City Runners
A participatory urban governance simulation where players navigate municipal budgets, civic trade-offs and public welfare.
ABOUT City Runners
City Runners immerses players into the high-stakes, interdependent world of Indian municipal governance. Players experience contrasting civic personas, institutional constraints, municipal decision-making and competing priorities. Balancing municipal tax coffers against urgent public demands, teams must navigate sudden monsoon deluges, negotiate cross-ward resource sharing, and build political coalitions to ensure long-term city livability.
WHAT YOU DO
- INTERDEPENDENT WARD BOARDContiguous ward maps with shared infrastructure conduits where decisions in one ward ripple into neighboring wards.
- DYNAMIC MUNICIPAL FISCAL LEDGERFiscal tracking requiring tactical trade-offs between capital investments, public welfare, and emergency reserves.
- MONSOON & CLIMATE DELUGE DECKSUnanticipated crisis events like urban flash flooding and infrastructure failures that stress collective preparedness.
- MULTI-ROLE COALITION BARGAININGNo single actor can resolve challenges unilaterally; survival and prosperity require cross-ward consensus.
WHY PLAY & WHAT YOU LEARN
- SEE SYSTEMSUnderstand how urban decisions are interconnected across sectors and geography.
- EXPERIENCE TRADE-OFFSNavigate competing priorities and limited resources without easy answers.
- THINK COLLABORATIVELYWork across different civic roles, conflicting mandates, and perspectives.
- MAKE DECISIONSExperience firsthand how municipal choices create long-term real consequences.
HOW A SESSION RUNS
ORIENTATION
Rules walk-through and team role assignments.
ACTIVE GAMEPLAY
High-stakes simulation turns, crises, and negotiations.
GUIDED DEBRIEF
Connecting game dynamics to real-world policy and work.
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