Pandemic video games released

Gamers now have four new video games on the local market to choose from, all of them based on the deadly COVID-19.

Thanks to a partnership with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), game developers Tabari Rudder-Fields, Michael Atkins, Shanny Singh and Kyrese Coy produced the games under the umbrella, Pandemic.

The NCF initiative came from a call for developers to submit proposals for games based on the current pandemic, the objective of which should be to kill the highly-contagious Coronavirus. The NCF received four concepts and produced them all.

Senior Business Development Officer at NCF Andre Hoyte, speaking at a recent press conference to unveil the games and introduce the developers, said the Foundation felt the need to invest in the billion-dollar sector.

“For the past five months, we would have been embarking on a journey to support the gaming industry. We felt that with the global video gaming industry generating billions of dollars in revenue, it was time that Barbados also try to tap into that, and during the COVID pandemic the NCF commissioned four games to showcase the talent of our Barbadian game developers,” he said, as he urged other interested persons with talent to get on board.

“We also want to encourage other creators and entrepreneurs across the industry to bet on themselves and to think of how great their skills are. Take opportunities like this to get involved in producing games in this exciting sector,” Hoyte added.

Over the next few weeks, the NCF will be showing the games on various platforms. Barbadians are being encouraged to play them and give the NCF feedback.

Rudder-Fields, who created Attack of the Virus, is currently completing his Computer Science degree from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill campus. In his game, the player is in a fixed location from which he battles waves of the virus molecules entering the area from the left, right and above. The user must shoot at the enemies to take them out. The user is also within a six-foot area which he must ensure the virus molecules not breach; if enough molecules break the barrier, the player becomes infected and the game ends. Each wave increases the difficulty of the game. The main objective is to reach wave 100 to win the game. During the game, the player can collect pills to buy and improve weapons.

Atkins, a media practitioner for 25 years, is the creator of LockDown.

The concept: As we are about to go into lockdown we must make sure we have done all of our shopping. Make your way to the store while keeping your distance from everyone. Once there, make sure you get as much as you can, and quickly, before LockDown starts. The game tests spatial and math skills.

Singh is pursuing an Associate Degree in Computer Studies at the Barbados Community College (BCC). Her game, Killvid-19, is an endless runner game in which the player destroys the COVID-19 virus with a gun. A player could become infected if they come into contact with the virus or a rock. The objective is to kill as much of the virus as possible without getting infected. The player has three hazmat suits and five guns from which to choose. This game is built for Android and Windows devices.

Coy, a programmer and self-taught game developer who is studying Computer Science at the BCC, created Keep the Distance in which players have to strategize the best way to wipe out the oncoming waves of enemies. The waves come in 20-second bursts; if you fail to wipe out an oncoming wave, prepare to be swarmed by another. Utilize your arsenal of weapons to help you keep the distance. (IMC)