One of the workshops in the office building where Gamecraft resided purchased an immense laser cutter. So I had to check if I could utilise it for a meaningful game prototype.

Opportunity

Products made with a laser cutter (cutting in wood) have a short path to reach a sense of quality. The wooden texture and the darkened burn marks make items with a high aesthetic appeal. It is visually appealing and has a warmth of touch. But remember to remove soot from the item after printing it or it will be everywhere.

So I'd focus on utilising these qualities as an essential part of the game.

Limitations

Budget. I didn't have much to allocate to the project. So better hustle.

Original idea

Some kids have trouble learning the alphabet. We’re all wired differently and some might have it easier using their sense of touch to identify letters than using their eyesight. The initial prototype was letters cut in sans serif and put in a bag - the blue one in the picture - and then the kids were asked to try and find a specific letter by using their hands.

The initial tests revealed it as a good experiment and had fine results, but kindergartens etc are generally underfunded and I chose to open source the files and let those who would be interested go and make a set of their own on the laser lab.

Final idea

A group with deeper pockets - but also more niche - is art directors and font nerds. The initial idea of using the sense of touch to identify letters in an opaque bag persisted but instead of focusing on identifying different letters, the challenge was shifted to identifying fonts instead.

how to play

The player draws three cards that represent different fonts. They can pick from the easy cards where they can see the actual font and shape, or they can go hard-core and pick from the deck where the font name is written with Verdana and they must rely on their knowledge of fonts.

Result

Ha. The prototype is shelved. It has been finished but I got distracted by something that could produce an income. But it could be brought back to life if someone would be interested :)

Skills:

If you consider making something like this give me a call.