozen will get the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the bigwigs in the industry, and will also have the chance to meet the next generation of gaming superstars.

The game was created in Stout’s Senior 3D Game Design class from start to finish. Flash Frozen’s website features a documentary about the game’s development, and will tell you all you need to know about Flash Frozen’s plot line. The gist of the game is the player must escape a ship that is wrecked on an iceberg, somehow maintaining your body heat and evading the dangers presented. Oh, and the ship is haunted to boot.

UW-Stout’s game design and development program has already made a name for itself, ranking within the Princeton Review’s top 30 video game programs in the U.S. and Canada. Flash Frozen’s competition comes from Brigham Young University, the University of Chicago, Savannah College of Art and Design and Alamo Colleges – Northwest Vista College.