Pac man race

Description

We decided to go with a Pac-Man theme for this project. We created posters to attract potential participants, then had them follow us along a path of dots that we placed leading from our base past all the flags we chose to pass and to our finishing base. To push the theme, we created Pac-Man (and Ms. Pac-Man, in case we got more than one participant) cardboard cutouts for the runners to wear around their necks and attached the fruit from the Pac-Man games to our backs. (In case anyone never played Pac-Man for some reason, Pac-Man eats the fruit, so the idea was to have the runner chase the fruit to the finish.) Also, we offered donuts as an incentive to participate.

Fruit we attached to our backs

The dots that we stuck in the ground to make a path

The poster that we used to indicate to the player who to follow

Poster with the instructions of how to play

Our player!

Reflection

It was pretty difficult to get people to actually read our signs as they walked. Many were walking to somewhere in particular they wanted to be (mostly class, I assume) and just didn’t have the time to run around campus, and I’m sure the rest were too lazy or thought we were crazy. (I refuse to believe that anyone legitimately didn’t want donuts.) In the end, we had the most success when we rolled up the poster with the long(ish) list of instructions until after people read the initial signs and only revealed that afterwards. Also, I’m pretty sure we got really lucky to have someone cooperative with a bit of spare time pass by after only five-ish minutes of waving signs around. (We actually started a bit late because we were still placing dots at the fountain, our destination base, at 10:20, so I had to run over from our starting base to grab the fruit, then run back and put them on.) We ended up finishing first in terms of time and passing six flags, tying us for first place with another team.

him wearing our object

Honestly, I’m not sure how much the dot path contributed to our success. I’d say we probably spent too much time placing dots for how little impact they had. (I think we barely finished placing dots before we actually finished the race, and we started placing them at around 9) Originally, the idea was that having the path would both help runners know where they’re going and perhaps help attract people, but the former was redundant because we ran with the runner, and the latter seemed not to matter given that our path immediately ran off through the grass and around into areas few people pass by. I don’t think anyone who passed by us while we were waving signs around actually noticed the dot path beforehand

The runner stayed with the player so
the dot path may seem a bit redundant

The prize

done!

Team Purple Uni-Corn's Balloon Popping Race

The Idea

We created a balloon popping race that would draw people in with the bright colors and childish appeal of balloons and giant crayons. Our original object was the one of the two giant crayons, which we gave to the runner. We had one of our team members race against our participant with the other giant crayon. Tacks were attached to the ends of the crayons to help the runners pop the balloons on the tracks. We set up a start line with chalk by our original base (the HUB) with details concerning the time and prize of the race (chocolate). There was not a list of set rules for the race to make it easier to communicate. We wanted the runner to interpreted it as a race to the finish line, following the arrows and popping the balloons along the way.

The Race

It took us 14 minutes to find our runner. We had a difficult time finding participants because they were either not interested in our attraction, or had to go to class. When we did eventually find our runner, he was extremely motivated and popped every balloon in sight. As it turns out, we were not the only ones setting up balloons.Team Kappa had set up some balloons along our track, and our runner targeted those as well (oops). He even went after a balloon that was off the track. Overall, our race was a success. The runner did not get lost and passed by all four flags that were along our track.

The Reflection

Our original plan had been to pop balloons and have a sign to attract someone, but we overestimated the amount of balloons we had and underestimated the distance we had to cover, so there weren't any balloons left over at the end. The sign was also unfortunately deemed unnecessary since we had chalk. Without a sign or, really any way to attract people in a purposeful manner, many people we mimed at just looked kind of uncomfortable and confused (understandable), and so definitely not inclined to give us a hand. After ten minutes or so of half-hearted miming, we decided to break the rules and talk in order to persuade a runner. We still ran up against unwilling people, largely due to the fact that most people had class or just did not want to run in the sunny weather. The runner we finally got was really into the race, so we believe all of our problems lay in planning for materials and attracting people to come participate in this activity, rather than in the actual concept we decided to pursue.

The Pictures

Early test of our idea with tacks attached to a piece of wood

Blowing up balloons for the race

 

Our runner popping a balloon on the track

At the finish line