For my final project, I wanted to explore how we related and connect information with each other and the mediums we use to do so. In particular, I wanted to create a game similar to “Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes” in which one player must interact with a set of encoded information, and the other player must help decode that information to solve puzzles and complete the game. In particular, the players must solve puzzles by making a physical connection with an electric circuit.
To create my puzzle setup, I built a control unit using an Elegoo UNO R3 Arduino, a force sensitivity sensor, a touch potentiometer, and a tilt sensor. This control unit navigates the clues and encoded information. I also built a Makey Makey conductivity interface with symbols as a puzzle that the other player must solve using the encoded information.
This control unit would let me navigate a circular set of concentric rings which contain clues for the participant to interact with. The circular force sensitivity sensor allows the user to start rotating the selector over these concentric rings. Tilting the control unit to the left or right allows the user to determine if they move the selector clockwise or anti-clockwise. Touching the touch potentiometer would select the clue currently being hovered over. These clues hint at which symbol on the Makey Makey interface should be toggled.
The green circle is the selector. The gray concentric rings are different levels of clues which must be solved. The red, blue, and purple colored circles are clues which must be selected to be displayed.
The clue will be displayed as a message in the Max patch according to which one is selected, you can also see which ring you are currently operating on and how many you’ve completed. The selection toggles indicated which symbols have be chosen.
This is the Makey Makey puzzle interface. The other player must use the alligator clip to select a symbol which is read in the Max patch. For example, the clue in the display in the picture above is “Abundance of Water”. This clue indicates that they should select the “Earth” symbol. Once the correct four symbols are turned on for each concentric ring, the users move on to the next ring.
Really fun game! I enjoyed it a lot when I played it in class! It will be better if it has LED on these contact points that light up when you touch them.
It is impressive the level of complexity that you brought this to in the amount of time that we had. The class demonstration was incredibly functional too, so overall very impressive piece!
This number of layers this has is impressive! The interaction is very involved and escape-room like. The theme of both also match each other in a cohesive way.