Imphal: The pandemic has taken hold but the stranded boy needs to get home. Throughout the way, he has to dodge the coronaviruses as they come at him, while snapping up some fruits and sanitisers along the journey to boost his immunity and keep himself safe.
Dodging the coronavirus is a sport the world is playing as the pandemic shows no signs of receding, and a 13-year-old child prodigy from Manipur has devised a game out of this struggle. Ningthoujam Baldeep Singh’s Coroboi — named after, you guessed it — was released on 21 August.
Similar in format to the popular Temple Run, the Android-based game has already scored over 40,000 downloads on the Google Play Store with a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
A unique feature of ‘Coroboi’ is the scarf around the player’s neck — the signature white and red Manipuri cloth known as ‘Leirum Phee’. Other challenges along the player’s path include dodging police, who can get him in trouble for violating the lockdown.
“I coined the name ‘Coroboi’ after taking inspiration from the coronavirus’ name itself… And why I chose the running platform for the game was because it would be best since it’s my first time. I’m new to developing games,” Baldeep told ThePrint during an interview at his house in Imphal.
“As of now, the game has recorded about 40,000 downloads in the play store. I’m really happy about it, I never expected that Coroboi would reach this level.”
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A child prodigy
When ThePrint visited Baldeep’s house, he was at his workstation — intently staring into a 20-inch desktop screen. His family quipped that he seldom leaves his “workplace”.
“Ever since he was a kid, Baldeep has always been interested in gadgets and technology. His uncle used to come and teach him how to operate computers. He was a quick learner, so whatever the uncle taught, he learnt quickly,” his father Ningthoujam Kishan Singh, who runs a car workshop, said.
His uncle Ningthoujam Amujao Singh, a software engineer, started teaching Baldeep the basics of software programming when he was just four or five years old.
“He was always very interested and keen to learn in the computer field, so after he learnt how to type on the computer and how to play games… I started teaching him computer programming languages,” his uncle said.
The 13-year-old would spend 3 to 4 hours daily, before and after school, with his uncle in order to learn about computer coding and various new technologies.
Inspired by Covid lockdown
When the Covid-19 lockdown kicked in 25 March and his school shut down, Baldeep suddenly found himself with more free time.
“Since the school was closed due to the lockdown, my (other) uncle suggested that I make a game related to the pandemic instead of wasting my free time,” Baldeep said.
The young game developer took the advice to heart, and browsed through YouTube videos and articles for 3-4 weeks. Before he started work, he had to master the Unity Software — a 3D gaming engine that powers video games and other applications, and was completely new to him.
According to Amujao, Baldeep developed the game over four months with little to no assistance from anyone. “This game technology is very different… This is new programming. This technology, I didn’t teach him, but he took it up himself,” he added.
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Dreaming of AI
Asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Baldeep said “ethical hacker”, adding that he also wants to learn more about Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“After watching movies like Iron Man and several others, I was drawn to Artificial Intelligence. Like in movie scenes, where they’ll just touch the screen and everything will be open. Everything is automated. These things fascinated me,” he said.
His mother Ningthoujam Nebidita said Baldeep has always been different from other children. “He doesn’t go out and play like other kids. He will always stay home, and will sit in front of the computer…He is smarter than the other kids who are of his batch,” she added.
The young game developer from Manipur has also designed several websites and applications for private companies in the past, such as the employment app eThabak, the Manipur Times delivery app, and Hello Food Express app for food delivery.
Baldeep said he is deeply grateful for the “overwhelming support I have received from people”. One day, he said about his future plans, “I will develop a full-dive VR (virtual reality) game”.
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