Players must monitor rising water in Mid-City, Gentilly, Lakeview and Uptown while directing the city’s limited pumping capabilities toward whichever neighborhood appears closest to becoming waterfront property.
There’s only one minor complication: only one neighborhood pump can operate at a time.
“Running all the pumps simultaneously felt unrealistic,” said Brian, the game’s developer and NGNtertainment’s acting assistant director of municipal systems. “We wanted players to experience the excitement of watching four neighborhoods flood while having the resources to help exactly one of them.”
Players can switch the active pump between neighborhoods as rainfall intensifies. Their efforts are periodically interrupted by blackouts, broken pumps and other completely unforeseeable events commonly associated with rain falling in a city surrounded by water.
When a pump breaks, players must quickly redirect their attention elsewhere while trained virtual repair crews stand near the equipment, shake their heads and eventually press whatever button makes it work again.
“Pump Station Panic gives every resident the opportunity to discover whether they could manage the city’s drainage system more effectively,” Brian said before being directed back to the attic.
At the end of each round, players receive an official score, job-performance ranking and report showing the percentage of neighborhoods that flooded. Results range from a parade-worthy 0% to a highly consistent 100%.
Officials emphasized that if only 25% of neighborhoods flood, the game should be viewed as 75% successful.
Think you can keep New Orleans mostly dry for 60 seconds? Looking for some time to waste?
About Neutral Ground News (In the middle of it all.)
Neutral Ground News covers the Greater New Orleans Area and Louisiana through local humor, absurdity, and a healthy skepticism of anything described as “fully operational.” Find more news, games, and questionable public information at neutralgroundnews.com.