3D Printed Midnight Dice Game

In my 3D printing class at IACS, we were tasked with designing and printing a game that could be played by people who are visually impaired or blind. The game must be engaging for 2 or more people to play and must be able to be played without looking at the pieces.

Fusion 360

3D printer

Before designing the game, I had to research ideas that I could employ into my design.

I looked online for ideas of games that would be engaging for multiple players and could be played without looking at the pieces. Considering something that would fit into the dimensions of my 3D printer was also important. After looking at many different ideas, I decided on building a version of the dice game midnight.

For this game, all you need is 6 dice. When building the dice, though, you only have to create one and you can print it multiple times. Start by creating a cube, and then add the outdents needed to be able to feel the number that the dice landed on. My cube is 12mm x 12mm x 12mm. To make this design, start with a sketch of a square that is the size you want. Continue by extruding it to make it a cube. Once you have a cube of the correct height, you can then choose sketch, and sketch out the dots for your die. Once you have drawn on the circles, you extrude them out so that somebody who is visually impaired will be able to feel the numbers. Once you finish these steps, you are done designing!

After you think that you are finished designing your dice, make sure that you look them over and fix any mistakes that you may have made. This can include changes in sizes or correcting the numbers on the dice. After you have made sure your dice looks good, you are ready to move on!

Now that you have finished designing your dice, all that is left is printing them out. Export your design and upload it to your printer.

After you have gone through the whole process of designing your game, now you can play it! To play the midnight dice game, the first player rolls all 6 dice. After each roll you must put aside at least 1 dice, but can put aside more if you would like. To get points, you must put aside a dice with the number 1 and a dice with the number 4. Then, the digits on the remaining four dice that you rolled are added up as your score. The highest score you can get is a 24 if you roll a 1, a 4, and four 6s. If you do not have a 1 and a 4 put aside at the end of your turn, you do not get any points for that round. Once the first person has finished, play continues around the circle. You can choose to either play until somebody gets a score of 100 (or a different number of your choosing), or you can compete in rounds where whoever has the highest score in the round, wins. Now go find someone to play with and enjoy your design!