After four weeks of research, brainstorming, field trips, and presentations, it was time to get our hands dirty and actually build something. The Quarter feedback was clear: we had a solid concept, but concepts don’t make teenagers go “wow.” Playable demos do.

So we started with the hardest question first: what is the core mechanic of this experience?

When you list everything on the table, it’s actually a little overwhelming. We had

• experiments and puzzle-solving.
• LLM conversations between Priestley and the player.
• Cooperative gameplay where Priestley and the player work together through AI dialogue.
• The idea of playing pranks on Priestley (which sounds like exactly what a 14-year-old would want to do to an 18th-century scientist).
• Physical props that turn the whole thing into a real location-based experience.

Any one of these could be the star of the show, but trying to do all of them equally well is a recipe for doing none of them well. We needed to find the heart of the experience and build outward from there.

We decided to start with the experiment. Why? Because our clients had one clear ask that kept coming back: “Let the audience know what was the significance of his work in Chemistry.” Priestley’s discoveries in chemistry are genuinely remarkable, the man basically invented soda water and discovered oxygen, but let’s be real: telling a teenager “now let’s learn about 18th-century gas absorption” is a surefire way to lose them in about three seconds.

So the question became: how do you make a tedious experiment entertaining?

Our answer came in three layers. First, visual feedback: when you pick the wrong acid or use too much water, the experiment doesn’t just “fail” with a boring error message. It reacts. Things fizz wrong, bubble over, or produce something hilariously unexpected. Second, sound effects: every squeeze of the bladder, every shake of the vessel, every chemical reaction gets audio feedback that makes the whole thing feel alive and responsive. Third, cool mechanics: we’re not asking players to read a textbook. They’re selecting ingredients, grinding chalk, squeezing bladders with the right rhythm, and shaking vessels to dissolve gas into water. Their hands become Priestley’s hands, recreating history through action rather than instruction.

The carbonated water experiment turned out to be the perfect starting point. The concept is immediately relatable (everyone knows what sparkling water is), the process involves satisfying physical actions, and the outcomes are variable enough to be genuinely entertaining. What happens when you carbonate chili water? Priestley has… opinions about that. What about milk? He’s confused but intrigued. The “wrong” answers aren’t failures: they’re some of the most entertaining moments in the experience.

This week taught us something crucial: when you have too many ideas, the fastest way forward isn’t another brainstorming session. It’s picking the most promising one and building it until you can put it in someone’s hands. Everything else, the pranks, the deeper conversations, the physical props, those can layer on top once the foundation is solid.

Check the demo on this link to learn more of our progress on it.

Also, check out our final design production at the media page!