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Showing 1 - 5 of 5 Project Ideas
Gamers: Myth or Man?
Gamers: Myth or Man?
Difficulty
Time Required Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety If you choose to distribute your survey to strangers in a public place, make sure you are aware of your own personal safety and stay in well-lit areas with plenty of foot traffic. Adult supervision is recommended when distributing a survey in public.

Male or female? Fat or skinny? Outgoing or quiet? What is your stereotype of a “gamer”? Do your friends have the same mental picture of gamers? How about your parents? This science fair project will help you examine whether the stereotypes of “gamers” actually matches the reality of who plays video games. Read more
Power Play: How Does Animation Timing Affect Your Perception of Game Action?
Power Play: How Does Animation Timing Affect Your Perception of Game Action?
Difficulty
Time Required Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability To do this science fair project, you will need to download and install a free program, called Scratch. See the Experimental Procedure for more details.
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety No issues

"Pow!" Wow, what an awesome punch that character has! Ever wondered what goes into making a punch look good in a video game? Or any other character motion sequence, for that matter? Try this science fair project for a firsthand look at how art and timing can create memorable game action. Read more
Programming NANORGs in a Virtual World
Programming NANORGs in a Virtual World
Difficulty
Time Required Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites Previous computer programming experience, familiarity with assembly language programming is helpful.
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety No issues

Imagine yourself as a software engineer, a decade and a half from now. You are called upon to help solve the world energy crisis by programming nano-organisms (NANORGs) to extract energy from industrial sludge. Your program must be small enough to fit in the NANORGs' tiny processors, yet at the same time meet several challenges. First and foremost, your NANORGs need to navigate on their own, extract energy from the sludge, and find collection… Read more
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Gaming?
Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Gaming?
Difficulty
Time Required Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites None
Material Availability Requires access to a computer that is hooked up to the Internet and has a spreadsheet program that can read and manipulate Microsoft Excel documents.
Cost Very Low (under $20)
Safety No issues

Have you ever heard someone described as a video game addict? Do you think video game addicts actually exist? You can determine that for yourself in this science fair project by examining real data from a California research scientist for over 3,000 video game players! Read more
Making It Real: Incorporating Physics in Video Games
Making It Real: Incorporating Physics in Video Games
Difficulty
Time Required Very Long (1+ months)
Prerequisites You should be comfortable programming in C++ language, familiar with the GameMaker software package, and able to program in GameMaker Language (GML). You should completely review and understand all the GameMaker tutorials and examples listed in the Science Buddies GameMaker User Guide and in the Tutorials section of YoYo Games Wiki.
Material Availability Readily available
Cost Low ($20 - $50)
Safety No issues

Have you ever played a video game and gotten so involved that you felt as if you were living inside the game? What were the characteristics of the game that made you feel part of the action? One component of an absorbing video game is an onscreen world that makes sense—a world that takes physics into account. A game in which the player feels the effect of trudging through mud, slipping on ice, or catapulting a bird is more fun than one… Read more
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