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This week, the STEAM Challenge “Make a Game” caught my eye. I began working on this challenge by writing out all the different ways of making a game and some examples on what I could do such as coding a game or building a game. I finally came to the conclusion that I should remake the board game “Settlers of Catan''. I made a list of all the pieces I would have to create and how many of each, and organized my list into three different categories: laser cut, 3D printed, and other manufacturing processes. This helped me understand what materials were needed, as well as helping me stay organized while getting multiple things done at the same time!
My first step was to research the specific dimensions and quantities of each 3D printed part and then started 3D modeling each part using different softwares, such as Tinkercad and Onshape. After modeling all of my settlements, cities, and roads I then began to design the robber as well which I planned to 3D print. After a few hours of prints I finally finished all my 3D printed pieces for the game!
Next, I faced the challenges of what material I should use. I considered wood and acrylic but ultimately decided on cardboard, since we have so much of it and it is a good way to recycle an already used material and make it into something else! The hardest part about making the board out of cardboard was the flammability of the cardboard. Slight changes in the power of the laser can make it not cut through at all or begin to burn the material which caused me to have to watch it very closely and change my file to separate the cut into three different sections to reduce the chance of it burning . After a few hours of troubleshooting I finally had a complete Settlers of Catan board!
My next objective was to create the number tiles as well as the development cards. I decided to use wood for this part due to the fact that wood is a lot more reliable to cut with and a lot more consistent. I began by researching all of the development cards that were in the game as well as how many number tiles are needed. I designed the tiles and started my cut. My final objective was to get the actual material cards, I went through all the different ways I could have made these cards Laser cutting wood, 3D printing, laser cutting with cardboard. But in the end I decided that I would just print out the cards on normal sheets of printer paper and cut them out to save materials! After finishing Catan there was only one thing left to do. Play it!
Project Examples
Have a solution to this challenge you want to share? Take a photo or video of your prototype, post it on social media, and don’t forget to tag us @fluxspace_io
