OutPlay

OutPlay is the next generation of outdoor games. We amplified traditional playground games with technology, to create a safer and more fun experience.

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Inspiration

Children today play outside half as much as their parents did when they were children. Playing outside has an important impact on child development, improving motor skills and spatial awareness. While one cause of this is all of the new forms of technology and entertainment that are available to children, another problem is safety. Parents no longer feel safe letting their kids play outside for the fear of something happening to them. Our solution to this problem is OutPlay, a platform for safer and funner outdoor games.

What it does

Outplay is a platform to expand outdoor games into the digital age. For the first iteration of the app, we chose to implement Capture the flag. At the moment, our app has the basic rules for Capture the flag, but with OutPlay the opportunities for new rules and game modes are endless. For example, we are implementing a system of powerups. Players will get a notification on their phone about a power-up drop somewhere on the map, and if they are the first person to get there, they will be able to get a tool such as a compass that points to an enemy player, or a hot/cold map to the enemies flag. We are also implementing safety features, such as being able to see where your teammates are, and a help button that pauses the game and alerts others to your location in case something bad happens. We plan to add overseers that can see the locations of every player so that parents can keep track of their kids.

GamePlay

When you enter the OutPlay app, you and your friends can create a game and choose what boundaries you want to play your game of Capture the Flag in. From there, Outplay uses your input to split players and your map into two teams. Then, each team will hide their own SmartFlag: a device with a screen that displays a random QR Code. Once both teams have hidden their flag and scanned their respective QR Code, the game starts! Each team is trying to capture the flag of the other team and safely bring it to their territory without getting tagged. If a player is tagged in the opponent’s territory, they must return to their side and scan their flag’s QR code to get untagged. Meanwhile, the tagger can reset the SmartFlag and hide it in a new location. If a player leaves the set boundaries, they are also functionally tagged and must get untagged before joining the game again. While a player is trying to capture their opponent’s flag, the SmartFlag will sense movement and set off its alarm as another challenge for the capturer.

How we built it

Our project consists of two parts: The OutPlay IOS app and the physical SmartFlag. Our SmartFlag consists of an Adafruit Clue, battery pack, and 3D-printed case. The Clue was programmed using CircuitPython. The OutPlay App was developed on Swift for IOS.

Challenges

This was most of our team's first hackathon so there was a lot of learning to be done!

What's next for OutPlay

Right now, OutPlay is only for capture the flag, but we want to expand it to more games such as Hide and Seek or Manhunt. We also want to implement walkie-talkie communication between players on the same team, so that teammates can coordinate strategies. Right now our system of tagging is a bit clunky as it is a button that needs to be pressed on the phone. We would like to add a Tap feature between phones to make the tagging process seamless.

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