Hacky Xmas

Every Christmas at Kerve (well, when we’re not too busy and real work isn’t getting in the way) we like to send out a small showcase gift to the clients we’ve been working with that year.

In 2015, we decided to show off our "technical whiz-kiddery" with an online game - a Christmas-themed rebuild of the popular "Timberman" mobile game.

Not only that, but we sent out Arduino powered cards that people could plug into their computers in order to take control of the game. The cards sang their recipients a little song when plugged in, and then invited them to play Hacky Xmas and help Santa Claus chop down the Christmas tree. The highest scores won a lumberjack hat and a bottle of champagne.

I steered clear of the hardware side of things (there’s always far too much scope for things to go wrong there) but I put together the game itself, accessible online to anyone who received the card. Naturally, it all proved to be exceptionally popular!