My board game nights are filled with distraction. What I'd like to do it have 5 or 6 wireless, colored buttons in everyone's spot. When you press the button the light for the next player on a central unit lights up, or the next player's button does. To remind people whose turn it is. I'm new to this and willing to learn what I need to. I can 3d print the custom bodies for everything. What I need to know is what hardware I need to do this? Obviously, each button has to have some sort of indicator to transmit so they know what's next or what has been pressed. I figured a transmitter, and possibly a receiver, in each button with some sort of receiver with an arduino to register the color button and contain the number of players as it would change game over game.
Assuming the same overall topology as what you're describing (i.e. one central unit and N peripheral units), I'd use 7x ESP32 boards, one to serve as the base station and the rest to serve as the peripheral stations. You'd connect batteries to each one, and an LED. On the central unit, you'd connect whatever sort of display you want (i.e. an array of LEDs, or a screen). You'd need an on-off switch as well.
The expensive, easy way to do this is to use an ESP32 devkit for each unit:
Slightly less expensive, slightly more difficult central unit would be:
I'd use ESPNow to connect each of these units. It's built-in to all of these boards and is very easy to set up.
Now, I do not know if the system you're proposing is any better than passing a 3d printed token to denote whose turn it is. But it would be fun to build even if it is not fit for purpose!
BTW if I were doing this and if the turns were timed, I'd personally wonder if passing a single object with a button to reset a turn timer and LED lights to encourage play might not be a more effective, cheaper, simpler approach! Good luck!
I appreciate your help. We've tried passing a first-player token around. It seems to forget to be done. I figure a flashing light is a better reminder. And it would be a fun project. Might add a timer function as well but that's more of an afterthought based on what you said.
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