Classroom Pack: Engineering Games for Teachers

01 / THE GAMES

What each game teaches

Five activities, from a three-minute warm-up to a full build-and-test session. Teacher notes under each game describe what a good student answer sounds like.

Build It

Bridges / gravity load / 6 missions / 20 to 30 min for Missions 1 to 3

Students join dots on a grid to build a bridge truss, then run a truck across it. Every edit triggers a live stability check: the status line says when road points are still unconnected, when the shape can still fold (and circles the joints that need a diagonal), or when every joint is locked. The check covers stability only. Whether a member is strong enough is found out by running the truck test.

During the test, members are coloured by how hard they work: light, working, near the limit, gave way. If a member breaks, the game freezes at that moment, names the member and says whether it was squeezed (compression) or stretched (tension).

Concepts in plain terms

Triangles are stable. Pin-jointed bars only hold their shape when they form triangles. A square panel folds like a hinge.
Longer spans are disproportionately harder. Forces grow faster than the span does.
Compression and tension. In the truss, one chord is squeezed and the other is stretched, which is how a truss does the job of a solid beam.
Put strength where the force is. Steel is about 3.5 to 4.5 times stronger than timber in the game but nearly 4 times the cost per metre.
Cables work only in tension. A cable that gets pushed goes slack and carries nothing.

Missions

Mission	Concept	Span	Load	Budget	Materials
1 First Crossing	Load and support	6 m	400 kg	₱22,000	Timber
2 Going the Distance	Span	10 m	500 kg	₱34,000	Timber
3 The Breaking Point	Bending behaviour	14 m	650 kg	₱48,000	Timber, steel
4 Steel Yourself	Material strength	16 m	950 kg	₱120,000	Timber, steel
5 Hang in There	Tension vs compression	18 m	1,000 kg	₱145,000	Timber, steel, cable
6 Do More With Less	Optimisation	20 m	1,200 kg	₱175,000	Timber, steel, cable

Suggested: Missions 1 to 3 for a first lesson; 4 and 5 for a follow-up on materials; 6 as an extension or homework. Missions unlock in order, one after each pass.

Discussion questions

Your first bridge may have folded even though every road point was connected. Why?
Which members were squeezed and which were stretched? How could you tell?
Mission 2 is only 4 m longer than Mission 1. Did your bridge need to be only a little stronger?
In Mission 4, why not build the whole bridge in steel?
In Mission 5, where is it safe to use a cable, and where is it not?

Teacher notes: good answers

1. Folding: Connected is not the same as stable. A four-sided panel with pinned corners can lean over without any bar changing length. A triangle cannot change shape unless a side stretches or shrinks, so adding a diagonal locks it. Stronger answers use the word "mechanism".
2. Squeezed and stretched: The failure message names it, and the colours show which members work hardest. The top chord is squeezed (compression), the bottom chord is stretched (tension), and the diagonals carry the force between them.
3. Span: No. Forces grow faster than the span. A single truck's bending effect grows in step with the span, but the bridge's own weight, spread along it, grows with the square of the span. Together they outpace the span, which is why very long bridges switch to cable-stayed or suspension systems.
4. All steel: It costs too much. All-timber fails Mission 4, but upgrading only the members that fail first (usually the top and bottom chords) passes inside the budget. Matching material to the force in each member is how real bridges stay affordable.
5. Cables: Only where a member stays in tension for the whole crossing. As the truck moves, some diagonals flip between tension and compression; a cable there goes slack. Chords should stay timber or steel.

Stars and fairness: Passing earns 1 star; coming in under a cost target earns 2 or 3. The first hint has no penalty. Using the second hint, the Starter shape button on Missions 2 to 6, or Peek at their bridge on a challenge link caps that attempt at 2 stars. The game blocks any member that would go over budget. Three-star targets: ₱19,000, ₱29,500, ₱41,000, ₱104,000, ₱120,000 and ₱152,000 for Missions 1 to 6.
Starter shape: It shows a dashed Pratt truss under the deck. On a student's first visit to Mission 1 it appears automatically. In all timber it passes Missions 1 to 3; from Mission 4 on it needs chord upgrades. Students who are stuck after two failed tests are offered it.

Open Build It

Engineer vs Nature

Wind storms and quake storms / 25 to 35 min

Same build-and-test idea and the same materials as Build It, but the load pushes sideways. In the wind storms the force ramps up from zero to full strength, blowing from left to right. Storms 1 to 6 use the bridge-style grid; Storms 7 to 9 stand the frame up as a multi-storey building on a fixed base. The quake storms shake the structure instead of pushing it one way.

Concepts in plain terms

Lateral load. Wind pushes sideways, not down. A frame that holds its own weight can still rack sideways without diagonal bracing.
Base shear. All the sideways force has to leave through the supports, so members near the base work hardest.
Reserve capacity. Passing at 95% of capacity leaves almost nothing for a stronger gust. That margin is what a factor of safety is for.
Storeys add up. The ground floor carries the wind on every floor above it.
Soft storey. One unbraced floor, often an open ground floor for parking or shops, can undermine the whole building.
Shaking reverses. An earthquake pushes both ways, a heavier structure attracts more seismic force, and cables (tension only) must be used as crossed X-brace pairs so one is always pulled.

Storms

Storm	Concept	Structure	Wind	Budget	Materials
1 First Gust	Lateral bracing	6 m span	15 kN	₱22,000	Timber
2 Strong Breeze	Base shear	10 m span	25 kN	₱34,000	Timber
3 Gale Force	Working near the limit	14 m span	33 kN	₱46,000	Timber, steel
4 Storm Signal	Material strength	16 m span	42 kN	₱80,000	Timber, steel
5 Typhoon Signal 4	Tension-only bracing	18 m span	70 kN	₱135,000	Timber, steel, cable
6 Super Typhoon	Optimisation	20 m span	95 kN	₱155,000	Timber, steel, cable
7 First Frame	Building frames	3 storeys	14 kN	₱52,000	Timber
8 The Walk-Up	Storey height	4 storeys	16 kN	₱82,000	Timber, steel
9 The Soft Storey	Soft-storey risk	4 storeys, 3 bays	45 kN	₱155,000	Timber, steel, cable

Quake storms: First Tremor (shaking reverses both ways), Heavy Roof (a heavier structure attracts more seismic force) and The Big One (cables are tension-only, so brace with crossed cable pairs).

Suggested: Storms 1 and 2 for wind (Storm 7 if students have reached it), then the quake storms. Wind storms unlock one after another. The quake storms are a separate track: Quake 1 opens as soon as Storm 1 is passed, and each quake opens the next. The quake levels are two-storey frames, so they fit in one lesson.

Discussion questions

Wind pushes sideways, not down. Why does the same triangle pattern from Build It still work?
Which members worked hardest in Storm 2, and why there?
Gale Force lets you pass at 95% of capacity. Would you build that for real?
In The Walk-Up, why was steel needed only on the ground floor?
Wind in the game blows one way. What changed when the ground shook back and forth, and why did a heavier roof make it harder?

Teacher notes: good answers

1. Same triangles: Bracing works by stopping joints from rotating relative to each other. That is the same job whether the push is down or sideways.
2. Hardest members: The ones near the supports. All the wind on the structure has to pass through them into the ground; the total is called base shear.
3. 95%: No. There is no reserve for a stronger gust, a weaker piece of timber or a construction error. Real codes never design to exactly 100% of capacity; the gap is the factor of safety.
4. Ground floor: It carries the accumulated sideways force of all four floors above it. Upper floors see much less, so steel there is wasted money.
5. Quakes: Shaking reverses, so a member pulled one moment is pushed the next. A single cable only works for one direction; crossed cable pairs keep one of the two in tension. Earthquake force comes from the building's own mass being shaken (force = mass x acceleration), so a heavier roof means more sideways force. Wind force does not grow with weight.

Open Engineer vs Nature

Blueprint Detective

Philippine codes / 22 cases / about 10 min per file

Each case shows a drawing and four labelled dimensions. Exactly one of the four breaks a Philippine code; students tap it. The game then highlights the problem on the drawing and shows the code section with a short explanation. A file is 10 cases drawn in turn from all four codes, in random order, so neighbours will not see the same sequence. Each case is worth 100 points; each of the two hints costs 25, and a streak of correct answers adds a bonus. The end screen lists the score per code and the citation for every miss.

Concepts in plain terms

Codes set numbers for a reason. Ramp slopes, stair risers, exit distances and concrete cover all protect someone.
Conditions matter. The same item can have different limits depending on lot class, sprinklers, extinguisher weight or the rise of a ramp.
Right number, wrong place. Several cases use a real figure from the wrong row or the wrong part of the building.
Old figures linger. Some numbers still repeated online come from rules that have since been revised.

The 22 cases (what fails and what the code asks for)

Case	What fails	Requirement shown in the game	Section cited
BP 344 accessibility (2024 Revised IRR), 7 cases
The Steep Ramp	1:12 slope, 900 mm rise	1:20 maximum; 1:15 only if rise is 700 mm or less and ramp no longer than 10.50 m	App. A 1.2(b), Table A.1.1
The Short Landing	1,200 mm top landing	Level area of at least 1,800 mm at top and bottom	App. A 1.2(e)
One Rail Only	Single rail at 900 mm	Handrails on both sides at 700 mm and 900 mm	App. A 1.2(f)
The Squeezed Walkway	900 mm walkway	At least 1,200 mm clear in front of PWD slots	App. A 6.7(b)
The Ordinary Slot	2,500 mm slot width	PWD slot at least 4,000 x 5,000 mm	App. A 6.7(a)
The Tight Cubicle	1,500 x 1,500 mm cubicle	At least 1,800 x 1,800 mm	C.6.3(a)
The Wrong-Way Door	Door swings inward	Toilet doors open outward	C.6.14
PD 1096 National Building Code (2004 Revised IRR), 6 cases
The Forward House	3.00 m front yard on R-1	R-1 front setback at least 4.50 m	Rule VIII, Table VIII.2
The Boundary Wall	0 m side with firewall on R-1	No abutment on any property line of an R-1 lot	Rule VIII, Sec. 803 item 4.c
The Small Window	0.80 m² window, 12 m² room	At least 10% of floor area and not under 1.00 m²	Rule VIII, Sec. 808
The Low Ceiling	2.40 m, natural ventilation	At least 2.70 m without artificial ventilation	Rule VIII, Sec. 805
The Tall Steps	220 mm riser	200 mm maximum (Fire Code IRR: 180 mm for houses)	PD 1096 Sec. 1207(e)(2)
Mind Your Head	1.80 m stair headroom	At least 2.00 m	PD 1096 Sec. 1207(e)(12)
RA 9514 Fire Code (2019 Revised IRR), 5 cases
The Narrow Exit Stair	900 mm stair for 120 people	At least 1,120 mm (915 mm only under 50 people)	Sec. 10.2.5.4, Table 4
The Dead End	10 m dead end, no sprinklers	6 m maximum (15 m in a sprinklered business occupancy)	Sec. 10.2.5.2 (I), 10.2.16.2
The Far Exit	55 m travel, no sprinklers	46 m maximum (61 m with supervised sprinklers)	Sec. 10.2.16.2 (F)
Out of Reach	Top of 4.5 kg unit at 1.80 m	Top no higher than 1.5 m for units up to 18 kg	Sec. 10.2.6.9 (E.9)
The Long Walk	18 m walk to extinguisher	12 m maximum in a moderate hazard dining area	Sec. 10.2.6.9 (G), Table 7
NSCP 2015 structural code, 4 cases
Thin Cover	40 mm footing bottom cover	75 mm for concrete cast against soil	Table 420.6.1.3.1
The 8 by 8 Column	200 x 200 mm column, Zone 4	Special moment frame columns at least 300 mm on the short side	Sec. 418.7.2.1
Light on Steel	4 bars of 12 mm (0.50%)	Main bars at least 1% of the gross column area	Sec. 410.6.1.1, 418.7.4.1
Wire-Thin Ties	6 mm ties	At least 10 mm ties for main bars up to 32 mm	Sec. 425.7.2.2

Discussion questions

Pick one violation you caught. Who could get hurt or stuck if it were built that way?
The Short Landing, The Ordinary Slot and The Forward House all use a real number in the wrong place. How do mix-ups like that happen?
Why would the Fire Code allow a longer dead-end corridor or travel distance when a floor has sprinklers?
Some old figures (a 1:12 ramp, a single 900 mm rail) still circulate online. How would you check which rule is current?

Teacher notes: good answers

1. Who gets hurt: Answers should name a person and a situation. The game's own explanations help: an inward toilet door can trap someone who falls behind it; a 2,500 mm slot leaves no room for a wheelchair beside the car; thin cover lets soil moisture reach the steel.
2. Wrong place: A figure gets copied without its condition. 1,200 mm is the ramp's clear width, not the landing length; 2,500 mm is an ordinary car slot; 3.00 m is the front yard for R-2 and R-3 lots, not R-1.
3. Sprinklers: Sprinklers slow or control a fire, giving people more time to reach an exit, so the code allows a longer route.
4. Current rule: Go to the official, current text and check its edition and date (for BP 344, the 2024 Revised IRR), rather than a blog or an older handout. For a real project, a licensed architect or engineer confirms it.

Open Blueprint Detective

Load Path Detective

Real structures / 8 rounds and 4 case files / about 3 min per round

Each round shows a real photograph with lettered markers on its main parts. Students tap the parts in the order a gravity load travels, from where it lands down to the ground. Where the load splits (cables to towers and anchorages, slabs to wings and core), either order counts. They then say whether key members are squeezed (compression) or stretched (tension). Some markers are deliberate traps, such as the Eiffel Tower's decorative arches or the granite pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge. Wrong taps and traps cost 10 points each; correct force answers add 10.

The four case files (Hyatt Regency walkways 1981, Tacoma Narrows 1940, Quebec Bridge 1907, Ronan Point 1968) have no score. Students find where the load path broke, then read what the investigation found, the lives lost, and what changed in practice. Each round lists its sources and the photo credit.

Concepts in plain terms

Every load needs a path to the ground. Floors, decks and roofs pass weight to members, members to supports, supports to foundations.
Cables and hangers only pull; arches and columns mostly push. Knowing which is which explains a structure's shape.
Not everything you see is structural. Some parts are there for looks or comfort, not to carry the weight.
One weak link is enough. A single connection, chord or wall panel can bring the rest down if there is no other path.

Discussion questions

Golden Gate and Sydney Harbour Bridge both carry a road over water. How does the weight reach the ground differently in each?
Why do you think the Eiffel Tower's arches and Sydney's pylons were built if they carry no load?
At the Hyatt Regency a small change in the shop drawings doubled the load on one connection. Who should have caught it, and how?
Ronan Point lost one wall panel and a whole corner fell. What does "an alternative load path" mean?

Teacher notes: good answers

1. Two bridges: Golden Gate: the deck hangs from hangers on cables in tension, which pass over towers in compression and are tied into anchorages on land. Sydney: the deck hangs from an arch in compression, which pushes down and outward into pin bearings at the abutments.
2. Non-structural parts: Appearance, public confidence, or another use. Both are good examples that the visible shape is not always the load path.
3. Hyatt Regency: The engineer of record should check every change to a connection or load path on shop drawings; a change in detail is a change in design.
4. Alternative path: If one member is lost, ties and other members can still carry the load around the gap, so the damage stays local instead of spreading.

Open Load Path Detective

Daily drill

Warm-up / about 3 to 5 min / new set every day

Three short steps on the Play home page: a Term of the Day card (tap to flip for the definition and why it matters), a five-question quiz with an explanation after each answer, and five Myth or Fact claims. The set is picked from the calendar date, so everyone who opens it on the same day gets the same term, questions and claims. It changes at midnight.

The pools cover 26 terms (truss, cantilever, base isolation, slump test, punching shear and others), 22 quiz questions and 16 myth claims, mixing structural ideas, concrete practice, permits and codes.

Discussion questions

Which question did most of the class miss? Read its explanation aloud and restate it in your own words.
Today's term: where could you see it in a building near the school?
Which myth surprised you, and where had you heard it before?

Open the daily drill

02 / LESSON PLANS

Three ready lessons

Each runs about 50 minutes and can be cut to 40 by shortening the discussion. Pairs work well: one builds, one records on the worksheet, then they swap.

Why triangles

Build It, Missions 1 to 3 / 50 min / worksheet Part A

Goal: students can explain why a truss uses triangles and which members are in tension and compression.

0 to 5Hook. Show a square and a triangle made of four and three strips (cardboard and paper fasteners, or rulers held at the corners). Push the corner of each. Ask why one leans and one does not.
5 to 10Demo Mission 1 on the projector. Show the dashed starter shape, the status line, and the truck test colours.
10 to 30Pairs play Missions 1, 2 and 3. After every test, record cost, stars, and which member failed and whether it was squeezed or stretched.
30 to 45Discussion with Build It questions 1 to 3. Put the cheapest passing cost for each mission on the board.
45 to 50Exit ticket: worksheet Part D, question 1.

Extension: Mission 4 for pairs who finish early, to set up the next lesson on choosing materials.

Wind vs earthquake

Engineer vs Nature / 50 to 60 min / worksheet Part B

Goal: students can describe how wind and earthquake loads differ and why bracing, ground floors and cable pairs matter.

0 to 5Ask: a typhoon and an earthquake both push a house sideways. What is different about them?
5 to 20Storms 1 and 2. Students note that the members near the supports work hardest.
20 to 30Storm 7, First Frame: the same idea standing up as a building. Every storey needs its own bracing.
30 to 45Quake storms: First Tremor, Heavy Roof and The Big One. Students record what changed compared with wind.
45 to 55Discussion with Engineer vs Nature questions 2, 3 and 5. Close by asking why the open ground floor in Storm 9 is risky in an earthquake.

Before class: students need Storm 1 passed before Quake 1 opens. That takes about five minutes, so it can open the lesson. Storm 7 opens only after Storms 1 to 6, so set those as homework if you want the building frame in class.

Read the code

Blueprint Detective / 45 to 50 min / worksheet Part C

Goal: students can read a dimensioned drawing, find the value that fails, and explain the requirement in their own words.

0 to 5Introduce the four codes: BP 344 (accessibility), PD 1096 (National Building Code), RA 9514 (Fire Code) and NSCP 2015 (structural). Who does each one protect?
5 to 20Each student plays one file of 10 cases alone and records every case on the worksheet.
20 to 32Pairs choose two cases either of them missed, read the citation, and explain the rule to each other.
32 to 45Discussion with Blueprint Detective questions 1 to 3.
45 to 50Homework: measure the riser height of one stair at school and compare it with the 200 mm limit from The Tall Steps. Report in millimetres.

03 / MORE WAYS TO USE IT

Short activities and class challenges

Daily Bridge

A Build It mode with one puzzle per day, the same for everyone, with a shareable result. Have the whole class solve the same day's bridge, then list costs on the board and look at how the cheapest one differs from the rest.

Sandbox mode

A Build It mode where students choose the span, height and truck load, with all three materials and no budget. Good for open questions: what happens to cost when the span doubles but the load stays the same?

Challenge a friend

After a pass, Build It can make a link that carries the bridge's cost and stars. The friend who opens it is asked to cross the same mission for less. Post one link in your class stream and see who beats it.

Bell-ringer

Open the daily drill at the start of class for three to five minutes. Same questions for everyone that day, so answers can be checked together.

04 / STUDENT WORKSHEET

Printable worksheet

Choose the parts you need, then print. The page prints only the worksheet, without the menu or teacher notes.

Include:

Part A: Build It Part B: Engineer vs Nature Part C: Blueprint Detective Part D: Reflection

AEDO Play worksheet

Build, test, and explain what happened. Write in full sentences where asked.

aedoconstruction.com/play

Name

Section

Date

Part A. Build It

Play Missions 1 to 3 (or the missions your teacher sets). After each passing test, fill one row. If a test fails, write which member gave way and whether it was squeezed (compression) or stretched (tension).

Mission	Cost (₱)	Stars	Failed tests	Member that failed first	Squeezed or stretched? Why?
1
2
3

Part B. Engineer vs Nature

Record each storm or quake storm you play. Note where the structure failed first: near the supports, mid-span, ground floor or upper floor.

Storm (number and name)	Cost (₱)	Stars	Where it failed first	What you changed to pass

Part C. Blueprint Detective

Play one file of 10 cases. For each case, write the code, the value that failed, and what the code asks for.

#	Case title	Code	Value that failed	What the code asks for	Right?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Part D. Reflection

1. Why do bridges and roof frames use triangles instead of squares?

2. Name one member that was squeezed and one that was stretched in your bridge. How did you know?

3. How is an earthquake load different from a wind load on the same building?

4. Choose one code rule from Part C. Who does it protect, and how?

AEDO Play games use simplified physics to build intuition. They are not design tools. Codes cited: BP 344 (2024 Revised IRR), PD 1096, RA 9514 (2019 Revised IRR), NSCP 2015.

05 / SCOPE AND SOURCES

What the games are, and are not

The games use simplified, game-scale physics for intuition. Build It and Engineer vs Nature solve a real pin-jointed truss, but the materials, capacities and costs are internally consistent game values, not real design figures. They are not design tools, and a passing structure in the game says nothing about a real one.

Blueprint Detective cites Philippine codes: BP 344 (2024 Revised IRR), PD 1096 National Building Code (2004 Revised IRR), RA 9514 Fire Code (2019 Revised IRR) and NSCP 2015. Cases are cut down for a quick read and drawings are not to scale. Codes are revised over time, so check the current official text before using a figure outside the classroom.

This pack fits physics and engineering-intro classes in general. It is not mapped to specific DepEd or CHED curriculum codes or competencies.

The site uses Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity for usage statistics, as on the rest of aedoconstruction.com. Students do not create accounts or enter names in the games.

Classroom pack

What each game teaches

Build It

Concepts in plain terms

Missions

Discussion questions

Engineer vs Nature

Concepts in plain terms

Storms

Discussion questions

Blueprint Detective

Concepts in plain terms

The 22 cases (what fails and what the code asks for)

Discussion questions

Load Path Detective

Concepts in plain terms

Discussion questions

Daily drill

Discussion questions

Three ready lessons

Why triangles

Wind vs earthquake

Read the code

Short activities and class challenges

Daily Bridge

Sandbox mode

Challenge a friend

Bell-ringer

Printable worksheet

AEDO Play worksheet

Part A. Build It

Part B. Engineer vs Nature

Part C. Blueprint Detective

Part D. Reflection

What the games are, and are not

Questions about a real building?