Cardboard PinBall Machine With Micro:bit LEDs, Motors, and Sounds

PinBox 3000 is a kit that lets you turn ordinary sheets of cardboard into a custom, crafty, and playable pinball machine... and as if that wasn't awesome enough, I decided to add the power of MicroBit: to create a game with interactive lights, sounds, and motion. I also illustrated and constructed obstacles from paper to complete this totally "anyone can do this" tech-craft project. Here's how I made it:

For this project, a video is worth a thousand pictures! In the video above, I show you how I made the game, the story behind it, what electronics I used to supplement the micro:bit, and show the game in action!

• PinBox 3000
• x2 MicroBit: (v2 will give you nice sounds)
• Crazy Circuits MicroBit: Board
• Maker Tape
• Pimaroni ScrollBit:
• Cardboard
• Colorful Cardstock Paper
• Craft Plastic
• Hot Glue
• Paint
• Sculpture Wire
• Silver and Black Sharpies

*I've included links to the supplies. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission on purchases made through the links, and that helps me make more tutorials like this. Thanks for your support! :) PinBox 3000 provided me with a kit to make this project, so thanks to them as well!

My pinball machine tells the story of a group of super-smart penguin astronauts who were fed-up with global warming and left earth to live on "Planet Winter" - where it's winter all the time! The snow, blizzards, icebergs, avalanches, and icy lakes make it the perfect penguin paradise.

I wanted the game to have depth and multiple levels of interest. I added a large round piece of cardboard to the backplate to create the "planet" and to make a large enough space for the "Planet Winter" game sign. Then, I cut a hole in the playboard to serve as a lake and give depth to the scene.

My favorite arcade games have large illuminated signs with bold letters, so I wanted to incorporate a big sign into my design. Using my Cricut Maker, I cut out the "bubble" letters from paper and used translucent paper in the center so that I could backlight them with Neopixels. I ran paper around the edges to make them 3D and to give some space between the pixels and the paper so that the letters illuminate evenly! What fun neopixels are - now I could make the sign any color that I wanted, even rainbow!

I tore one side of the paper off of corrugated cardboard to make it flexible enough to make ramps. I also used the center of a cardboard tube as a shoot around the side.

I added some paper mountains and created the illusion of distance by using lighter grey mountains in the back and darker mountains in the front to play with atmospheric perspective.

I illustrated the penguins on silver paper with a black Sharpie, and added detail back with a silver Sharpie. I used orange paper for the beak and feet, white paint for the eyes, and craft plastic with copper tape to make the penguins their tiny space helmits.

I used the MakeCode block coding language and the Neopixel extension. I used 2 micro:bits: one for the gameplay and one for the scoreboard. The gameplay micro:bit received signals from three switches, controlled the lights, and activated two servo motors that pushed the balls around. The scoreboard micro:bit received a signal via radio to display the score, and provided fun sounds that were available in the MakeCode library.

This is how you play:

Do you have plans to combine micro:bit and a PinBall 3000? Let me know what ideas you have!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. If you want to see more of my work, you can follow me here on Instructables and on Instagram and YouTube - Please Subscribe! You can also buy tech-craft kits designed by me at TechnoChic.net.