16x2 Arcade Execution: Arduino LCD Game

You have played the Google Chrome "No Internet Dinosaur" game. The Arduino LCD Video Game project mathematically forces that entire, fast-paced side-scrolling video game directly into the agonizingly restrictive 32-character buffer of a standard 16x2 I2C LCD screen, requiring intense custom character creation and high-speed string modification.

Carving Custom Glyphs (Binary Byte Arrays)

The standard LCD font doesn't have a picture of a "Running Man" or a "Cactus." You must literally draw them pixel-by-pixel using binary.

1. The 16x2 LCD supports up to 8 custom characters stored in its tiny CGRAM.
2. You define the 5x8 pixel grid in pure C++ bytes:

byte runner[8] = {
  B01110,
  B01110,
  B00100,
  B11111,
  B00100,
  B01010,
  B01010,
  B10001
};
lcd.createChar(0, runner); // Burns the drawing into the LCD memory!

The Side-Scrolling Array Engine

The video game illusion is purely a shifting string sequence.

• The Obstacles: The Arduino generates a massive hidden string (e.g., X X X X).
• During the loop(), the code forces the string to physically shift one space to the left every 100 milliseconds using substring(1).
• The Player Physics (Interrupts): The player character is always locked at Column 2.
• if (digitalRead(jumpButton) == LOW) { playerRow = 0; } (The player instantly jumps to the top row!)
• Collision Detection: if (obstacleString.charAt(2) == 'X' && playerRow == 1) -> The deadly cactus violently hits the player on the bottom row! Game Over!

Gaming Hardware Needs

• Arduino Uno/Nano (Standard architecture).
• 16x2 Character LCD Display with I2C Backpack (I2C reduces the wiring from 16 confusing parallel pins down to just 4 simple jumper wires!).
• A highly responsive Arcade Tactile Push Button.
• A Passive Piezo Buzzer to play jumping sound effects and the final crash noise!