A web browser game that teaches the player how load-generation balancing works in an alternating current electrical power system as they try to maintain the frequency of the grid through progressively harder disturbances and grid conditions.

What is the main purpose of this game?

The main purpose of this game is to provide a fun and engaging tool that inherently teaches the player how frequency control in an AC power system works and what is happening every second of the day to make sure we always have the electrical power we need to power our homes and devices. As the game proceeds the player will be exposed to the challenges of integrating intermittent renewable energy technologies like solar and wind from an energy balance perspective.

I came up with the idea for this game as it seems that something that often gets overlooked in teaching power systems to general audiences is the dynamics and controls required to keep these systems working. These topics can be complex in practice and may be challenging to teach to the public, but are an important part to consider and understand in the transition to a clean energy based power grid. This game hopes to make these challenges more tangible for a general audience.

Who is the target audience?

I foresee this game being used as an introduction to a teaching unit on electrical power systems. The game and informative content will be developed to be suitable for middle school aged children (7th or 8th grade), but could be used for older students as well.

Credits

• Developed by Trager Joswig-Jones.

• The game itself was built off of shezzor's JavaScript Game Development Template (https://github.com/shezzor/javascript-game-development-template).

• The info webpage was based on the Pico CSS preview example .

• This material is based in part upon work supported by the state of Washington through the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute.