Game Information
| Title | Nurbits |
| Presenter(s) | Stephen Borden, Jef Freydl, Brian Ruggieri |
| Session | Conference Reception, Game Exhibition, and Poster Session |
| Time | Thursday, October 16, 7:00p-10:00p |
| Location | Ballroom |
| Format | Game Exhibition |
| Description | Nurbits is a puzzle game in which players apply neuroscience principles to solve puzzles and make music. In Nurbits the player takes the role of a sound engineer responsible for producing music with a robot band. Each of the robots plays an instrument, but the player must fix the "wiring" in each robot's brain before it can play the piece of music.
To fix the robot's brain the player must hook up computer chips that send and receive signals just as neurons do. Each chip has a threshold. If it receives enough positive stimulation from other chips to reach threshold it will fire and play a musical note. Each puzzle is a phrase in the song the player is assembling. To solve the puzzle the player must hook up the right notes and inhibit the wrong notes. The innovation at the heart of Nurbits is the use of key neuroscience principles (threshold, stimulation, inhibition, excitotoxicity, plasticity and pruning) as the game mechanics. |