MKE Waterscape is a game where you choose our city’s water future by playing through scenarios inspired by Milwaukee’s history.

Together with your fellow players you step into one of five roles—each with different perspectives, interests, and abilities. The first level invites you to imagine Milwaukee in the 1800s as the city is literally being built on the water. You will face five scenarios each with distinct options that will impact the quality of the water and the city as a whole—and also could help or hurt you individually. The gameplay is discussion-based role-play. Argue for or against different options from the perspective of your character. Convince enough player characters to use your hard-earned Blue Bucks and/or special character skills to afford a choice. With each option you select, the richly illustrated map updates to reflect your choices. By the turn of the century, can you make both Milwaukee and Lake Michigan great?

This game is designed for students from middle grades, high school, and undergraduates—but it’s also fun for gameful adults.

Game Overview

Game Roles

Skill Usage

This demo video shows you the basics

How to play the Game remotely

1. Game Guide

2. Game Sidebar Template (copy before modifying:)

3. PLAY!

If you are a teacher looking to play the game with groups of students remotely, please refer to the Game Guide above for step-by-step instructions for how to have a successful experience. The game is a great way to engage your students in an interactive experience remotely via a video conferencing platform like Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, or whatever your school is using. As a teacher, you’ll need to break your class into groups of six students: assign one to be the Game Master while the other five play as one of the five role characters: Mayor, Capitalist, Laborer, Waterfolk, or Journalist. A typical game takes about 35-40 minutes and we also suggest valuable pre- and post-content that can help scaffold your lessons.

Watch this short video with your students on Milwaukee’s actual water history to prepare for the game scenarios

If you are playing the game remotely, refer to the instructions above.

The instructions below are for in-person play for five people around one screen.

Click “PLAY!” to launch the game in a new browser window. Press “F11” for full screen. Refer to the Game Guides above for how to play. And before starting, be sure to download and print the five role cards, one for each of your players. This game is intended for five players who each take on a role with special abilities, constraints, and perspectives. Together you must make historically inspired choices that affect Milwaukee and the waterscape from the 1830s to 1920s. To learn more about Milwaukee’s actual water history, see the Milwaukee Community Map Deeper Dive videos.

PLAY!

The MKE Waterscape Game
For 5 players
Ages 12+
40 minutes
Level 1: “The Past” (free!)

Design
Michael Timm & Bryn Summers

Development
Mike Rea & Steven Ackerman

Artwork
Lauren V. Brown & Dionna Hayden

Support
Brico Fund & Fund for Lake Michigan

Pending UI/UX Upgrades
Kevin Ristow & Justin Hegarty

The version above will play in most web browsers including Chromebooks. Check back for versions for tablets and other devices.

To play the game on the Virtual Water Table in Augmented Reality mode, contact us.

We hope you enjoy this educational fun!

Michael Timm and Bryn Summers designed and created level 1 of the MKE Waterscape game in 2018.

Originally envisioned to be played using Augmented Reality on Reflo’s Virtual Water Table, which required a 4:3 aspect ratio, the game was initially coded in Unity 3D by Mike Rea. The game was adapted for a web-friendly clickable interface by Steven Ackerman, who also upgraded Reflo’s Virtual Water Table with a touchscreen. The game can still be played on the table but now is easily playable on any screen-based device with a web browser.

Lauren V. Brown created the lavishly illustrated interactive basemap art. Dionna Hayden created the player iconography and UI elements. Bryn Summers edited and integrated the art assets.

In 2022, Kevin Ristow is devising new visual assets to enhance the game UX based on the direction of Justin Hegarty.

If you would like to provide funding to support the development of new game levels that bridge past and present choices about water to the future, please contact Reflo.