3D printed Aquarium – Gift idea for Megaquarium Computer Game
Megaquarium is a computer game where you get a design your own aquarium tourist attraction. It’s like Roller Coaster Tycoon, based around a Sea Life Centre.
My son wants it as a Christmas present, which is great except in the days of digital downloads a bunch of binary digits doesn’t quite feel the same as giving something they can physically hold. That’s where my 3D printer comes in.
I’ve designed a physical 3D version of the virtual game. It includes 3D physical models that can be picked up and moved around and just as in the real (digital) game you can swap which fish are in which tank. The main thing is it provides something physical to actually give as a present, but it’s also functional and I’m sure there are many possibilities for turning into a game by creating some cards or something similar.
You can see more details in the video below.
The model is designed in TinkerCAD with credits for the fish, people and the cute octopus linked in the Thingiverse page. I did try and include a seahorse in one version, but it didn’t print very well as such small size and unfortunately the license doesn’t allow sharing the modified model under the creative commons license that I used.
The model is printed in PLA, except for the tanks which are printed in transparent PETG. I struggled a bit with the PETG on my printer (stringy and some discoloration of some of the filament) and so transparent PLA may have been better.