The objects on offer vary greatly in size, from a Ferris wheel to small wooden objects. Designed as educational tools, they aim to showcase human know-how. Some belong to a project approved by the Éducation nationale and have even been installed in middle and high schools to encourage students to think about energy.
Among the objects presented at the latest Culture et jeux mathématiques fair, we selected the cooperative games. In the “marble mazes” (see photo), players guide a marble to a designated point along courses of varying difficulty. Covering the solar cells makes the board tilt one way or the other, thereby steering the marble. In Hélioflip, marbles reaching the center must be sent back into the opposing teams’ zones by propellers that spin in either direction. These are controlled by solar panels that the players can choose whether or not to cover.
