Bored of the usual Christmas décor? This guy obviously was. Rather than opting for the standard set of twinkling fairy lights on the tree, he programmed them so that he could play Snake in his living room.
Dutch programmer Jordy Moos has promised to release a tutorial on how he managed to create the game, which will probably land on YouTube next Monday.
Playing Snake in my Christmas tree.
The apples that you need to collect are actually lighted Christmas balls. How cool is that?#ChristmasTree #Led #DIY pic.twitter.com/ffe2eJgJ0X
— Jordy Moos (@JordyMoos) December 16, 2019
For now, we know that the game is run by a raspberry pi, uses an OctoWS2811 adapter board, ws2811 strips for the lights, and the pixels are being mapped by a camera.
Related: Best Christmas-themed gaming levels to play
What makes this feat even more impressive is that the programmer has two cats walking around his living room. Felines are notoriously fond of exploring (and destroying) Christmas trees, so Moos must be deploying some kind of wizardry to keep them away.
Speaking with Trusted Reviews, Moos said that he estimated the project took over 100 hours – although the project experienced some small delays as the two cats took out a few LEDs and knocked over the camera.
Back in April, he had tried out a similar project, building an Elm Pixel Boulder Game using LEDs.
Other projects from the programmer include a clever little automatic Pokémon catcher and a car with a laser turret to amuse his cats. This is presumably how he was able to distract his furry pals while he was building his latest project.
Related: How to game Secret Santa with tech this Christmas
Moos has already created a two-player version of Snake on the tree, which he says is a lot of fun to play with friends. He’s also going to create a noughts and crosses game, which will be included in the upcoming tutorial.
He hopes to build a version of Pong and Tetris in the future, although the former game might present some issues. According to Moos, “the direction of the ball is too unpredictable with this amount of LEDs.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
