MacPlay today announced that it will be distributing Virtual Programming's 3D strategy/programming game, MindRover, in the United States. The game will be available on Septmeber 15th, 2003.

Here's more from the press release:

The action takes place in a research station on the ice-locked moon Europa, where the gas giant Jupiter dominates the sky. Players build robotic "rovers" with parts found in the lab and program the machines for a variety of behaviors. They then pit their creations against each other in one of four types of competitions: races, sports, battles, and puzzles.

"Very few of us have the time and ability to build real robots, so MindRover offers the next best thing," says MacPlay Director of Sales and Marketing Henry Price. "It's better than watching those robot battle shows on TV."

Players create different types of rovers to succeed in different types of events. Small, quick robots with good collision detection are sure bets to win races and puzzles while large, lumbering robots bristling with weapons can be counted on in the sports and battle arenas. The game features a physics system that produces realistic results when two-or more-rovers smack into each other during a contest.

Enterprising gamers can also dig into the object-oriented programming language, known as ICE, that was developed just for MindRover and tweak it to further manipulate their robots' behaviors.

"Our mantra for this game is 'think more, twitch less,'" says Virtual Programming Director Paul Lesurf. "Players' reflexes are far less important than their ability to correctly build the type of robot that is perfect for each situation."

Virtual Programming

MindRover - The Europa Project

MacPlay's MindRover Website

Buy MindRover - The Europa Project

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