Tulay

Manila | Discovering Science Connections

Mission to Mars

High-Level Project Summary

Tulay presents Mission to Mars, a rummy type card game where players take turns drawing cards from a deck, completing sets of task and skill cards. Task cards indicate a mission objective, as well as the skills cards necessary to complete a set. Skill cards correspond to one of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD)’s five (5) different divisions that could play a role in completing the task. The product highlights the interdisciplinary nature of the divisions and the potential for collaboration in executing different tasks related to space exploration and discovery. By utilizing a card game as a medium, Mission to Mars is accessible to the youth through a fun and entertaining format.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vYrIubLd2RBiXUMyOdRi_oKthxoCvu6u/view?usp=sharing

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jLPbmU6UkoWmlWH5W9a-E4uhLHrPPUOJ/view?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description

As mentioned earlier, Tulay has created a simple card game where players must collect task cards and their corresponding skill cards in order to complete a set. Sets have different valuations ranging from one (1) to three (3) depending on the trio of skill cards that they are grouped with. In the top right corner of each task card, is a two (2) or a three (3). This represents the maximum number of points one can earn from a set with that task card.

If the task card indicates that skill cards from three (3) different SMD fields are required to complete a set, once a player holds all four cards in their hand, they can place down their set in front of them, confirming that they have completed a set. Take for example the task, Land a Spacecraft on Mars. This task would have Planetary science, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics as its corresponding skill cards. Once a player has put down these four cards, they have earned the maximum three (3) points.

For a task card that only requires skill cards from two (2) SMD fields, they must collect a skill card from the first field and a pair from the second. Take for example the task, Identifying Plants suitable for production and consumption. This task would have Biological and Earth science cards as its corresponding skill cards. Alongside the task card, the player may place down either two (2) Biological and one (1) Earth science skill cards, or two (2) Earth and one (1) Biological science skill cards. Once a player has put down these four cards, they have earned the maximum two (2) points.

A player may also opt to group their task card with any of the same three (3) skill cards. This however would earn the player a minimum of one (1) point.

The reasoning behind the valuation system is to show the importance of interdisciplinarity among the different SMD fields with task cards that require skills from three (3) SMDs being valued higher than those that require skills from only two (2) SMDs. While a task card may be paired with three of the same type of skill card, its valuation drops to one (1) point indicating that it is better to collaborate with people from different disciplines.

All players are to begin with five cards in hand and are only allowed to hold on to a maximum of five cards at a time. At the beginning of every turn a player is to draw a card from the draw pile. During this time they may place down up to one set or four cards. If a player places down a full set, they are to draw four more cards from the draw pile such that they once again have six cards in their hand and discard a card. This marks the end of a player’s turn. After a player has replenished their hand they are no longer allowed to put down any sets and the turn is passed to the next player. If a player is unable to put down any sets during their turn they are to discard one of their cards into the discard pile and the turn passes to the next player. A player has the option to take the card at the top of the discard pile if they are able to use it to complete a full set.

What is a set?

3 pts. → 1 Task Card + 3 Skill Cards from 3 SMDs
2 pts. → 1 Task Card + 3 Skill Cards from 2 SMDs
1 pt. → Any Task Card + 3 Skill Cards from 1 SMD

Simplified Rules::

Players start with 5 cards in their hand and must take turns drawing Task Cards or Skill Cards from the deck.
A turn begins with any player drawing a card from the Draw Pile!
Task Cards indicate the Skill Cards needed to complete a set!
After a player has drawn their sixth card, they can put down only one full set during their turn, earning the corresponding number of points.
They must then draw 4 cards from the draw pile and discard any card of their choosing (allowing everyone to see what they discarded). Ending their turn with 5 cards in their hand.
The succeeding player may take the card at the top of the discard pile if and only if they can form a full set with said card. This serves as their set for their turn and they must draw 4 cards from the draw pile, discard a card, and end their turn. Otherwise they simply draw a card from the draw pile and go about their turn as usual!
First to ten points wins!

As a card game, Mission to Mars is easy and fun to play with family and friends. The set-completion mechanics are simple enough for even young children to understand and follow. By manner of the game’s theme as well as the details described on the different cards, players not just learn through exposure to the different tasks currently being performed by workers in NASA’s SMD, but their curiosity is tapped in that they learn about the potential opportunities for space exploration and discovery. We hope that when young kids and teenagers play our game that they will be intrigued and fascinated by the field of space and be inspired to someday take up careers in those fields. Additionally, we hope that parents, seeing the purpose in our making the product, will use it to encourage and support children with an existing interest in the field of space, or purchase it for their children in the hopes of developing an affinity for space-related fields.

Space Agency Data

The group explored the NASA Science Mission Directorate website to learn about the five individual science divisions. These served as the basis for the five (5) unique Skill Cards in the game.

After learning more about the programs and initiatives of the different divisions, the group brainstormed different space-related objectives and procedures that could potentially require the expertise of scientists from more than one SMD field. These helped the group in conceptualizing the fourteen (14) unique Task Cards.

Further research as indicated by the links in the reference list below allowed the team to formulate diverse combinations of Task Cards and their corresponding Skill Cards.

Hackathon Journey

Our Space Apps experience was quite the roller coaster. As people majoring in physics, we all were teeming with ideas and concepts on how to address the challenge at hand! The amount of ideas were quite overwhelming so we took it back to why we were drawn to the challenge “Discovering Science Connections” in the first place; because we wanted to incite curiosity! We developed Mission to Mars because we wanted our players to feel the same kind of curiosity and excitement we have in solving problems at the frontiers of science! We faced a lot of redrafting and changing of ideas. However, we overcame them by properly communicating with each other and by asking ourselves the question, “will this game convey the same excitement we feel?”

Above all else, we’d like to thank those who inspired us in staying curious. We’d also like to thank Space Apps for giving us the opportunity to push ourselves in creating Mission to Mars.