City-Building, Digital to Analogue.

Construction toys were a favourite of mine as a child, and so when I was tasked with making a toy, I was immediately drawn toward the idea of creating a toy that was modular and allowed a child to create using their curiosity and imagination.

At first I considered the possibility of creating some blocks that can connect like lego, or a construction toy that mimics how vehicles move or operate, however, recently I have been drawn towards simulating the structure of a city, in no doubt thanks to a very curious city-building game I discovered recently called Townscaper. A link will be at the end of the blog so you can see for yourself why I was so obsessed with the game.

Much of the inspiration for my city idea does also not only come from my love for Lego, but also my love for games like SimCity when I was younger. However, although I have a somewhat positive opinion of SimCity I think traditional play is really important for children, and I don't want them to miss out on interacting with actual physical objects or spaces because they are too consumed in their smartphones and tablets. My generation and younger have been swallowed up by technology and have grown up with items like iPads at our fingertips from a very young age, I believe this could possibly have a negative effect on children's development, particularly as physical play will be important to developing their spacial skills. Physical play can also open up opportunity for social interaction, making it less likely that a child will remain introverted and perhaps lonely.

Materials like wood are ideal for stimulating creativity as they are simple and a plain wooden block can be anything a child needs it to be, for instance, it could be a car, a bridge, a mountain, an alien life form or a large boulder. Each child will use it differently and will think up their own narrative. Wood is the ideal material to create a toy that is grounded and will get children away from technology while providing experiences that are thought to only be provided in video games.

One of my initial ideas has been to create my own modular wooden city that can be taken apart and rearranged. This will help children with spacial skills while supplying the sandbox freedom that city-builder games like SimCity and Cities: Skylines offers.

The design would use a grid of dowels that wooden blocks can then be placed on. Each wooden block would also feature a dowel, allowing multiple blocks to be stacked to form skyscrapers. As this is just an initial idea it needs some development, particularly as right now it is more of just a model that can be deconstructed and reconstructed than an actual toy.

I intend that each of the wooden block components for the buildings would have their own unique shape or design to allow children to form different unique building combinations, based off of what aesthetic they would like their city to have.

Important Links:

• In Depth Look at Townscaper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2M45AlxdtU&ab_channel=Silvarret

• SimCity 2013 Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyIRsLoWTgA&ab_channel=GameSpotTrailers

- Samuel Sant

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