BrainstormingWhen I started to design this game I decided that I wanted it to be a one person game that was very challenging but not impossible, I thought that I would use a multitude of switches that only when in the correct position would turn on a light, or open a lock or something.
DesignAfter I decided that I wanted to make a type of "lock" game I just started with a bunch of switches on the design sheet, and then I hooked them up in different ways using and gates, so that there is only one possible combination that the switches can be in to open the lock. I quickly realized that 15 switches and no way to tell if they are in the correct position is going to be just way too much guess work, kind of like trying to crack a combo lock without knowing the combo. So I decided to make another series of lights, some that only light up when certain switches are in the right positions, by using these lights you can tell how close you are to the right combo, like hot or cold. After play testing a few times and knowing that its solvable I now think to myself that you shouldn't have all the time in the world to solve this, you need to be timed, so I decide to re-use the idea of a 99 second timer to time you. If the timer gets to 99 and you havent solved the puzzle then a buzzer goes off letting you know that you failed to solve the puzzle. When the puzzle is correctly solved it stops the timer and an L.E.D turns on to show you that the lock has been cracked.
BuildingI havent gotten around to building my game yet but I think I will put it in just a regular shoe box that can hold one or two breadboards and I will have to make sure the entire circuit can run off of one 9v battery.
ConclusionThis was a very challenging project as it required us to use all of the skills that we learned throughout the year such as AOI logic, NAND logic, Timers, K-Maps, Breadboarding and that kind of stuff. It was fun, and I think that it is a very good cumulative project for this class as it required me to use all of my skills in Circuitry and Prototyping.
What I would do differentlyIf I had to do this project again I would probably choose a game that two or more people could play because that just seems like it would be more fun, I would have done that this time but by the time I realized that I had already gotten pretty far in my design for this game.
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This is the counterThis is the counter and the switch setup without the variable helper lightsThis is the complete game with lights, win light, and counter |