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.
But there’s one thing every game has in common: a designer.
Do you think you could be a game designer?
At KID Museum, our Black Hole Pizza Maze exhibit challenges you to design the game while you play it. Using different toppings that move and interact, you have to create your own game board to be navigated with (or against!) your collaborators. Part of the fun of Black Hole Pizza is that it’s different each time you play. Moving just one topping can change everything!
Black Hole Pizza didn’t just appear at KID Museum: it was imagined and built by designers Gabriel Mellan and Jake Sanford. Feeling inspired? Try designing 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 my game is 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:
- Gerald “Jerry” Lawson, the 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 Black designers 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.
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. You can even create a model of what your game might look like in TinkerCad!