Welcome to The Land of Anticipation, Timed Tactics And Gruelling Abstruseness. Attaga is a country with 40 cities and villages with a strong need for a fast, reliable and high comfort railway network. The inhabitants happiness depends on you! This railway strategy game will guide you through the process of decision-making while building your own rail network, operating it & keeping it maintained. 
 

Cities have to be connected in an ever-changing setting, and you will need to deal with wear, capacity, developments and disturbances. The performance of your railway system over time is based on choices and priorities made and set by you as the player, within an increasingly complex situation.

Summary

The problem
Explaining the complexities & interconnected aspects of the rail system can be challenging. We want to challenge students to figure out the difficulties in a playful & challenging way.

The goals

• Develop an immersive simulation to enhance understanding of the rail grid network, surpassing traditional lectures.
  
• Optimize lecturer efficiency by transitioning from in-class explanations to deeper dives post-gameplay, maximizing impact.
  
• Boost knowledge retention with engaging gameplay, integrating scoring and competitive elements for enjoyable replay value.

My role

As the sole designer on the project, I was responsible for defining and creating the visual identity, 2D & 3D assets, game shaders, UX & UI.

The process

• Create throw-away prototypes to define the core game loop quickly due to the short project duration.
• Agile development, two-weekly release cycle.
  
• Multiple user tests with the target audience + internal staff.
  

The outcomes

• A few hours worth of replayable gameplay due to the interconnected underlaying systems. Students' play time was higher than the anticipated playthrough time of 1h, expressing an increase in intrinsic motivation to play & learn more.
• Reported increased engagement and understanding of the concepts among students worldwide during lectures.

Take control of the grid

Missions & assignments: Track your current & completed missions, earning financial rewards to boost your network development.

Events: Stay informed on city growth, track issues, and local weather updates. Identify breakdowns and prioritize areas needing attention.

City overview: Monitor all cities, villages & stations on the map. Use the Connect button to expand your network efficiently.

Track overview: View all tracks and monitor their performance. Use monitoring trains and a limited crew to manage track maintenance.

Line overview: Access information on all created lines and stations. Adjust frequency to match demand and optimize network usage.

Control & monitoring: Improve track-data with monitoring trains and upgrade your control systems to increase train frequency.

See the game in action

A &ranj production

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