Carol Shaw

Carol Shaw
Shaw in 1983
Born	1955 (age 68–69)
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupation(s)	Computer programmer Video game designer
Years active	1978–1990
Known for	River Raid (Atari 2600)
Spouse	Ralph Merkle ​ (m. 1983)​

Carol Shaw (born 1955) is one of the first female game designers and programmers in the video game industry.^{[citation needed]} She is best known for creating the Atari 2600 vertically scrolling shooter game River Raid (1982) for Activision. She worked for Atari, Inc. from 1978 to 1980, where she designed multiple games including 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe (1978) and Video Checkers (1980),^[1] both for the Atari VCS before it was renamed to the 2600. She left game development in 1984 and retired in 1990.