Brief

Richard Lourie

Las Tractoradas is a video game based on the independence movement in Catalonia. The game play is based on the way Catalan farmers used tractors to block the police from shutting down the protests.

Las Tractoradas captures the essence of the Catalan independence movement while maintaining a fun game play experience.  The game play is based around placing tractors and protesters on the map using influence, similar to a tower defense game.  The police will try to shut down the protests but the player can place tractors to stop them. We use tractors because during the research into the Catalan independence movement, the most interesting aspect was how they used the tractors to block the police. This game exists to raise awareness of the independence movement in Catalan.  This game was made by 6 students who each at had their own specific role in the game design process. 

I was a programmer for the game. I focused mainly on the game play. When the player first starts the game, they have a brief period before the police start moving, this is so they have some time to place tractors. After that the police will search out the nearest protest and move towards it. Throughout the game you can place tractors and protests using buttons. Protests and tractors cost influence, a currency gained from having protests. Tractors can block police, so when the two collide, both of them stop, the police return to spawn and the tractor disappears. When the police collide with a protest, the protest disappears after a few seconds, and the police return to spawn. After returning to spawn the police search out the next protest to seek out.