LITLINKS

Designing Tactile Play for Abstract Thought

LitLinks is a multiplayer, tile-based game for middle schoolers that turns abstract literary concepts into hands-on, social play.

Plywood, Spray paint, Magnets, Adobe Illustrator

Gameplay

Middle schoolers crave creative autonomy and social connection, but traditional narrative activities often feel abstract or disconnected. When storytelling becomes physical, playful, and collective, students engage more deeply with complex ideas like theme and character—something teachers struggle to integrate into current curricula.

How might we gamify reading and writing activities in middle school classrooms to stimulate and support creative social engagement by designing with tactile physical interactions?

Design Iterations

I explored different types of tactile card feelings, different ways of gameplay, and ways of connection through collaboration and collectibility. I iterated several times based off many rounds of user feedback from students and teachers, as well as playtests with students.

Final Product and User Reactions

From concept to classroom shelves...

If students are the ones playing the game,

Educators, librarians, curriculum coordinators, and parents are the ones buying it.

LitLinks is targeted towards increasing classroom accessibility to resources, a major problem especially in public school spaces.

It has been distributed to public classrooms for educators to use and distribute as a 3D-printable resource.