Data center–style game
How to play
A real undertaking, a hard deadline, and the months roll by whether you are ready or not.
5–8 minutes
5–8 minutes
A run, step by step
5 things to know
- 1Choose who you are and whereEvery scenario opens on its first question — who is paying, where you build, which way round. Your answer sets your money, your room for error and what the trouble will look like.
- 2Stock up for laterBefore the clock starts you buy what you will need: crews, a fund, a slot booked years ahead. At least one of them takes so long to arrive that if you skip it now, nothing you do later will bring it in time.
- 3Watch the months roll byThe clock moves whether you are ready or not. Set the pace, rest your people, and deal with what arrives — most of the trouble is caused by something you chose earlier.
- 4Make the five callsAt each crossing a person brings you a decision: a county vote, a regulator's committee, a strait. There is no right answer printed anywhere; there is what it costs, and what it closes off.
- 5End with a ribbon or a tombstoneThe ending tells you the two or three decisions that decided your run, in the voice of someone who was there. Then you see what the real people did this month, and why.
Questions
About The Trail
How long is a run?
Five to eight minutes at a steady pace. Your run is kept every step, so you can close the tab and come back to it from Continue.
What are the looks?
The game is drawn in five finalized looks. A run keeps one look from start to end. The data center can be played in all five; each other scenario has a look of its own.
Is any of it real?
The people and the companies are invented, and the game says so. The decisions, the constraints and the closing screen's facts are real and sourced, and the real calls are refreshed every week.
Can I play a scenario again?
Yes. Every start is a new run, and a different first answer leads somewhere else.