Concept:
While thinking about how to create something physically interactive, I was reminded of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Player 1 is placed in a bomb-defusal scenario, while Player 2 is given a manual on how to defuse the bomb. Each bomb has different modules on it, and P1 has to describe them to P2. P2 will then instruct P1 on how to clear that module, and eventually defuse the bomb entirely. While the game is quite entertaining on a mouse and keyboard or in VR, it still isn’t the same as a physically interactive experience. Many of the modules involve pressing buttons or cutting wires, so I thought it would be perfect to adapt for an Arduino/breadboard setup.
Arduino:
The Arduino would be responsible for reading the physical inputs and passing the relevant data to p5.js for interpretation. For example, the user might have to press buttons in sequence or physically disconnect a wire in order to disarm a module. It could also have some outputs in the form of LEDs to indicate the status of each module (red for active, green for disarmed) and maybe use the LCD screen to display the serial number or a countdown.
P5.js:
The p5.js side would be responsible for managing the game state and interpreting the player’s inputs. The physical component would have to be static for the most part, but p5.js could maybe help with randomizing the behaviour of the modules for each new game. I’m not entirely sure on how to adapt the cooperative aspect of the original game, but one way could be to display the defusal instructions on the laptop screen and allow the player to interact with it there. Other display-related components could also go on this side, such as displaying a countdown and playing sound queues, or maybe having a representation of the physical ‘bomb’ and indicating the status of each module.