I think we all know the meaning of pocket (wikipedia and others):

“a small bag sewn into or on clothing so as to form part of it, used for carrying small articles”.

“a shaped piece of fabric attached inside or outside a garment and forming a pouch used especially for carrying small articles”.

According to the slogans of the "pocket contest" (2020):

“Do something small that can fit inside your typical pants pocket.”

“If you can't keep it in a typical pocket, it's too big. Impress with your small-scale creative skills…”

"Everything is made up"... I told myself.

Really?

Step 1: The Idea

The first thing that crossed my mind was “tools", I also thought about “wallets” ...

I thought about measurements: “they should not be superior to a credit card…” ...

There are many things the size of a credit card: the beautiful model of the Swiss brand Vitorinox, multi-tools with screwdrivers and hexagon wrenches even minalistic cell phones funding platform (light 1 and light 2):

https://www.victorinox.com/global/en/Products/Swis...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Multi-Tool-Card-Gadget-Wa...

https://www.thelightphone.com/

And games ? why not ?

Somehow my idea is related to a line of mechanical toys from the 80s."poketeers" or "tomy pocket" from when I was a boy.

These minigames were the passion of a whole generation , and it was a few years before the first personal computers (Atari, Sinclair, Texas Instruments, Commodore and others) appeared.

If you are interested or are from that generation you will love to see this page:

http://www.planetbuilders.co.uk/ian/pocketeers/ind...

Up to here I already had only a plan ...

let's go further!

Step 2: About Credit Cards and Board Games

Credit cards:

The concept of using a card for purchases was described in 1887 by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel Looking Backward. Bellamy used the term credit card eleven times in this novel, although this referred to a card for spending a citizen's dividend from the government, rather than borrowing, making it more similar to a debit card.

Charge coins and other similar items were used from the late 19th century to the 1930s. They came in various shapes and sizes; with materials made out of celluloid (an early type of plastic), copper, aluminum, steel, and other types of whitish metals.

The Charga-Plate, developed in 1928, was an early predecessor of the credit card and was used in the U.S. from the 1930s to the late 1950s.

The concept of customers paying different merchants using the same card was expanded in 1950 by Ralph Schneider and Frank McNamara, founders of Diners Club, to consolidate multiple cards.

From that time to date, the use of credit cards became universal.

Games:

Chess:

The two-player strategy board game called “chess” is believed to be derived from the Indian game chaturanga sometime before the 7th century. Chaturanga is also the likely ancestor of the East Asian strategy games xiangqi (Chinese chess), janggi (Korean chess), and shogi (Japanese chess). Chess reached Europe by the 9th century, due to the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. The pieces assumed their current properties in Spain in the late 15th century, and the modern rules were standardized in the 19th century.

Ludo:

The two-player strategy board game called “Ludo” is derived from the Indian game Pachisi, but simpler. The game and its variations are popular in many countries and under various names. Pachisi was created in India in the 6th century. Pachisi was modified to use a cubic die with dice cup and patented as "Ludo" in England in 1896. In North America, the game is sold under the brand name Parcheesi. Variations of the game are sold under the brand names Sorry! and Trouble.

Maze:

The first recorded “maze” in history was the Egyptian Labyrinth. Herodotus, a Greek traveler and writer, visited the Egyptian Labyrinth in the 5th century, BC. The building was located just above Lake Moeris and opposite the city of the crocodiles (Crocodilopolis). Certainly the most famous labyrinth of all time is that associated with the Greek myth of Thesesus and the Minotaur. There is a lot of type of maze: Unicursal, Multicursal, Blind Alley, Island of the maze, Theta, Braid Maze, Perfect Maze, Delta Maze and Plainair Maze.

15 Puzzle:

The “classic 15 Puzzle” shown above was "invented" by Noyes Palmer Chapman around 1874. Over the years there have been many variations on the original, with colored blocks, jumbled pictures, variously sized grids, etc.. I have fond memories of playing with the 15 Puzzle and some of the variants growing up.

Source/Photos:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/scachs-damor-poem-pa...

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00glo...

https://divisbyzero.com/2011/03/01/a-picture-of-fr...

http://www.unmuseum.com/maze.htm

https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-afr...

Step 3: Tools & Parts

Tools:

3D printer (*)

Parts:

PLA filament (colors: white, black, red, green, yellow and blue).(**)
32 Neodymium Magnets Ø5x1mm
1 carbon steel ball diameter 1,5/2 mm.
Acrylic
Sandpaper.
Contact adhesive.

(*) if you don't have it you can order the printing at a store ;)

(**) I have chosen classic colors, but you can choose others if you prefer.

Step 4: Step 4: Design

The size of most credit cards is 85.60 by 53.98 millimetres (3 3⁄8 in × 2 1⁄8 in) and rounded corners with a radius of 2.88–3.48 millimetres (9⁄80–11⁄80 in) conforming to the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 standard, the same size as ATM cards and other payment cards, such as debit cards.

With those dimensions I made a sketch before moving on to a more definitive design stage. I put two games on each side. Originally I thought of combining wood and 3d prints. But I decided on plastic given the small dimensions of the whole in general. I also thought that this would be easier for others to do.

The final design was made in FUSION 360.

For the chess pieces I used the “Minimal Look Chess Set” by FunFunBoy:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2552392

For the maze I used the design “Tiny 4-Ball Maze” by by profhankd:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2552392

For the sliding puzzle, I saw the instructable “Magnetic Slider Puzzles” by By megardi and pick up your idea of using neodymium magnets to hold the pieces.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Magnetic-Slider-P...

Step 5: 3d Print Parts

All 3D printed parts in this proyect are very simple, but given the small dimensions, the printing parameters must be adjusted very appropriately to obtain a good result. It depends on the accuracy of your 3D printer and your own experience.

If you do the project, you never imagined having to print such small pieces! :)

I printed with PLA:

Layer Height 0.12 mm.
Infill Density 40%.
Print speed 25 mm/s.
Built Plate adhesión.
With zig-zag support.

Make sure to put them in the proper orientation to avoid removing a lot of support material and also be sure you are able to remove it.

Be careful while post-processing those parts, PLA it's easy to break them. You may also need to sand ridges and protruding material.

Here a summary of all pieces:

Main base piece #01
Sliding caps #02
Chess cubes #03 #04
Lude cubes #05 #06 #07 #08 #09 #10
Chess pieces #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #21 #22
Ludo pieces (dice included) #23 #24 #25 #26 #27
Slide puzzle pieces #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39 #40 #41 #42 #43

In addition there is a complete LIST OF PARTS.

Step 6: Assembly

This is a great moment...

First of all, put the sliding caps #2 into the main base #1

Chess:

With the help of a small twezzer, put contact adhesive on the pieces #3 y #4 and stick them on the base #1 as seen in the photo (assembly scheme).

The white and black cubes with holes they are used to position the pieces from their bottom.

To play Chess order the pieces according to the rules.

https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess

Ludo:

With the help of a small twezzer, apply contact adhesive with the help of a small twezzer, put contact glue on the pieces on pieces #05 #06 #07 #08 #09 #10 and stick them on the base quadrant as seen in the photo (assembly scheme).

The white, red, yellow, green and blue cubes with holes, are used to position the pieces from their bottom.

To play Ludo order the pieces according to the rules.

https://www.mastersofgames.com/rules/ludo-rules-in...

Slide Puzzle:

I inserted 16 of the 5 mm magnets #42 into the Main Base holes #1. I used a small amount of contact adhesive to hold them in place securely.

Make sure that the magnets as they sit all have the same polarity, and that they are seated into to the holes level or just a little below the lip of the hole.

Once the magnets are glued, place the piece #43 (base gasket) on top of them.

Be sure to install the gasket with the smooth first layer side facing up. This will ensure that number pieces slide smoothly along it's surface.

Install one of the 5 mm magnets #42 into each of the 15 number tiles. Use a bit of contact adhesive if necessary to securely hold them.

To play see this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliding_puzzle

Maze:

Put the steel ball #44 into the maze. Place a thin layer of acrylic or clear plastic on top of it (piece #46).

Step 7: Upgrades

There are lots of things that can be improved on this project.

Here are a fewones that I have in mind (for now):

To make the Project combining wooden (cnc cut out) and plastic.
To add others sides with mechanical games like pinball, etc.
To make two sides separately and that can be mechanically joined and disjoined so that the games are interchangeable.
I'll also look for an improvement for chess boards and ludo: trying to avoid individual "cubes" will be my goal.

If you think of something to improve write me! I will love it.