How it started.

In 1985 my sister and I played Dig Dug on a cocktail table at a kiosk in Kristiansand. We loved it. We took turns, one player at a time. And I started to dream of a table where we could both play at once.

I have built cocktail tables before. Lots of wood, lots of weight, small screen. But nice furniture.

In April I posted on Facebook that I had a new project. This time I wanted to make the games myself. Two players only, top-down. Football, ice hockey and basketball. In walnut, as usual.

I have a full-time day job, so this has been evenings in the garage. Got the idea in April, and the concept was done in September-ish. Crazy times.

At the end of June I started on the first game. Football, where you sit at each end and play against each other. I was picky about the shots from day one. A hard shot should feel like it breaks the sound barrier. A long ball should have that flat, hard curve skipping on top.

I called it FlatSoccer. Maybe it would be Flatball, we’ll see :-)

The next morning I got another idea. What if more people could join by scanning a QR code, and use their phone as the controller? That’s how phones became extra controllers on the Flatboy. Scan, join, play. No app, no account.

Next: part 2, the first table.