Aurdino game

🎮 Boy-Run — Arduino LCD Endless Runner Game

A retro-style endless runner game built with Arduino Uno and a 16×2 LCD Display. Jump over obstacles, beat your high score, and watch the speed ramp up!

📖 About The Project

Boy-Run is a fun, retro-style endless runner game that runs entirely on an Arduino Uno with a 16×2 LCD screen. A custom pixel-art boy character sprints across the bottom row of the LCD, and the player must time their jumps to dodge incoming brick obstacles.

As your score climbs, the game speeds up — making each jump more challenging than the last. One wrong move and it's Game Over!

✨ Key Features

🔧 Components Required

🔌 Circuit & Pin Configuration

The LCD is connected in 4-bit mode to save Arduino pins:

Push Button → Connected to Pin 2 (uses INPUT_PULLUP, so no external pull-up resistor needed)

📸 Circuit Images

🕹️ How To Play

1. 🔌 Power Up    →  Connect the Arduino to USB or external power
2. 🟢 Start       →  LCD shows "Start Game — Press Button!"
3. 🏃 Run         →  The boy character starts running on the bottom row
4. ⬆️ Jump        →  Press the Push Button to jump over incoming bricks
5. 💀 Game Over   →  If the boy collides with a brick, your score is shown
6. 🔁 Restart     →  Press the button again or hit Arduino's Reset button

🎯 Pro Tips

• Timing is everything — press the button just before the brick reaches you
• The boy stays in the air for 3 game cycles, so don't jump too early!
• Speed increases with every obstacle cleared — stay focused at higher scores

🧠 How It Works (Code Logic)

The game's lifecycle is divided into four main phases, executed sequentially on the microcontroller:

1. Initialization (setup)

   • The LiquidCrystal library initializes the 16×2 LCD screen.
   • Custom 5x8 pixel glyphs (the boy character's running frames, jumping frame, and the obstacle brick) are uploaded to the LCD's CGRAM using lcd.createChar().
   • The jump button pin (Pin 2) is configured with INPUT_PULLUP to eliminate the need for external pull-up resistors.

2. Start Screen (Idle State)

   • The LCD displays a splash screen: Boy-Run / Press Button!.
   • The micro-controller executes a simple loop waiting for Pin 2 to detect a button press (signal pulls LOW).

3. Active Game Loop During active play, the game updates once per frame (governed by the dynamic delay duration):

   • Read Input: The system polls Pin 2. If the button is pressed and the boy is on the ground, a jump is initiated.
   • Update Positions:
     • The Boy: The character's state updates. If jumping, the boy is rendered on the top row of the LCD and stays in the air for 3 frame cycles before gravity pulls him back. If on the ground, the running animation toggles between two frames.
     • The Obstacles: Brick obstacles spawn on the far right (column 15) and move one column to the left in every frame.
   • Collision Check: The game checks if the boy's row/column matches the obstacle's row/column. If a match is found, it triggers a collision.
   • Scoring & Speed Ramp: If the obstacle safely reaches the left-most column (column 0) without collision, the player's score increases by +1. Every point decreases the frame delay by 20ms (starting at 400ms down to a minimum threshold of 100ms), gradually increasing the difficulty.

4. Game Over & Restart

   • Upon collision, the game pauses, clears the screen, and displays a Game Over! message with the final score.
   • It waits for a button press to clear all states, reset the score and speed to default, and restart the game.

Speed Progression

📂 Folder Structure

aurdino_game/
│
├── 📁 firmware/                        # Source code & component data
│   ├── game_in_c.ino                   # Main Arduino sketch (game logic)
│   └── component_list.csv              # Bill of materials (BOM)
│
├── 📁 hardware/                        # KiCad PCB design files
│   ├── aurdino_game.kicad_sch          # Schematic file
│   ├── aurdino_game.kicad_pcb          # PCB layout file
│   └── aurdino_game.kicad_pro          # KiCad project file
│
├── 📁 images_&_video/                  # Project media & documentation
│   ├── circuit_view.jpg                # Breadboard circuit photo
│   ├── game_video.mp4                  # Gameplay demo video
│   └── *.jpeg                          # Additional project images
│
└── README.md                           # You are here! 📍

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Arduino IDE (v1.8+ or v2.x)
• LiquidCrystal library (comes pre-installed with Arduino IDE)
• KiCad (optional — only needed to view/edit PCB designs)

Upload the Game

1. Open `firmware/game_in_c.ino` in Arduino IDE
2. Select Board → "Arduino Uno"
3. Select the correct COM Port
4. Click Upload ▶️
5. Play! 🎮

🛠️ Built With

📜 License

This project is open source and available for educational purposes. Feel free to modify, learn from, and share it!

Made with ❤️ and an Arduino Uno