Runaway Train
Runaway Train
Spring 2015
2.00b - Toy Product Design @MIT
Skills Developed — ideation, sketch modeling, presentation development and delivery, down-selection tools, user testing, fabrication techniques, engineering teamwork
Materials / Processes — CNC routed wood tracks, custom lathed delrin wheel, motor, dense foam
Documentation — game play rules
Prompt — create a surprise-themed toy for kids
Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled as kids have moved less. Today toys have been replaced by electronics screens and stationary actives. Runaway Train, a highly active multiplayer game, gets and keeps kids moving. Players race to direct a runaway train to their station by arranging tracks with a variety of shapes and directions. When the train reaches a Y track, it randomly travels left or right, closer or farther from the stations. Each player must then react to this unpredictability by placing new tracks to guide the moving train in their favor.
Myself and a team of 5 worked to design Runaway Train. Together, we brainstormed and prototyped several ideas* and, after a down selection process, ultimately chose Runaway Train. For this project, I designed and built the three wheel drive train to facilitate random motion and the tracks, first with a laser cutter and then milled for final gameplay.
*One of the original ideas we considered during our product down selection was a game I proposed called Flying Colors. The tag team game consisted of jerseys changing colors using fabric that corresponds to different voltage levels.