When Stanford and UC-Berkeley students get together in a competitive setting, it is usually on a football field or in some other athletic contest. But when 60 Stanford students squared off against their counterparts from Cal last month in Mountain View in the first annual Google Games, it was as a veritable battle of the brains.

The Apr. 28 contest, which tested everything from Sudoku skills to Nintendo Wii prowess, was designed as a way for the cross-bay rivals to rekindle a “Big-Game-esque” competition among the computer science and engineering students from the two schools. It was also a recruiting ploy by the search engine giant.

Twenty-four teams of five people — 12 each from Stanford and Cal — competed in three tasks designed to test different skill sets. Activities included Lego bridge building, puzzles and a “special surprise contest” that turned out to be a Nintendo Wii competition.

Competitors tackled seven puzzles, including Sudoku and computer programming challenges. For the Nintendo Wii competition, participants used the video game system’s motion sensitive controllers to compete in virtual cow racing and fishing. The winning Lego bridge, meanwhile, held more than 120 pounds of gravel suspended beneath it before eventually giving way.

The top finishers in each contest were awarded points toward a cumulative score, and prizes included Google duffle bags and team dinner gift certificates.

The Stanford teams scored higher than those from Berkeley and were awarded a Google lava lamp trophy, which is on display in the Gates Building, room 272.

“Stanford pretty much swept all of the awards,” said Jeff Seibert ‘08, a member of the “Angry Caterpillars,” which won the spirit award. “I don’t think Berkeley was too pleased.”

Competitors applied to the Games though a standard application process, even though the event was created with recruitment in mind.

“Google is a great place for young developers and coders wanting to work on the world’s most challenging problems,” said a press release advertising the Games. “We’re always on the lookout for innovative, enthusiastic students who know how to put the ‘G’ in teamwork.”

Students who participated in the event understood its underlying importance.

“The purpose of the Games is to get students interested in Google so they’ll be interested in working there after college,” said David Gobaud ‘07, who organized the opening ceremony. “To get the Google name out there.”

Troy Steinmetz ‘07, another member of the Angry Caterpillars, said he thoroughly enjoyed the Games.

“In general, it was great — really fun,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to spend a Saturday solving puzzles?”