COALCOM: Power Station Operations Terminal

You're the new operator at Riverside Coal Power Station.

Your predecessor, Earl, was three weeks from retirement when he decided to test whether the plant could run itself while he napped. It could not. Two city blocks were evacuated. You got hired because your resume said you "worked with computers."

Your training lasted four hours. Chuck, the plant supervisor who smells of diesel and disappointment, pointed at gauges and said: "Keep pressure at 165 bar. Too low, no power. Too high, boom. Keep water between 40% and 60%. Too low, tubes overheat. Too high, turbine gets wet. Wet turbines are expensive."

Then he handed you a coffee-stained manual from 1987 and left.

Now you're responsible for keeping the region powered. The grid operator calls every few hours with new demands. Equipment breaks. Systems cascade into each other. If you trip the plant, everyone notices — the news, your boss, that guy who named his cat after a substation.

Keep the lights on. Keep your job.

What you do

Manage boiler pressure, drum water level, coal feed, and cooling while responding to grid demands and equipment failures in real-time. Change one thing, watch three others respond. Make decisions fast when faults cascade.

The game

• 10-shift campaign with progressive difficulty

• Controls unlock gradually (Shifts 1-5)

• Equipment degrades, you choose what to repair

• Graded A-F on performance

• Continuous Mode unlocks after Shift 5 (endless operation, see how long you last)

• 21 types of equipment faults

• Systems interact—pressure affects power, drum level affects steam, failures cascade

The aesthetic

Authentic 1980s green phosphor CRT terminal. Character-based interface. Keyboard controls. The kind of screen that gave operators eyestrain but kept plants running for decades.

You will fail when

Pressure spikes. Drum level drops. Multiple faults hit simultaneously. You panic. The turbine gets wet (expensive).

By Shift 10 you'll either feel competent or understand why Earl took that nap.

This is not

• A realistic power plant simulator (it's a game)

• Factorio-style building (you operate fixed systems)

• Forgiving (mistakes cascade, trips end your shift)

DEMO

Campaign Shifts 1-4 + 20-minute Continuous Mode sessions