The Reaction Game!
The Reaction Game!
On Saturday March 24th, I ran a workshop called the “Reaction Game” at Coder Dojo Ham, Kingston University.
It is a two player game.The aim was to code the Micro:bit to record the players reaction time, keep score, deduct points and to display the winner of the game.
I sourced the materials below, for the making of the game:
- Crocodile clips x 20
- Square cardboard x 5
- foil x 20 pieces
- pens x 5
The instructions for playing the game are as follows:
Both players, have to place one hand on the centre (GND) foil pad and keep it there, while playing the game.
To start the game – press the start pad, this will trigger a 3 second countdown, after which a dot will appear on the Microbit LED display.
When the dot appears, each player must try to tap their foil pad (they must remember to keep one hand on the GND pad).
If player one taps their pad first, a bar will appear on the left hand side of the Microbit display and they will receive a point; if player two taps their pad first, a bar will appear on the right hand side of the Microbit display and they will receive a point;
If either player taps their foil pad before the dot appears, this will be a false start and an X will appear on the display and a point will be deducted from the player’s score.
The first player to get 5 points wins and their player number will be scrolled across the LED display.
For those who had completed the game, I had added a challenge on the back of the sheet. The challenge, was to record the players reaction time (how long it took them to react after seeing the dot). Most managed to complete it. I thought that it was a nice touch to add the reaction time because it made the game even more interesting.
It was nice to work with a small of group of young coders. Also, I enjoyed helping people sorting out some issues they had with their code.
In the future, I will add another exciting feature (involving radio signal) to this game. Watch this space!