Each of us has at least one board game at home. So how about reviving it, improving it with some new game elements? Making it more fun, faster, more innovative? That was exactly the task of the second 3D PRINTING Hackathon this year, which was organized by the Innovation Center of the Ústí nad Labem (ICUK) last week. From November 7 to 8, 24 high school students in 6 teams from Děčín, Litvínov, Štětí, Teplice and Ústí nad Labem gathered in Pavilion G of the Garden of Bohemia and worked on functional prototypes of the board games they had chosen.  

The participants registered as teams. First, they came up with their own names and they determined their roles based on what they enjoyed and what they were good at. After a short introduction, they started problem mapping, that could be solved technologically – the main goal was to come up with a useful or innovative idea that could have real use for board games. As part of the preparatory block, the students got acquainted with online with the owner of TLAMA games, who introduced the area of board games. After that, the teams delved into the actual designing – from the first sketches up to digital 3D models.

The teams designed their solutions and converted them into digital form. Each team had a limited amount of time and materials to print their prototype – specifically 25 minutes and 25 grams of PLA filament. Those who wanted to get more had to participate in special challenges, which tested various skills - from logical reasoning to motor skills to creative language skills.

This hackathon run was also built based on the principle of iterative improvement. The teams had the opportunity to test the prototype, modify it and look for better solutions. The result was well-thought-out designs with the potential for real-world use, which the participants presented at the end of the day. Once again, it was shown that when technology, creativity and teamwork come together, ideas with overlap are created.

24 hours passed, prototypes were printed, presentations were prepared, and the jury had six great teams in front of them – six amazing ideas:

• Elephant Joachim 2.0 for Jatecni Gymnasium Usti nad Labem: Lukas Kucera, Ondrej Lukas, Adam Novotny, Marek Panko, Krystof Roudny
• CAFFEINE ADDICTS from High School ot and Secondary School Štětí: Antonín Černý, Jindřich Kovařík, Vanesa Nekvasilová
• Teplice shooters from High School, Secondary School and Secondary School Teplice: Zdenek Blazejovsky, Jire Kolman, Matej Kutek, Marek Tymich
• Old man's potato that Resslova Secondary School, Usti nad Labem: Jan Brož, Vaclav Pucek, Tomas Rones, Jakub Jan Vargoncik
• GYMPAKA for TGM Litvínov Grammar School: Adéla Hrbková, Adam Michálek, Jakub Michálek
• Coalition of Czech Engineers from Secondary school and high school Děčín: Jan Barcal, Daniel Racek, Ondrej Rus, Antonin Karel Skala, Matej Zaruba

Expert jury consisting of: Director of Municipal Cultural Facilities in Litoměřice, Michaela Mokra, CEO of Wars Group CZ, William Verner and maker, teacher and head of TKM Litoměřice, Zbynek Rudolf. Choosing the best projects was particularly difficult because all the presented prototypes were functional, innovative and practically usable.

On third place placed Litvínov team GYMPLPAKA with their gadgets in the game „"Dragon's Lair"“. Second place belonged Teplice shooters team, who invented stands, bullets and guns for the game „"BANG"“. The winner became Děčín team of the Coalition of Czech Engineers and their improvements to the figures and new elements to the classic game „"Man, don't be angry"“.

Five members of the winning team received four printers from Prusa Research and one from the company Rowingo. In addition, all three winning teams were given the opportunity to license cooperation with the company MOUTH games, which sells, manufactures and prints games. All participants, regardless of order, received a certificate, filament and a commemorative practical wooden coaster (made on a 3D printer, of course) with the logo of our hackathon.

„"The goal wasn't just to create interesting game add-ons, but to show that even in a single day, an idea can be turned into a tangible result. Participants experienced the entire process from design to prototype, developing creativity, teamwork, and technical skills. And I could easily play most of the outputs right now,"“ said Matthew Kostomlatsky, who also conceived and managed this year's hackathon.

Also participating in the event were: colleagues from the RUR team: Fabiána Bytyqi, Karolína Macková, Daniel Trnka and Tamara Klein. They were helped by three mentors: Jakub Bůžek, Jakub Lipš and Jindřich Černý, of which the first two participated in the first ICUK 3D PRINTING Hackathon in the spring of this year. The team was also greatly supported by two UJEP students, Klára Hiklová and Kateřina Reichlová.

„"The great thing about the 3D PRINTING Hackathon is that it connects the educational world with the real world. If we want to educate the younger generation effectively, we need to engage them in challenges that have an impact on the real things around us,"“ added by Daniel Trnka, one of the mentors and a member of the RUR team, which focuses mainly on secondary school and vocational school students.

The November hackathon confirmed that the combination of technology, game design and teamwork can bring ideas, which have not only functionality, but also a gaming flair. Within 24 hours, the participants designed and produced prototypes of original gaming elements and improvements that impressed the jury and the audience.

The result was not only the joy of a job well done, but also new skills and experiences, which the students took with them to school and life. Interest, creativity and commitment of all participants make it clear that similar education formats have a firm place in the region - and that the next challenge will not be long in coming.

The event was supported by the RUR project - Region to University, University of the Region, registration number CZ.10.02.01/00/22_002/0000210.