This is a very interesting assignment, but I would just point out that this is
hardly an "intro CS course." They are doing these particular projects in an
intermediate/advanced data structures/algorithms class. That would be a 3rd
semester college-level course for those who entered without a pro
There's an intro CS course at UT Austin that has an assignment where
students create "critters" that can eat each other, etc, and the
students in the class have a big tournament to see whose critter is the
last man standing. This is often the favorite assignment of the
semester, and many students
