2024 Reel It In - multiplayer arcade game
game design physical computing
p5.js & C++ fabrication 1 month New York
Can you trust your friends? Will you cooperate, or betray the group? Will a shared common resource always be used up when everyone has access?
This playful fishing game invites players to grapple with questions of trust, resource management, and the fragile interplay between individual actions and collective consequences. It’s a hands-on lesson in game theory and social psychology, disguised as a fun challenge.
The primary inspiration is the Tragedy of the Commons - the idea that if many people are responsible for maintaining a finite public resource, they will naturally use as much of it as possible and ultimately deplete it altogether. This theory is often used in the context of environmental and economic problems, such as overfishing or deforestation.
In this game, a group of four takes on the role of fishermen sharing a single resource, a pool of fish. Each round, the fish will reproduce—up to a limit—offering an opportunity to earn points by pressing your button to catch one. However, the more they take, the fewer fish remain to replenish the pool for the next round. If the pool is emptied, everyone loses.
There are opportunities to gain points for cooperation too, but it requires patience and self control.
We started with the most basic functions of the game - the taking of fish. We opted for a physical interface that was straightforward, and whose output would be obvious. The main motivation was to design something that could illustrate an educational topic that was both engaging and visually pleasing.
The UI interface was coded using p5.js. It includes a spiral timer, points counter, and doubling fish animations.
For the first playtest, we had a long wires on a breadboard with buttons soldered to them. For the second, we had used a lasercut piece of cardboard.
final build
We constructed the final game with a lasercut acrylic tabletop, foam core panels, and a translucent surface to project onto from below. The game is run through an Arduino circuit via serial communication with the buttons.
Reel It In was featured in the 2024 ITP Winter Show, where dozens of visitors were able to play. You can play a version made for keyboards.