3D Printed - Desk Game Noughts and Crosses

Challenge: To create an original game suitable for a school market day.

Background: With a public market day coming up when the community is being invited into the school to look at businesses that are run by the students the students want to use their technology to create original items that they might be able to sell.    Rather than produce items that were copies of existing items we wanted the students to think carefully about what they might produce and how the 3D Printer and or the Laser Cutter would assist with the projects, to challenge the students with their design thinking.

In this case the student wanted to look at a small scale game that would have some universal appeal and would involve a successful design via using Tinkercad for the creation.   The student was also using an older Ultimaker2+ for the project so this meant that there could not be too much detail required for the print.   This student has shown time and time again to be a gifted and talent creative student who excels at creating 3D Printing and 3D Printed designs and some of their previous designs have been featured on this blog.  The student is currently eleven years old and has an aptitude for design.

Level of Difficulty: Medium, while the design is straightforward and a game that is universal the pieces needed to work in conjunction with the board or the tray where the playing pieces were placed.   While this was completed successfully on the first print the student was experienced and has a track record of design.

Size:   The base that held the playing pieces was obviously the largest.   The base measured 100mm across and was 100mm high.   The height of the unit was 20mm with the base of the internal shelf at 10mm which had a consequence of holding the playing pieces in the right location.  Each of the playing pieces was 20mm by 20mm which corresponded with the place for them to be placed.

Timeframe: Ten hours for the base and two hours for the playing pieces.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students:

One of the challenges was thinking about ways to expand the game - there are some versions of this game with super pieces that can be more powerful than the others and be placed to cover the basic pieces. The student also looked at a basic finish design and could have put more emphasis on the pieces finish and the colour that was used.

Otherwise the student design and creation process could be considered a success - the game itself is durable and was able to be washed or cleaned and could be used again - there was also some discussion about keeping the board the same and changing the playing pieces for a particular theme or unit of work.

The balance between having a unique creative challenge and producing something in a manageable timeframe was also met - potentially the project could have been slightly smaller however this would have detracted from the overall finished product.     Potentially this student could have look at some form of LED lights or having buttons somehow within the game or design.