Power ups Design

Context of feature

Power-ups are to be included in the game to increase playability and engagement of the game and fun of the players. They have little connection to reality, which can be identified at first glance and cannot be mistaken for it. Any player can recognize that in reality performed actions could not happen but by using them he might achieve better score and possible deal with minor mistakes without major implications.

It is required that they are not obtrusive to the learning outcome of the game but are expected to direct attention of the player towards real-life consequences of certain occurrences, even though the game displays them differently. There are two categories of power-ups: score multipliers and special actions.

Score multipliers

These are automatic additions to the game that are activated once a player takes a correct decision on how to deal with certain disturbance, despite whether it actually succeeds or not. As normally players are presented with a set of possible actions they need to pick one that may solve the problem and doing so should be rewarded.

Thus with each correct decision on how to deal with a problem the score multiplier, affecting only bonus points, is increased by one, i.e. for single correct decision it is 2, for two it equals 3 etc. The highest multiplier a player can get is 5 and each wrong decision resets it to one.

Special actions

Special actions are extra, additional possibilities to help player during the game. When a tram has reached its beginning position (has made a full circle) the player has 25% chance of getting a special action. Each special actions are then equally possible. A small note appears informing the player of new acquisition. When the player is in possession of a special action this option is shown when choosing a click-able object (tram, tram stop, blockage or tramcar incident icon). These possibilities do not accumulate over time (Player can have either possibility to use it once or not).

List of possible special actions:

• Ghost tram - makes a single tram avoid collisions for 30s and pass through objects, while still being on tracks
• Teleportation - used on a tram stop to teleport waiting passengers to their destinations. Resets the timer counting when that particular station should be visited
• Magic removal - Instantly removes a blockage from tram tracks
• Call super helper - Instantly deals with incidents in a tram