Buy a Bowling Alley with Spare Change

A miniature, desktop-sized bowling alley might conjure up thoughts of a shoddy Sharper Image gift given by a well-intentioned individual that had no idea what to get you. And that is exactly what a typical miniature bowling set is — something that looks good in the box, but that is completely unusable in reality. The miniature bowling alley built by Danny Lum, on the other hand, is a beautiful and fully functional work of art that provides an authentic bowling experience, only smaller.

Lum’s Mini Tabletop Bowling has got it all — a real mechanical pinsetter, ball return, camera-based scoring, and animated LEDs. The bulk of the setup is 3D printed, with some supporting electronics that are Arduino-compatible to handle the movement and scoring system. All you have to supply is the perfect follow through and body English.

Well, that… and a whole lot of elbow grease. Unlike typical Kickstarter campaigns, this one does not deliver a completed product, or even a kit full of parts to assemble. In this case, you get a batch of STL files to 3D print the parts for yourself, along with instructions and a list of the electronic components you will need.

As such, you will need a good-quality 3D printer with a sufficient build volume, and at least some basic skills in electronics to bring this little bowling alley to life. Rewards start at $75, which may seem steep for a digital-only product, but given how much work would have gone into a design like this, it is actually pretty reasonable.

If you want to play a game of ten-pin bowling on your desk, head on over to the Kickstarter page for more details.