Apollo 13

Apollo 13 is a teambuilding program/game for (10-16 people + 2 game leaders) where the players have to cooperate to ensure the astronauts (game leaders) survive. The goal is to start simple with 1 or 2 challenges, and whenever the oxygen tank explodes, the players get filled with incidents. These incidents then have to be solved and can be solved when reading through all the manuals.

This game is inspired by a serious game designed to provide insights into IT Service Management processes. That version focuses on team building and improving work processes. However, the game developed here is primarily for fun and not intended as a serious game. If you are looking for the original serious game, you can find more information on websites like Gamingworks.

Languages

Dutch

If you want to translate something, feel free to do so and contact me so I can add it to the repository.

Gameplay loop

1. Game Leaders report an incident
2. CAPCOM makes an incident card and gives it to the incident managers
3. The incident managers decide which expert has to solve it (or if they already have a similar incident solved)
4. The expert solves the problem
5. The incident managers sign it and give it back to CAPCOM
6. CAPCOM communicates the solution to the astronauts
7. The incident goes back to the incident managers for the log

The goal

For the players: to learn to cooperate and to look at the process and how to improve it constantly.

For the game leaders: to make it as chaotic as possible so the incident managers really have to prioritize tasks and keep an eye on what is important to be solved and what not.

Getting started

1. Download or clone this repository
2. Run the folder in Unity
3. Press the play button at the top to start the game
4. Open on a second monitor the folder C:/Users/[username]/AppData/LocalLow/Mindware Software/ and open the file located there in an automatic file reloading tool like VSCode
5. Print the files in the folder "Files" as many times as needed
6. Make sure the astronauts (game leaders) read these documents entirely first!
7. To start in the application (after pressing the play button), press space to start the launch video (or when testing you can press s to skip the video instead)
8. The game will start automatically after the video and no extra input is required, other than values that can be changed in the document mentioned above
9. The game will automatically end about an hour after launch (this can be modified in the GameManager)

Playtesting

The game has been playtested once with a group of 14 people. Players found it challenging but highly engaging, with plenty of opportunities to get deeply invested. The theme and background knowledge were also well-received and considered a fun addition to the experience.

Final words

If you have any experiences you would like to share, I would love to hear about them! I would like it a lot to hear improvements, differences, and anything. Please open an issue with any improvements you would like to share. Or send me an email with your experiences: info [at] mindware [dot] software

The software is also open for improvements! I will accept any pull request that improves the game and its fun. This can be both for the document itself or the Unity game.