In the final year of my Bachelor's, amidst my other coursework I took part in the Grads in Games competition "Search for a Star". The competition saw me attempt to twist an existing project into something unique. The year I participated, we were given a project that had the basic mechanics of Minesweeper attached.
In February 2022, when I had the time to sit down and work on this project, freshly having finished my game AI course at the university, I attempted to extend the functionality of Minesweeper to incorporate some multiplayer elements, specifically from Battleships. As multiplayer games propose an issue in testing as it requires multiple players, I also added in an AI for players to play against. Additionally, I took the time to ensure the game felt "complete" by juicing the game slightly - adding in some custom music, slight animations, shaders, and alternative game modes.
This project, in conjunction with a code test, made me a finalist in the Search for a Star competition, where I was in the standing as one of the best student programmers in the graduating year of 2022 across the UK.
