Gamer uses Lego and Arduino board to farm in free-to-play game

An Englishman has built a system from Lego Technic and a small controller that plays the free-to-play iPad game Jurassic Park: Builder for him. With the device, he earns the maximum amount of in-game money without paying extra.

Uli Kilian, a 3D animation maker from London, came up with the system because he was too busy with work and caring for his son. “I’d never made anything in the real world either. Just 3D models,” he tells Wired. The device works with a number of wheels and an arm made of Lego Technic. At the end of that arm is a ‘finger’ wrapped in aluminum foil that is connected to the ground terminal of the mechanism. As a result, the iPad’s touchscreen believes it’s a real finger. “I haven’t played with Lego since I was eight years old. I’ve never played with Lego Technic at all,” Kilian says.

Connected to the Lego mechanism is an Arduino board and a Windows laptop. These ensure that the iPad shifts in such a way that the right dinosaur is tapped on the screen at the right time. The tap cycle lasts exactly five minutes. For this application, Kilian has listed all his dinosaurs for easy finger access. With this system, he earns the largest possible amount of in-game money without having to pay real money for it.