The Tactile Carnival

The Tactile Carnival The Tactile Carnival is an entertainment service for the deaf-blind and a trademark of Scott Stoffel

The Tactile Carnival features a large variety of original carnival games and prizes that are fully accessible to the deaf-blind. Organizations wishing to host the Tactile Carnival pay for transport and prize costs and any extras (such as food) they want at the event. However, the carnival itself does not charge admission from those attending. The hosting organization may choose to charge admission

in order to raise funds for its own purposes. The host can select from available games and request a specific theme for the event. New original games or modifications of existing games can be made to fit themes. Because the Tactile Carnival operates like a nonprofit (only requiring cost reimbursement), game booths are run mainly by volunteers during events. The host organization is expected to provide a suitable site and (usually) some volunteers to help run booths. Volunteers are coached before an event begins and provided with instruction guides for their booths.

07/18/2024

I finally finished redesigning the Star Trek game. Version 3.1 is easier to play, simpler rules. I made a tactile spinner for this space battles. You can put your finger on the stationary pointer and spin the wheel. When it stops, just move your finger onto the wheel and feel whether the spot is empty or has raised symbols in it. That tells you whether you scored a hit or took one. The cards are different but still tactile.

06/13/2022

I had to decline a TC event in Virginia this month, too far away. That was a disability aid education/awareness event. Without Pops, my ranger is very limited. In spite of everything, the Tactile Carnival isn’t officially dead yet. Still developing new tactile games and redesigning old ones.

Latest project was redesigning Stock Market Madness. The original wasn’t tactile enough. New version is totally tactile. Includes four pairs of tactile dice, each with its own dice drop tower and tray to keep them separate. The dice determine whether stock categories go up or down and by how much. The stock point value board has a big tactile bump beneath each spot, making it easy to slide the magnetic markers on the rows. The markers are different sizes: higher risk means taller marker for easy distinction. Instead of share certificates, I switched to shar e tokens. Each token as a different shape: circle, rectangle, pentagon and hexagon. The more corners the token has, the higher the risk for that type of stock. Makes it easy to remember which is which. Also aided trend clue cards. And it all fits neatly in a tray to keep that organized, except for the point value board, which the player can move around. It’s a better game than the original and loads more tactile.

08/03/2021

I just finished building the latest TC game, Rocky Mountain's Pachinko. Been working on it for a while. It's about the size of a pinball machine. Kind of looks like one, too. It has lots of metal pins and six pockets. The pockets are about 3 inches wide and placed at different elevations up the slanted board. On the right side is an empty alley about 5 inches wide. You get 10 miniature billiard balls about the size of golf balls. You roll the balls up the alley, and they bounce around as they come down from the top. If you put your hand on the side rail, you can feel the ball hitting the pins. Billiard balls are hard and heavy, so you can really feel the impacts. When you don't feel any more movement, we checked the pockets and the gutter at the bottom to see or feel where the ball ended up. Each pocket can hold two balls. You get a point for every ball in a pocket. If you have at least one ball in all six pockets, you get a bonus for climbing the mountain. There is a mountain ridge with snowcaps on the backdrop for sighted folks. I might add some 3-D pine trees for a tactile accent. Could get some pine scent, too. The game is totally blind-accessible. Will probably require sighted players wear a blindfold.

Introducing Baseball Slam Touch, a long overdue addition to the Tactile Carnival. This variation of traditional basebal...
11/06/2020

Introducing Baseball Slam Touch, a long overdue addition to the Tactile Carnival. This variation of traditional baseball concepts is designed for one player and his totally tactile. The large game platform is tilted to just enough that the realistic miniature baseball will roll toward the bottom wall. The baseball diamond occupies the lower-left section of the platform, with plate near the corner, first base directly to the right, second base straight up from first and third is left of second. The bases are tactile/the player gets 12 cubes, which are base runners. To start, a cube is placed on home plate. The player must hit the ball into the diamond, instead of out. The swivel bat is on the right side of the platform in the outfield area. There is a pitch bar just above the bat turntable. The player will place the ball anywhere warn the pitch bar. The position of the ball determines the angle at which the bat will hit it. To bat, the player just needs to tap the handle of the swivel bat. It moves very easily. Achy to the game is putting just the right touch on the bat. Hitting hard will cause the ball to bounce off the left wall and add up falling to the right of the wedge in the middle of the box and wall. That area is marked by a glove holding a ball, which means the base runner on home plate is out. It takes a gentle, precise touch to bat effectively. When a base runner is out, the cube is placed in the Out Circle in the lower-right corner. If the ball goes to the bottom wall to the left of the wedge, marked by a baseball, it’s a single hit. When a single hit occurs, all base runners currently on bases advance one base. Cubes that make it back to home plate are placed in the Dugout in the lower-left corner and count 2 carnival points each. There are four pocket areas along the left wall above the Dugout. If the ball goes into one these, it’s a double hit, triple hit, home run or out (from bottom to top) has marked by tactile icons. The player must take care to avoid hitting active base runners with the ball. If a cube is knocked off base, that base runner is out. This adds an element of strategy. For example, if there is a cube on third base, aiming for the home run could result in the ball hitting the lip of the pocket, which is wide and falling toward third base, so it might be better to “bunt” and settle for a single to get a score. The game continues until all 12 cubes are in the Dugout and/or Out Circle.

01/29/2020

New TC game: Keno-Bingo Bones is two games in one and 100% tactile. Your bingo and mini keno cards are side-by-side peg grids with easy-tofeel border dots. The pegs are big and spaced 1 inch apart for easy placement/removal. Two tactile dice, one large and one small, are used to determine across and up positions. Depending on the numbers rolled, you either move a peg from your keno card to the score box, place a peg on your bingo card or add a peg to the strike box. It’s a fast-paced variation of two classic games combined. One or two people can play.

Introducing Hockey-Pong, the Tactile Carnival’s first continuous-action, totally tactile game. It combines elements of ...
04/20/2019

Introducing Hockey-Pong, the Tactile Carnival’s first continuous-action, totally tactile game. It combines elements of air hockey and video pong. The player holds the 12-inch bar paddle with both hands and tries to knock the ball into one of the two score gaps at the top. If the player misses the goals, the ball will come back down. You can feel the ball rolling and hitting the paddle. When you feel it hit the paddle, you shove it back up at the goals. There are two squares in front of your own goal that are exactly opposite the score gaps, to give you tactile guidance. If the ball the hits the bottom wall, your “opponent” scores. There is a tactile scoreboard on the right side. Six points wins. I love this one.

03/08/2019

TC upgrade season continues. Reverse Bowling now has pins. When you get a ball in one of the holes, you place the pin/cup in the hole over the ball. The pin/cup becomes a bumper and will deflect other balls. They can’t fall over, because they are anchored in the holes. The balls don’t get stuck like they used to. The game is more fun with the pins and a little bit easier.

The tactile car racing game got another makeover. The dice were boring, so I built a fun game wheel that has a real st...
03/06/2019

The tactile car racing game got another makeover. The dice were boring, so I built a fun game wheel that has a real steering wheel mounted over it. You just grab the steering wheel and spin. This is the coolest thing since spreadable cream cheese. There are tactile markings near the edge of the pie slices, which can be easily reached by putting your fingers under the steering wheel rim.

Here’s a look at Quest for Dragon Gold. (Sorry about the wrench on the table.) The medieval fantasy realm has three se...
02/20/2019

Here’s a look at Quest for Dragon Gold. (Sorry about the wrench on the table.) The medieval fantasy realm has three sections the player can explore by following the paths marked by black circles. You turn over the circle tiles as you advance from the bottom to the top, where a monster and a treasure chest await. Turning over a tile can produce new walls, dragons, actions by the fairy or earn the player a special object. From left, the areas are: Twin River Stone Bridge, Castle Ruins and the Labyrinth. There are two different ways to get to the treasure in the Castle Ruins. The last picture shows the figures used in the game for tactile effect: these include a ladder, sword, shield, magic cage, catapult and water can (not visible). The fairy is next to those objects, and then the knights to the right. The monsters are at the top (griffin, gargoyle, dragon, phoenix and nanticore). There is also the game wheel to resolve battles.

01/18/2019

Just when you thought the world was safe, the Tactile Carnival comes back to haunt you. Coming soon: Quest for Dragon Gold. It’s a medieval adventure game, featuring knights, dragons and other mythical creatures. Lead your knights on a day trip to three monster lairs in search treasure before daylight savings time runs out. Pick up magical objects, such as the Watering Can of Wisedumb, that help you defeat the evil creatures. If you come across the Good Fairy, be careful what you wish for—she doesn’t like wise-guys. About that, I will finish building the game as soon as I figure out how to un-turn myself into a frog.

09/30/2018

I successfully rebuilt the damaged Bingo Ball game. Now I'm refurbishing Monster Manor.

Introducing Football Finale. It's late in the fourth quarter, and the other team just scored. Your team takes the kick...
09/17/2018

Introducing Football Finale. It's late in the fourth quarter, and the other team just scored. Your team takes the kickoff it gets one drive. There's no tomorrow, so forget punting. You call the all offense plays; defense plays can be called by a second person or randomly twit a special die. The player then rolls the five offense dice, which show either a tactile football or a blank. And the defense rolls a single defense die. The results are applied to a chart for the outcome. The game includes a 31-inch fully detailed field, goal posts, mini football, rotating down counter, first-down markers and custom tactile dice.

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Lansdale, PA
19446

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