Description:

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This game was initially conceptualised and developed for Integrated Project 3 module (University project) answering to our client's request: making a game which revolves around the Anthropocene topic. Over its development it was also adapted to better fit the "ecology and sustainability" category for Yourope's submission.

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Additional comments:

Award winner of the Yourope competition, hosted by Games for Change Europe. 

Winner of the Serious Games Society 2016 award, 2nd place Academic Category.

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Role: Designer

Tools and Engine: Unreal Engine 4, MS Office, 3DS Max

Developing time: 10 weeks (IP3 and Yourope's deadline).

Genre and game style:

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Anthrocratos is a turn-based strategy and resource management game. It can be used to create scenarios around the concepts of human/urban expansion and ecology. Maps are procedurally generated to add replayability value and variations in strategies for each game. This is achieved by randomising a number of bioms per map, their size and position, the remaining empty tiles are then filled with plains. The game involves two players competing to achieve their goal before the opponent does (reaching 500 happiness). To do so, the players have to juggle their resources and plan out how they will expand and what will they rely on. Players can only build by starting  from an adjacent tile to the city centre and then subsequently only to tiles that belong to them.

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Buildings are divided into 3 categories: basic (one for each resource type) and upgrade versions of the above which can lean towards either more eco-friendly solutions (i.e. recycling centres or windfarms) or not (i.e. intensive farming or incinerators). Of the two. the first provide a higher "production" of happiness while the latter focus more on the production of the three resources (Food, Money and Energy).

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Depending on the tile a building has been constructed on, a bonus or a penalty may be applied to their production thereby adding stategic value to player's choices. Additionally, players will have to be wary and adapt their strategy according to events which may be triggered, all of which are dependant on chances generated by the related conditions. An example of this is the case in which both players collectively build on over 70% of mountains and forest in the map, this condition will trigger an event which will cause unhappiness to both players for a certain amount of time depending on the buildings they have and the type of upgrades. Similarly, an event may occur if too many landfills are present (each building generating a hidden percentage that increases the chance of triggering the event). A pop-up text will inform the players  that there is an excess of waste which they have to deal with, either by upgrading their landfills or demolishing them.

Lastly, some events are based on EU regulations and are triggered purely on a random chance.