Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game 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 part of GDC, the world's largest professional game developers conference, which takes place March 21-25 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. A favorite stopover for thousands of GDC attendees, alt.ctrl.GDC features 15 finalists. All sharing ties to the College of Engineering and Applied Science, three of the ATLAS teams are associated with the Whaaat!? Lab and one hails from the ACME Lab. "To have four ATLAS games picked for the 15 slots in this exclusive venue—it's a remarkable accomplishment. We're going to have a lot of fun," said Matt Bethancourt, co-director of the Whaaat!? Lab and a senior teaching associate professor with ATLAS.
