A GROUP of budding game developers returning from a summer internship at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) released six games yesterday, including one that will be used in American high schools to teach science concepts.

The 40 students, who come from more than a dozen schools here, including the National University of Singapore, Republic Polytechnic and the DigiPen Institute of Technology, had gone to MIT as part of the annual Gambit Game Lab internship programme.

The programme was launched in 2007 to prepare Singapore students keen on working in the video game industry as artists, programmers and designers. Many of its previous participants have since secured jobs in well-known studios such as Ubisoft and Boomzap, said Gambit programme director Teo Chor Guan.

During the nine-week programme, which ended last month, the interns had to work together to develop a working video game that also had a research element.

For instance, Waker, the game that will be tested in American schools starting this month, is aimed at helping teenagers understand concepts like velocity and displacement 'without being preachy about it', said producer Chuang Xuejin.

Ms Teo said Gambit will look into how it can bring the game to lower secondary students here from next year.

Several of the games created by previous Gambit cohorts have also achieved commercial success.

Last year's CarneyVale, for instance, was the No. 3 indie game in the Microsoft Xbox Live games store when it was launched earlier this year.

Ms Teo said the game, downloaded by 48,000 gamers, had turned in a profit. 'More than the profit, it's the recognition that Singapore game developers can make good-quality games.'

Gambit is negotiating to sell another of last year's games, Backflow, via Apple's App Store, and Ms Teo is hopeful some of this year's games will also achieve commercial success.

To try the games, visit Gambit's website at gambit.mit.edu

CHUA HIAN HOU

This article was first published in The Straits Times.