It's been a year and a half since I last sent one of these emails, and I just don't know how to bridge that gap except with the following run-on sentence: I made a game machine it's fun you make it too have fun

The game is Higher Lower. It's a 3D-printed, screen-free, handheld electronic game about arbitrary ~musical intervals.

Press up if the tones go up, press down if they go down. The more you get right the harder it gets.

Only a slight deviation

A video game with no video is maybe an unexpected Oskitone kit, but it continues all the hallmarks that I hope you would expect: open-source, 3D-printable, and beginner-friendly with an assembly guide that tests each new function as the PCB is soldered.

Show me a tighter feedback loop, I dare ya.

Open questions

• Are novelty DIY electronic games like this a smaller niche than musical instruments? Is this market demographic big enough to be financially viable?
• Do people have the time/money/energy for this? There is a lot happening right now.
• Why even do anything ever when AI can do it for us and better? What good is a human brain, what use are human hands, what trial is the human condition.
• Is in the midst of a trade war with the world's manufacturing superpower an ideal time to launch a new hardware product?
• Will, uh, will you consider buying a Higher Lower game kit?

Peace

I wrote a long blog post detailing the design process of "Higher Lower" and what went into it. Writing it was hard but reading it should be easy.

That's it! Please take care. Hope it's not too long til I have more to share. And do email back if you have any questions or just want to say hello.

-Tommy