In-Car Minigames

After transitioning from UI software development to the UX design department at Mercedes, this was my first opportunity to create content that would be directly available to drivers and passengers. As part of a larger collection of small games and features, I developed two minigames that can be played on the central displays of several car lines, including the EQS and S-Class. Prior to this project, I had worked on a variety of small prototypes and visualizations.

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For both games, I followed the complete development cycle from research and ideation, through quick prototypes, to the actual software programming and the many steps involved in the release process. The two games I developed were:

• Pairs, a simple memory-style game in which players must find matching images within a grid of face-down cards

• Shuffle Puck, a physics-based air-hockey-inspired game where players aim to score goals by shooting discs that bounce off each other and the confines of the playing field

Both games are played solely with touch input and feature single- and multiplayer modes, with the latter allowing the driver and co-driver to play against each other on the same screen.

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Although the scope of the games was intentionally limited, the project proved both challenging and rewarding. For instance, it was at the time not possible to develop the games with Unity, but instead I had to rely on the tools available for general development of in-car apps at the time, namely Qt and QML with JavaScript for the game logic. This was especially interesting, as I had worked quite a bit with these tools at my previous position for UI development, but I had never used them to implement a game loop, particle effects, and collision detection/handling.

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Further, it was very interesting to see the many aspects involved in the development and release process. It initially involved a lot of setup in order to be able to deploy and test my games on seat bucks and actual vehicles. The release process itself included presenting the game, legal checks, handling localization, and providing content for the official communication, among other things. I was very grateful for my colleagues from other teams who also contributed a few games to the greater collection, as they helped me navigate the different meetings and tick all the boxes on the road to release. After finishing the initial versions of the games, I handed them over to these colleagues for future updates and maintenance, as I moved on to new projects.