Loud shrieks and laughter, much chasing and skipping. Just some of the key ingredients that characterize the Christian Student Association C.S.V. Alpha’s ‘live’ Pacman game on 19 May. ‘I guess we were lucky with the weather,’ laughs Heleen de Vos, the student association’s Public Relations officer. ‘No rain and not too hot. The latter is probably a good thing, considering all the movement that went on.’
Just in case you have been living in a cave: the original Pacman computer game was played out on a screen where an icon Pacman ran wildly through a maze, trying to eat as many coins as possible in a mad race against the clock. All the while, the tension mounted as Pacman or the player was being chased non-stop by several fast-moving deadly ghosts.
Game creators are not slackers: the game requires physical strength. The Alpha board developed the live concept of the game entirely by themselves, rather than buying or copying a preset ‘live’ example. So what does their real-life Pacman game exactly entail?
‘Like in the original Pacman game, you need to get as many pellets represented by frisbees that need turning – as many as possible. You have a maximum of fifteen minutes to do so. Each team can dispatch one Pacman at a time into the maze. If your Pacman gets caught by one of the ghosts, he or she has to leave and be replaced by a second team member. And so on,’ summarized C.S.V Alpha board member Eline Vinke, who explainedthe rules just prior to the game.
To move about, the designated Pacman is allowed to bounce on a yellow skippy ball, while the ghosts chase after them on red ones. Since they are almost incessantly on the move, the level of fitness demands put on the ghosts are particularly high. ‘It is so much fun to do this,’ pants Marleen de Vries, ‘But slightly more exhausting than I thought.’
After inviting the Alphas and other participants to their Indonesian Student Association in Enschede (PPIE) upcoming food festival, Eyla Maranny and Nurul Akbar’s engaged in some skillful hopping and coin-grabbing maneuvers–which inspired and got both admiring and envious looks. However, despite their vigorous efforts, at around five o’clock, the Linea Recta team won. Perhaps thanks to their well-developed leg muscles that made for some apt hopping, the five members of the UT’s gymnastics association managed to turn the most frisbees.
While the Indonesians were the only international players, other internationals also dropped by for a chat or a drink, much to De Vos’ pleasure: ‘Even though Alpha is the largest Christian student association here in Enschede, there are still students who haven’t heard of us; international students in particular. Promoting more integration with international students was an important goal in organizing this public activity.’
Sad you missed the opportunity to play Pacman and display your pellet-grabbing capacities? No worries. The Alphas are already busy planning the next one. Contact them at [email protected]for further details. Prior to that, you can already watch the game during the UT’s Hexathlon on Thursday 26 May. And should you have gotten so nostalgic that you need to play Pacman on your computer, now and then, go to google.com/pacmanor use some other computer sources. Unless by chance, you have some serious work to do. Happy gaming.
Marloes van Amerom
Leaping at the opportunity: Master student Eyla Maranny, Business Information Technology, and Master student Nurul Akbar, Computer Science, are ready for action.
