Published: Jan. 19, 2022

Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game听controllers, physically mining for cryptocurrency and manic pizza, candy and gold stock trading over the phone: These are the concepts behind four games developed in CU Boulder's ATLAS Institute that have been selected to participate in alt.ctrl.GDC 2022, a coveted showcase of new games that feature unusual controls and surprising interactions. The event is听part of GDC, the world's largest professional game developers听conference,听which takes place March 21-25 at the听Moscone Center in San Francisco. A favorite stopover for thousands of GDC attendees, alt.ctrl.GDC features听15 finalists. All sharing ties to the College of Engineering and Applied Science, three of the ATLAS teams are associated with the听Whaaat!? Lab听and one hails from the听ACME Lab. "To have four ATLAS games picked for the 15 slots in this exclusive venue鈥攊t's a remarkable accomplishment. We're going to have a lot of fun," said Matt Bethancourt, co-director of the Whaaat!? Lab听and a senior teaching associate professor with ATLAS.听

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听(Whaaat!? Lab)听is a fast-paced multi-player, stock-trading game that uses analog telephones as game controllers. Players call听frantically听to try and buy or sell their stocks in pizza, candy and gold, making split-second decisions in response to charts, graphs and breaking news displayed on a nearby terminal. Buy! Sell! was developed by听听and Lisa Bethancourt and听Danny Rankin. Matt and Danny co-direct the听Whaaat!? Lab.

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NumberCruncher听(Whaaat!? Lab)听loosely parodies the concept of mining for cryptocurrency. Players use their bodies听to solve math problems, including violently smashing the numbers into raw material, breaking apart the rock to reveal their coin, then collecting it.

Plinko Burger (Whaaat!? Lab)听by听Zayna Sheikh, an undergraduate Creative Technology and Design (CTD)听student and Whaaat!? Lab assistant, and David Vicker, who is minoring in听CTD,听has players working a Plinko machine designed to make burgers, using condiment squeeze bottles and voice control to craft the perfect meal.

Tinycade听(ACME Lab)听by ATLAS PhD Student听Peter Gyory听and a team of ACME Lab researchers, is a DIY mini arcade game platform that uses a听smartphone and simple materials typically found around the home.听 This is Gyory's second invitation to alt.ctrl.GDC finals. In 2019, Peter Gyory and Clement Zheng (PhD, TMS听鈥�20) were awarded the coveted alt.ctrl.GDC award for their game,听Hot Swap, which came with a $3,000 prize.

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