Games: Overview

Updated Last week · 3 min readBeginner

The Games step adds quick, interactive mini-games into your FMX workflow. Guests play a short game as part of their journey, turning waiting time into fun, branded time. Games currently supports two built-in games: 3 Shell Game and Tic Tac Toe.

What Is the Games Step?

A Games step is a feature step that runs a mini-game full screen inside FMX and then returns guests to the rest of the flow.

Games node with the game selection dropdown visible
Select the Games node and choose the required built-in game from the settings panel before connecting the next step.

From the workflow point of view, Games:

  • Loads one of the built-in games you select: 3 Shell Game or Tic Tac Toe
  • Shows the game full-screen when the workflow reaches the Games step
  • Lets guests play until the game reaches its natural end
  • Automatically continues to the next step when the game is finished
  • Can be exited early by the operator using FMX's operator controls if needed (for example, if time is short)

From the guest's point of view:

  • They see a game appear in place of the usual photo or video screen
  • They play one quick round of the game
  • When the round is over and the result is shown, the experience automatically moves on

Game Types

  • 3 Shell Game: A short, luck-based game built from a fixed sequence of animations. Guests watch three cups shuffle, then tap the one they think hides the object. The game plays a reveal animation (win or lose) and then ends. The whole round lasts only a few seconds and always moves forward when the reveal is done.
  • Tic Tac Toe: A classic 3×3 grid game. Guests take turns placing marks on the board against the built-in opponent. The game detects a win, a loss, or a draw, shows a brief result overlay, and then returns to the workflow.

There is no complex configuration inside the Games step itself: you simply choose which game to run and place the step where you want the game to appear.

When Should You Use Games?

Use a Games step when you want the guest to interact instead of just waiting on a static screen.

Typical reasons:

  • Keep guests busy while AI or cloud processing runs in the background
  • Warm guests up before standing in front of the camera
  • Add a playful moment to a branded experience
  • Turn an idle station into a simple game attraction

Games work especially well:

  • Before capture: a short icebreaker to relax guests
  • Between slower steps: such as AI effects, uploads, or video processing
  • As a light standalone activity: when you want a simple game without photos

How Games Fit in the Workflow

A game step is a regular step in your FMX workflows. You add and connect it to the canvas like any other step.

Typical setup:

  • Select Games in the Steps Library
  • Choose which game to load: 3 Shell Game or Tic Tac Toe
  • Place the Games step before or after other steps, depending on when you want guests to play
  • Connect it to the next step in the journey (for example, Capture, AI, Preview, or Print)

When the workflow reaches the Games step:

  • FMX opens the selected game full-screen
  • Guests play one round until the game ends
  • The result is shown briefly (for example, win/lose in Shell Game or Tic Tac Toe)
  • The workflow automatically continues to the next step you connected to

Examples:

  • Welcome → Games (Tic Tac Toe) → Capture → Preview → Print
  • Capture → Games (3 Shell Game) → AI Effect → Preview
  • Games (Tic Tac Toe) → Thank You / Session End

In practice, Games acts as a short, fun stop inside your experience, without changing the overall structure of the flow.

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