This talk was recorded at Scala Days New York, 2016. Follow along on Twitter @scaladays and on the website for more information http://scaladays.org/. Abstract: Learning the concepts of Distributed Systems can be confusing: What is cluster membership? What is a partition, and what happens to the system when it occurs? How do we scale up a system safely? What happens when you bring down a node with a baseball bat? Raspberry Pi's provide an excellent mechanism to answer these questions - they are visible, tactile, portable and cheap. Akka makes building and running distributed systems a breeze. This presentation will demonstrate a physical model of a distributed system using Akka and Raspberry Pi’s, with a gamified explanation of High Availability, Cluster Management, Gossip protocols, and Leader Election.