Electronic Catan LCD Tiles (coliniuliano.ca)

Article summary

The article describes a project to create electronic Catan LCD tiles that can be connected to form a game board of any shape or size. Each tile features a round LCD and a custom magnetic pogo connector, allowing them to snap together and communicate with each other. The tiles use a pseudo-mesh network protocol to determine their position relative to each other and display the correct resources and numbers. The project was created as a fun COVID-19 project and has been successfully tested, but the author notes that there are still improvements to be made.

Main themes

• Electronic board game design
• Mesh networking
• Tactile experience
• Game development
• Hardware engineering
• Product viability

What commenters say

• The project is impressive and could be improved with additional features such as animated tile art and compression.
• A product like this might not be viable due to its size, cost, and lack of tactile feel.
• The use of a screen for the game board could take away from the experience of playing a board game.
• The project's focus on physical tiles is important for the visceral experience of playing a board game.
• The technology could be used to support a wide variety of games with negligible storage requirements.
• The lack of content and rights issues could be a major obstacle for a commercial product.
• The project's custom magnetic pogo connectors and pseudo-mesh network protocol are notable technical achievements.
• A schematic for the project should be created to make it easier for others to understand and replicate.