For our first Hack, we decided to work with a game that made us reminisce on games we played as children. To capture this feeling within us, we settled on creating a control interface similar to Dance Dance Revolution. We found a game online called, “Friday Night Funkin’,” that worked great with our idea that we brainstormed. To play this game, there are arrow keys moving from the bottom to the top of the screen, and then to score points the player has to press the corresponding arrow keys on the keyboard at certain points of the game. To make this game even more fun, we decided to program our Makey, Makey board to where you could step on arrows on the floor to control the game rather than just clicking the arrow keys on the keyboard.

For this idea to become a reality, we had to cut out four arrow-shaped pieces of aluminum foil and connect them to the circuit board. Obviously, we connected these arrows to the arrow keys on the keyboard. We positioned the aluminum foil cutouts in a position on the floor so that they matched up with the keys that they were connected to. In order for the current to be complete when stepping on the arrows, we had to tape pieces of aluminum foil to the bottoms of our shoes. It was sometimes difficult to be able to keep the wires clipped onto our shoes as we were moving around playing the game, but other than that, we got the game and our new control system to run smoothly.

This project was extremely fun to work on. I have never been assigned a project like this before. The only guidelines we received were for it to be fun and creative. When my partner and I were assigned this task, we instantly thought of trying to use a game that was similar to ones we played in our childhood. We also wanted it to be one where it could feel more interactive and immersive playing. That is why we decided for it to be so movement based. If we just made it to where you tap an object or one of the wires with your hands, I feel like it would not have captured that same sense of childhood play that we wanted. We wanted it to really feel like the player was playing Dance Dance Revolution in an arcade. One of the biggest areas we have talked about so far in this course is the idea of play. Obviously to different people, play has numerous different definitions. In our class discussion about play, many of us said that in order for a game to be considered “playful,” it must be not serious but also competitive at the same time. I feel like the version of the game that we created fits these two descriptions perfectly. Obviously it is competitive because it is hard to do well at and no one wants to lose to the computer generated player in a game, but at the same time it is not serious at all when you realize you are dancing and stepping on aluminum foil arrow shaped cutouts. This game paired with the controller interface that we created allows for a fun experience for the player to feel as though they are alone, just having a good time dancing to the music of the game.