As if making it to morning classes and trying to resist the pull of the Den weren’t enough mental and physical challenges, students have a new opportunity to test themselves thanks to a group of computer scientists.
The Puzzled Game gives students, staff and faculty a chance to compete in small teams for as yet unidentified prizes. Sound mysterious? According to organizers, that’s the point.
“The concept is similar to the movie, The Game,” said computer science graduate student Carman Neustadter. “In the film, Michael Douglas’ life is turned upside down. He goes from location to location and is confronted by a series of puzzles. We take the teams and send them from location to location through Calgary where they face a series of puzzles and get clues.”
“It’s kind of like the Amazing Race,” he said.
The game is sponsored by the Graduate Students’ Association and the Computer Science Department, and was designed by Neustadter and six other graduate students. Officially launching in January, currently players can check for weekly clues on the game’s website, but even figuring those out will present a challenge.
Neustadter said the game will offer prizes for the top teams, but stressed the unique nature of the puzzles themselves.
“While winning is fun, the best prize will be the experience people get out of this,” he said.