In Design Nature, a design course taken by all first-year students at Olin College of Engineering, students work in small groups to design and build a unique play experience for fourth-graders based on the movement of an animal. My group chose to create a tabletop game based on the cuttlefish’s ability to camouflage itself by changing the pattern of its skin. Entitled Slide and Hide, our game challenges players to ‘hide’ the cuttlefish on their gameboard by stacking and rotating printed transparency films to recreate provided patterns. Players can compete to be the first to match a pattern, or create their own patterns by exploring how the transparencies interact.

While designing Slide and Hide, we consulted literature on developmental psychology to inform our understanding of what skills 9-11 year-olds would have and be in the process of developing, using this information to match a play experience to their developmental level. Since games are often used as family activities and purchasing decisions are typically made by adults, we strove to come up with an experience that would promote cognitive development and be fun for children and adults alike.

*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, our group worked partially remotely with two to three students on campus to assemble prototypes and final components. I was fully remote, and headed the pattern design for the project.

Game ‘Story’

Imagine you are a cuttlefish swimming around in the ocean. Suddenly you see a shark! You will be it’s dinner unless you quickly camouflage yourself into your surroundings. 

In this fun game, you will be tasked with picking a card and either recreating the pattern on it using pattern sheets inside of a game board, or creating your own pattern. By stacking and rotating these sheets on top of each other, you will create unique, beautiful, and interesting patterns that will not only hide you from predators but will also entertain you for hours on end!