Ladybug Lunch Rush

Ladybug Lunch Rush

Ladybug Lunch Rush

Game design

2026

Ladybug Lunch Rush physical game board with red cover, green garden pieces, and illustrated cards
Ladybug Lunch Rush physical game board with red cover, green garden pieces, and illustrated cards

A preschool level board game about ladybugs as natural garden protectors, showing how they help control aphids that can damage crops without relying on pesticides that may harm nearby plant and animal life.

01 Research

Observed what children already understood about ladybugs, aphids, and garden life to set the learning baseline.

02 Game functions

Translated learning goals into turns, movement, rewards, obstacles, and a binary puzzle mechanic that tested as the right difficulty for preschoolers.

03 Physical + graphic system

Designed the board layout, tactile pieces, and visual language so the educational content stayed clear and entertaining during play.

RESEARCH WITH CARNEGIE MELLON PRESCHOOLERS

Finding the edge between too easy and too hard.

Finding the edge between too easy and too hard.

We used the classroom sessions with the Carnegie Mellon preschool was to understand children’s existing connections with gardens: which insects felt friendly, which felt harmful, and how much cause-and-effect they could track while playing. A central goal was to explain that ladybugs can protect plants by eating aphids, offering a safer natural role compared with pesticides that can affect local plants and animals.

We used the classroom sessions with the Carnegie Mellon preschool was to understand children’s existing connections with gardens: which insects felt friendly, which felt harmful, and how much cause-and-effect they could track while playing. A central goal was to explain that ladybugs can protect plants by eating aphids, offering a safer natural role compared with pesticides that can affect local plants and animals.

Children recognized ladybugs as familiar and friendly, but needed help connecting them to the garden’s food chain.

The binary puzzle element became a key discovery: it was simple enough to understand quickly, but challenging enough to feel satisfying for their age range.

Testing emphasized counting, matching, collecting, and simple movement as reliable mechanics for the age group.

Designing the functions of play.

Designing the functions of play.

Turns

Short turn cycles help children understand what just happened and what comes next.

Counting

Movement and collection were tuned to reinforce number recognition without slowing the table down.

Garden loop

Players connect ladybugs to plant health by removing aphids and protecting the garden path.

Reward

Progress is visible through collected food, safe plants, and a finished garden rather than a complex score.

Early sketch studies

Early hand sketch for Ladybug Lunch Rush showing game board route ideas

Early game function ideation

Early hand sketch exploring Ladybug Lunch Rush board proportions and garden layout

Board proportion tests

Early hand sketch exploring Ladybug Lunch Rush game pieces and visual system

Piece and icon direction

Turning rules into readable graphics.

Hexagonal path tile artwork with game instructions

Game Necklace

Plant and reward artwork strip for Ladybug Lunch Rush

Healthy Plant Cards

Wide garden artwork band with crops and ladybug play diagram

Pesticide infected Plant Cards

Crafting, blueprint, and final board

Final Prototype

Final blueprint layout for the Ladybug Lunch Rush game board

Final board blueprint

Ladybug Lunch Rush frames the ladybug as an active garden helper, not just a cute insect. The final experience combines research-informed difficulty, tactile play, board layout, and graphic clarity so preschoolers can understand how natural pest control supports crops while pesticides can put surrounding plant and animal life at risk.

Ladybug Lunch Rush frames the ladybug as an active garden helper, not just a cute insect. The final experience combines research-informed difficulty, tactile play, board layout, and graphic clarity so preschoolers can understand how natural pest control supports crops while pesticides can put surrounding plant and animal life at risk.

Next project

Rest — seating for shared spaces