Pac Man Meets Scarlet Raptor in Rutgers-Camden Game Design Course

CAMDEN - So you’ve mastered Guitar Hero. Think you could come up with the next hot game?

According to Dr. Suneeta Ramaswami, an associate professor of computer science at Rutgers—Camden, developing a completely original idea for a computer game isn’t easy. But the undergrads enrolled in her upper-level computer science course “Game Design” met that challenge. They spent the spring semester learning trends in games from Pong to Wii, exploring what makes a successful game world, devising compelling storylines, employing key design and technical aspects, and, ultimately, have turned their own dream games into reality using the software program Game Maker.

Junior Matt Atkins presented his original creation “Shell Game,” which featured a hero hermit crab who has been left in a tank with other hungry hermit crabs when a negligent owner leaves for a week. In Atkins’ game the user can eat aggressive hermit crabs to grow into larger and larger shells with the goal of breaking from the tank. The growth spurts can continue at a surreal pace outside of the tank, even resulting in a hermit crab the size of a shopping cart.

“My game concept is supported by how hermit crabs act in the wild. If there is no shell for a hermit crab to grow into, it will switch to something else, like a piece of trash, if it’s the right size. ‘Shell Game’ takes this to a ridiculous degree by allowing crabs to wear a doghouse for a shell,” said the Burlington resident.

The first of its kind at Rutgers—Camden, the game design class of 15 students created a range of new games from one inspired by the recent adaptation of Beowulf onto the big screen to another that addresses the fate of an underwater habitat where whales need help eating the right plankton. In addition to creating a final computer game, undergraduates enrolled in the course were also tasked to review a commercial game and design a board game.

Ramaswami says the Rutgers—Camden course was created because of a growing student demand from budding computer scientists eager to enlarge their portfolio with game design experience. The course will be taught by Ramaswami when it is offered again in spring of 2009. 

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