Makey Makey Arcade Machines

Open up the brief in the toolbar on the right hand side. Read through all the requirements before answering the questions below

Before you record your requirements, break the brief apart — sorting its pieces will show you exactly what kind of demand each part is making on your design.

Read each brief fragment below. Click a fragment, then click the column where it belongs — Constraint, User Need, or Function. You will get instant feedback on each one. Work through all the pieces before moving on to record your requirements.

Before we build anything, let's see what you already know — every idea counts, even if you're not sure it's right.

Look at the central topic: Electricity & Circuits.

Add every idea, word, or question that comes to mind. Use the seed branches to get started, then add your own.

Some things to think about:

• What have you seen electricity do?
• Where have you heard the word "circuit"?
• What do you think makes something conduct electricity?
• What questions do you already have?

There are no wrong answers here. Add as many branches and ideas as you can in 5 minutes.

Before you touch the Makey Makey, explore a circuit in the sim to see exactly what has to happen for electricity to flow — and what breaks it.

Work through these three steps in the simulation:

1. Toggle the switch on Branch 1. Watch what happens to the bulb when the switch is open vs closed. Ask yourself: what does the circuit need to light the bulb?

2. Close the switch on Branch 2 so both branches are on. Notice how the brightness of each bulb compares to a single bulb on its own.

3. Open Branch 1's switch so only Branch 2 is running. Observe whether the remaining bulb still lights.

After each step, answer in your head: Is the circuit complete? Can current flow all the way around?

Watch this before you start.

apps.makeymakey.com

Your build steps are the proof of how you figured out the circuit — capture each one so you can see your thinking later.

Log a step each time you complete a stage: (1) when you connect the wires to the Makey Makey board, (2) when you attach your conductive material, and (3) when it first triggers the input. For each step, take a clear photo and write one sentence saying what you did in that step.

You have explored circuits and built with the Makey Makey — now check how well you understand the fundamentals before you leave.

Answer each question on your own. If you get one wrong, read the hint carefully and try once more before the answer is revealed.

Before you sketch or code, map out your early thinking about what makes your Operation game unique — theme, how it will look, how it will respond to touch.

Create a mind map titled "My Operation Game" at the center. Branch outward from the center into five main ideas:

1. Theme — What is the setting or story of your game? (e.g., space doctor, jungle surgeon, haunted hospital)
2. Body parts — What anatomical features or objects will the player try to remove or manipulate?
3. Tweezers design — How will your tweezers look and work? What will trigger the sensor?
4. Sounds — What sounds will play when the player succeeds, fails, or completes the game?
5. Smart features — What will happen on screen? (e.g., score counter, animation, color change)

Under each branch, write or sketch at least two ideas. Do not judge ideas yet — capture whatever comes to mind.

What you're making You are developing and documenting your ideation — a set of at least three distinct design ideas for your operation game — presented as annotated sketches alongside the thinking that shaped them.

Who it's for Your ideation record is for your design teacher and, importantly, for yourself: strong ideation gives you real options to evaluate and refine as your project moves forward.

What you must include

• Three or more distinct design ideas — each should be genuinely different from the others (different forms, mechanisms, themes, or game-play approaches — not minor variations)
• Clear, hand-drawn sketches for each idea, drawn from enough angles or views to communicate the concept fully
• Annotations on every sketch explaining your thinking — what the idea is, how it works, materials you are considering, and any relevant dimensions or features
• A brief written rationale for each idea explaining what inspired it and how it responds to your design brief and research findings
• Evidence of your process — rough thumbnails, mind maps, mood boards, or notes that show how you moved toward your three ideas
• Colour
• Well-presented …

Your sketches show your thinking — now make that thinking visible to anyone who reads them by explaining each key feature through annotations.

Photograph your hand-drawn sketch from a clear angle and upload it. Then use the annotation tool to drop numbered pins on the key features of your design idea. For each pin, write a short label (2–3 sentences) that explains: • What this part is and what it does • What material you chose for it and why • How it helps solve the problem in your brief

Do this for at least three important features so a reader can follow your design choices.

Before you use a decision matrix, it helps to see what separates a design-thinking choice from a gut-feel one.

Read each decision-making move below. Click the pill to select it, then click the column where it belongs — "Design Thinking" or "Gut Feel". You'll get instant feedback on each one.

Now that you've seen how a decision matrix works, use one to score your own design concepts fairly against what your project actually needs.

Use the decision matrix below to compare your concepts.

Step 1: Enter your project requirements (the criteria that matter most) in the left column — these are the things your design must do or have.

Step 2: Give each requirement a weight: 1 = nice to have, 2 = important, 3 = essential. Heavier weights push the score toward concepts that meet that requirement best.

Step 3: Score each of your concepts against each requirement on a scale of 1–5 (1 = doesn't meet it, 5 = meets it perfectly). Be honest — if a concept is weak in one area, say so.

Step 4: The matrix calculates the total score for each concept. Look at which one scored highest.

Step 5: Write one sentence explaining why the highest-scoring concept is the right choice for your project. Connect it to at least one requirement you weighted as essential.

Before you build anything, sort out what your circuit needs to do versus what your tweezers need to do — these are two different jobs.

Read each action card. Click it, then click the column where it belongs. Does the Makey Makey circuit need to detect it, or does the physical tweezer design need to make it happen?

Before you build and test, you need to understand how Makey Makey listens for a touch and tells Scratch what to do.

Write three short explanations (one sentence or a few bullet points each):

1. How the circuit closes through touch — Explain what happens when your tweezers touch the metal object inside the hole. What completes the electrical circuit, and why does that matter?

2. What the Scratch sprite must respond to — Describe what signal Makey Makey sends to Scratch when it detects that touch, and what action your sprite should perform (e.g. play a sound, change costume, move).

3. What a passing prototype test looks like — Define what counts as success: does the object have to be removed without touching the sides, must Scratch respond instantly, or both?

You've planned your tweezers and circuit — now build, test and connect it to Makey Makey so Scratch can feel when you grip.

Build your prototype tweezers and the single-hole test rig. Connect the tweezers to Makey Makey and set up Scratch so that when the circuit closes (you squeeze the tweezers and touch the object at the same time), the Scratch sprite responds. Test the connection works — when you grip and touch, the sprite moves or makes a sound. When it works, add a new Prototype record: name your prototype, list the materials you used (e.g. "aluminium foil tweezers, cardboard hole, banana connector wires"), and state which design decision you made (e.g. "I chose conductive foil instead of wire because it's easier to grip and bend into shape").

Your prototype tweezers must work reliably — test runs show you whether your design grips the object, moves through the hole cleanly, and stays steady when Makey Makey detects touch.

Run the hole-removal test three times with a timer. For each attempt: start the timer, use your tweezers to grip and move the object through the hole without touching the sides, stop the timer, and record the time, whether you touched the hole, what felt difficult, and one thing you notice about how your tweezers performed.