Claire: We created Marine Marbles to help kids with disabilities work on fine motor and control skills. Our first idea was to create a wheelchair-accessible pinball machine with larger buttons on top to make it easier for people to reach. After creating a cardboard pinball machine and researching how to create a more extensive one, we decided to pivot and think of the main elements of pinball, the obstacles, and the ball moving around the course. We also realized that regular pinball is extremely fast and hard to play if someone has a neurological disability, which made us know we should find ways to make the ball move slower. These ideas led to us experimenting with creating a board that you could control the angle of with obstacles inside. We chose the theme "underwater" and started to design our obstacles to fit the theme. After brainstorming many elements, we decided on a shark mouth that led to a tunnel, an ocean wave bridge, a turning pirate ship wheel, a life ring flotation device and ramp, a Plinko board, and a couple of rubber band rebounders.

Sadie:

Marine Marbles is a game inspired by a pinball machine, accessible to kids with disabilities such as fine motor difficulties, or other conditions that affect their ability to play pinball. A standard pinball machine requires precise control to press the buttons repetitively, and it is fast-paced and loud, making it challenging for many to enjoy. Our project is a magnet maze-style board containing classic pinball machine obstacles. The user holds onto handles and tilts the board in different directions to roll the marble around and go through obstacles. Marine Marbles is also an occupational therapy tool to enhance fine motor skills. There are two types of grips: a round handle and a handlebar-style grip with a ball at the end. On the second style, holding the poles allows a user with limited wrist mobility to play without wrist supination, or rotating outwards, which is required to grip the standard handle. The next progression is to hold the ball ends of the grips, followed by the original round handle. Another way that it is adaptable is the interchangeable ranked base spheres. The flatter spheres require less precise control, while the rounder and taller ones need more control. Users can select the appropriate level and progress as it becomes easier.