Dave Dobson is a man of two worlds: geology and Snood.“Michael Crichton, Nora Ephron, and I heard that Bruce Springstein’s family members are all registered users of the game,” remarked Dave Dobson, Snood’s creator and assistant professor of geology and earth sciences at Guilford College.

Dobson recently appeared in The News and Record, the Triad’s main newspaper, in an article entitled “Professor keeping tabs on his Snoods.” Dobson’s popularity is evident among the media as the rate of people who register for his simple, yet addictive computer game rises and rises.

What started out as a form of diversion from grad-school work has become quite the popular craze in the dorms of college students and the homes of celebrities. Snoods has been called the best puzzle game ever in Sweden, is all the rage in Japan, and has a 102-year-old registered user.

Everything in the game is straight from the mind of Dobson, including almost all of the sound effects. Excitedly, Dobson told me, “After dinner, I’d go up to the computer and sit in front of the computer microphone and make weird noises like ‘mmm, dooooiiing,’ and my wife would look at me like I was crazy!”

Dobson’s enthusiasm for creating the game has paid off. A television show on Fox, which will come out next season, recently ordered 24 shirts (yes, there is Snood merchandise, so act fast to get your own shirts, hats, and mugs!).

The game has also been used for children in special education classes because of the different geometrical shapes.

The game is so popular that Dobson was informed by a student at Northwestern University that, “A group of students at Northwestern, when they found out that someone had played the one-thousandth game, threw a Snood party and dressed up like their favorite Snood character and ate Snood-shaped food!”

On Guilford’s campus, sophomore Sarah Gates commented that, “Me and my brother play Snood, and, because of this, we are constantly fighting over the computer. He’s nine and I am twenty!”

Another student, junior Priscilla Ewen, remarked that, “Friends of mine at other colleges play Snood and I say ‘hey, a professor at my school invented it.’”

Oh, and all of you who are curious to know where the name Snood came from: it is not snood, a medieval hairpiece, but the name of a fantasy football team. As Dobson put it, “This is embarrassing and geeky. I was on a fantasy football team called the ‘Righteous Squids’ and another guy had the name, ‘Snood Trunion.’ Snood is a catchy and unique name.”

To obtain the popular computer game, you can go to www.snood.com and download a trial version. Remember to register for the game, for if you don’t, a message will appear saying, “Dave’s kids need clothing, Dave’s kids need food, isn’t it time you register Snood?”