Design your own interactive, collaborative game that shifts and adapts as you play!
maker playground
adaptable games | all ages
explore
Games can come in all different shapes and sizes. Some require a board and different pieces, others require us to use special equipment or machines. Games require us to interact with something, to use our minds and some part of our bodies to make something happen, usually to solve a problem or complete a challenge. Some games are designed to promote collaboration and teamwork.
The one trait that all games share is that somebody designed them. KID museum’s Black Hole Pizza Maze exhibit challenges you to become the game designer. Using different toppings that move and interact, you have to create your own game board to be navigated with (or against!) your collaborators. Pizza didn’t just appear at KID museum, it too was imagined and built by a designer.
imagine
Part of the fun of Pizza is that it’s different every time you play. Moving just one topping or making a slightly different choice in how you interact with it can totally change the way the game is played.
KID Museum invites you to design an interactive collaborative obstacle course or maze of your own. Use materials you have on hand to design a game that requires you to collaborate with someone or manipulate the object to win. As you design, think about the following questions:
- Will my game have a story?
- Which elements or pieces will change each time it’s played?
- How will my game encourage people to interact with each other or the game itself?
For more inspiration, check out these games and their designers:
- Learn about Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, a Black engineer whose innovations revolutionized the way video games are designed.
- Pinbox 3000 encourages kids to become designers of their own interactive cardboard pinball machines.
- Black Inventors Hall of Fame Got Game lists several game designing black inventors including Ken Johnson, inventor of Phase 10 and Elliot Eddie, inventor of The Entrepreneur Game.
- Fertessa Elyse Scott gives an in depth view into the design of her game Book of Villainy in her process blog.
- Michael McGinnis is the inventor of Perplexus.
create
If you’re not sure where to start, try thinking of a story you really like, or one you want to tell. Use the story to guide your build by requiring players to solve the problems in the story.
When you’re ready to build you can use physical materials like cardboard, recycled/repurposed materials, clay, or blocks like LEGOs, or you can create a model of what your game might look like in TinkerCad.
However you choose to make your game, be sure to share your work with us by emailing a photo or file of your design to socialmedia@kid-museum.org. You might see your work on our website or Instagram page!
