The students of Totem Game Dev spent the entire summer building the game. After two months of intensive development, MomenTUmKart is now ready to play for everyone at TU/e. In this multiplayer game, students and staff race against each other online on a 3D map of the campus, complete with TU/e-themed power-ups.

“The idea was to create a game for the entire TU/e community,” says Maarten Hundscheid, team leader of Totem Game Dev. “That’s why we asked student teams to submit vehicle ideas. You can now drive exact replicas of a TU/ecomotive or URE car, ride a motorcycle based on the SensUs logo, or use a rocket from Team VOID.”

Bike instead of banana

Just like in the original game Mario Kart, players can drift and use power-ups, to gain speed for example. Various student teams and study associations came up with their own contributions. 

Hundscheid explains: “Instead of throwing a banana peel, you can toss a complete bike behind you to make your opponent skid.” That was suggested by study association Simon Stevin as a playful nod to the Mechanical Engineering stereotype of the bike repairman.

Totem Game Dev kept tweaking the game until the very last moment. “During Intro Week we spoke with the hacker association Trojan,” Hundscheid recalls. “They wanted a power-up that lets you ‘hack’ another car and swap positions. We managed to add that too.”

Wish

The project was commissioned by Artishock, the external marketing agency behind MomenTUm, TU/e’s annual graduation ceremony. On September 26, the students with the best scores will compete live in the grand finale. The online scoreboard will show who’s in the lead.

Totem Game Dev does have one more wish: “We’d love to see the top players face off against members of the Executive Board,” says Hundscheid. “So we’re officially challenging them to join in.”

After MomenTUm, the game will remain available on TU/e campus in the team’s own arcade, which will feature one or two additional campus tracks—including one with the Hubble Café.