Logan Conrad

Galactic Gunner is a game made in Pygame for my first computer science course at Albright College. It is an arcade-style game where the player controls a ship that can shoot at enemies using the mouse. It features a high score leaderboard system that can hold the names of five players and saves between sessions.

The main focus of the game’s design is risk versus reward. The player has to divide their attention between dodging projectiles and aiming. They can focus on dodging, which helps their survival. However, they do not obtain any points, and the enemies remain. They can instead choose to take a risk by aiming and shooting to get rid of the enemies and gain points, but that leaves them more open to being hit by a projectile and losing the game.

A lot of the enemies are designed around this idea. The main enemy has a predictable shooting pattern that switches every time it shoots. The player has to pay attention to which pattern is happening next so they do not die. The bombs do not attack the player unless they are shot, but they give double the amount of points that a normal enemy gives, resulting in both the risk and reward being balanced. Lastly, there are the bonus targets, which are hard to hit, meaning they require a lot of focus and risk. However, they grant the most points when hit. So, the reward is high.