EAST LANSING, Mich. --- A new video game that features Michigan State University mascot Sparty taking on up-to-no-good snowmen is the latest creation by students and faculty at MSU’s Games for Entertainment and Learning Laboratory.
 
In the game, titled “Grumpy Snowmen,” rival Big Ten schools have set up snow forts on the MSU campus which are populated by, what else, grumpy snowmen. It is up to Sparty to rid the campus of these menaces.
 
GEL Lab co-director Brian Winn, who supervised and produced the game, said the team developed the game to showcase the students’ skills while creating a fun experience for Spartan fans around the world.
 
“We knew the concept of an ‘Angry Birds’ parody would be fun to develop and play,” Winn said. “At the same time, this game showcases the level of design, animation, programming and project management skills that our students are developing at MSU.”
 
The game, he said, was initially launched with four levels of increasing difficulty.
 
“We are now launching a deluxe version of the game that adds sixteen additional levels for a total of twenty,” Winn said. “The new levels were developed in response to player requests for additional campus locations and challenges.”
 
The game is available for free online through a website and also as an application on the Apple iTunes store.  A holiday edition of the game was launched on the Apple iTunes App Store this winter and has already amassed more than 8,000 downloads and nearly 60,000 plays.

Team members who developed the game are students Kristina Cunningham (art), William Jeffery (design), Jon Moore (programming), Eric Musser (art), Daniel Sosnowski (programming), as well as Winn (design and supervision).
 
The GEL Lab is an association of game research and design faculty and students at MSU, primarily in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. The lab does externally funded research and development work and employs several graduate and undergraduate students.
 
For more information on Grumpy Snowmen, visit www.gel.msu.edu/grumpysnowmen. For information on the Gel Lab, visit www.gel.msu.edu.