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Create, Innovate, and Colabinate with the Co-Lab’s New Crafting Game!

By Alex Pieroni & Kelvin Bueno Gonzalez // August 28, 2024

Colabination is a game that introduces you to the Co-Lab's world of creativity and innovation. This game was designed by Co-Lab Student Developers to help Duke University students discover the Co-Lab Studio, a space with tools and resources for making, building, and creating. Colabination is here to make the Co-Lab Studio feel like your own creative playground.

Colabination is inspired by popular games like Little Alchemy 2 and Infinite Craft, where the fun lies in combining items to create new ones. But there's more to this game than creativity—it's also a guide to the tools in the Co-Lab Studio. Mixing and matching items, you’ll learn about real-life tools, such as sewing machines, Cricut machines, and soldering stations. It’s a playful and imaginative way to explore the resources offered at the Co-Lab.

In Colabination, you start with essential items and combine them to make new, sometimes unexpected, creations. It begins with simple combinations. For example, combining a card and wood creates a book, but mixing a doll with a dining table makes a family! It's a fun, low-pressure way to learn about what’s available and start thinking about how you might use these tools for your projects.       

The game starts with a tutorial introducing the players to the mechanics, picking the starting items up from the floor, and using the introductory tools to get a feel for how the game works. Once a player finishes the tutorial, they can explore the 99 craftable items. 66 of those items can be used to create other items in the game, such as a Cauldron, the Mona Lisa, or a Stoplight! 

While 66 items can be used to explore item trees further, 33 are “final items,” meaning they can’t be used to build other items. You can access all of your achievements in the documentation station. 

A new tool is unlocked for every 10 new craftable items that the player makes. After unlocking all tools, the player gains access to a mystery object and a fun Corgi companion––play the game to discover the mystery object!

Get ready to mix, match, and make your way through the Co-Lab Studio—your next great idea could be just a combination away!

Play now!