Creative Dad CompanyCreative Dad Company
TechnologyMathStorytelling

Alternate-Reality Game Studio

Log in to save
Grades 6-860-90 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students design a mini alternate-reality game that links a real scavenger hunt to online puzzles. Each puzzle uses a real STEM idea that players must use to solve it. It is game design with real science and math inside.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • FlashlightsBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • school device with tone generator and free decibel appBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

About $57.95 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups). Exceeds $25 per class.

Classroom cardboard or boxes can lower the cost.

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • small mirrorsRequired1100 pieces$14.98Amazon
  • foilRequired12 rolls / 75 sq ft each$22.69Amazon
  • wax paperRequired11 roll / 75 sq ft$2.29Amazon
  • clear plasticRequired1210 sheets / 8x8 in$17.99Amazon
  • red and blue cellophaneRequired1210 sheets / 21 per color$17.99Amazon
  • black paperRequired1price not confirmed
  • shoeboxesRequired6price not confirmed
  • foam and cardboard piecesRequired1price not confirmed

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

About $57.95 (estimate, some items still being priced) per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

Materials for a math code puzzle (paper); Materials for a color-change reaction puzzle (type not specified); Materials for a balance or measuring puzzle (type not specified); Number cards for stations; Yarn or string; Flashlights; small mirrors; foil; wax paper; clear plastic; red and blue cellophane; black paper; shoeboxes; foam and cardboard pieces; school device with tone generator and free decibel app

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

  • Paper

    Materials for a math code puzzle (paper)

    No link

  • Teacher-approved color-change reaction kit

    Materials for a color-change reaction puzzle (type not specified)

    No link

  • Digital kitchen scale

    Materials for a balance or measuring puzzle (type not specified)

    Shop

  • Number cards for stations

    Number cards for stations

    No link

  • Yarn or string

    Yarn or string

    No link

Steps

  1. Explore light with a flashlight and a material kit (mirror, foil, white paper, black paper, wax paper, clear plastic, red and blue cellophane). Predict what each material will do to the beam.
  2. Test each material: shine the flashlight at it and record whether light bounces off (reflects), soaks in (absorbs), or passes through (transmits), and what color comes through. Record results in a table.
  3. Draw a model for each material: a ray diagram showing the light path with arrows, labeled reflected, absorbed or transmitted.
  4. Test sound, a mechanical wave: play a steady tone from a school device inside a shoebox with no lining, then lined with foam, foil and cardboard. Measure loudness 1 m outside the box with a free decibel app and record it in a table. Clap in front of a hard board and in front of foam and note which gives an echo. Draw a wave model for each material with arrows showing sound reflected, absorbed or transmitted, and compare it to your light ray diagrams.
  5. Design three puzzle stations using your models: two light stations (such as a mirror relay that bounces a beam to a hidden code, or a secret message readable only through a red filter) and one sound station (such as a whispered code heard only when sound reflects off a hard board, or a message hidden in a foam-lined box). Draw the planned ray path or sound wave path for each.
  6. Build each station with paper or offline materials and test whether the light or sound behaves the way your model predicts. Fix the model or the station when it does not.
  7. Have a test player try the whole game. Revise any clue that is too easy, too hard or unclear, then have a second player retest.
  8. Run the finished game for a real group of players, then reveal the models and explain how light and sound are reflected, absorbed or transmitted at each station.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS4-2

    Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.