Banpu Public Company Limited, an international versatile energy provider, is ready to bring fun and knowledge to let young generation to learn more about electric vehicle industry through 'EV City' board game. Designed by TU Next, a team of students from Thammasat University which won a board game design contest under the project of "Energy on Board by BANPU B-Sports Thailand 2021" with the topic "Driving Thailand's E-mobility", the game was developed in collaboration with Board Game Night (BGN) with an aim to drive the future of electric vehicle in Thailand forward and promote more understanding about electric vehicle for young generation.
Mr. Rattapon Sukhunthee, Head of Corporate Communications of Banpu Public Company Limited, said, "Over the past four years that Banpu has been working on the BANPU B-Sports Thailand project to promote creative learning through board game, our initial purpose was to encourage young generation who joined the project to develop their soft skills and learn more knowledge relating to energy which was included in the activity and the process of designing board game. At the end of last year, through our "Energy on Board" board game contest, we had "EV City" as the winning game. It was a board game that can communicate clearly about electric vehicle industry development, which is a topic that is on everyone's attention currently, not to mention that it was a fun and easy-to-understand game."
The success of this board game came from the idea of the students from the TU Next team and the team from Banpu's E-Mobility business that helped mentor and shared their knowledge and understanding about electric vehicle development. The creation of this board game was in line with Banpu's business direction and strategy that are transitioning towards Greener & Smarter energy delivery. Banpu is also committed to being one of the key enablers that drive the future of electric vehicle in Thailand as well as promoting knowledge and understanding of the electric vehicle industry for public. Banpu hopes that EV City board game will be a starting point and an inspiration to those who play the game, to want to participate in driving the growth of electric vehicle industry in Thailand and push forward the transition of our country to a low-carbon society in the future.
Mr. Apirak Kaewpoung, a third-year student from the Faculty of Liberal Arts, majoring in Geography, and Ms. Bampenporn So Ngoen, a second-year student from the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, major in Data Science and Innovation, Thammasat University, two members of 'TU Next' team who created the EV City game, said, "This game was inspired by the government 30/30 policy that aims to push Thailand towards having Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) at least 30% of domestic vehicle production by 2030. The challenging part of this game is that the players will take on the role of electric vehicle and charging station manufacturing company depending on the market demand. Also, the players must take turn and play a role of "President of EV Industry Association in the EV City" to launch policies which will be important factors for the industry and electric vehicle operators. The mechanism and the game's plot are based on what drives the electric vehicle industry in the real world, for example, the game will have association policy cards, electric vehicle demand cards and various types of electric vehicles and charging stations, as well as supply and demand principles related to cost volatility of equipment. The players could win this game by responding well enough to the needs of the market while fostering the future of electric vehicles of the city to reach its goal and make the most revenue".
Before it became an actual EV City board game, this game's artwork was developed by game illustrator Mr. Phuwadon Thongnoum or Bui who told us that "The challenging part of the illustration of this game is to make a very detailed story about the electric vehicle industry that seems to be a complicated matter to be easier to understand. Therefore, I chose to use the design in the form of isometric or a three-dimensional image that determines the angle of view as the starting point. It has certain angles of tilt and exact proportions which makes the details on the front, sides and top clearly visible in order to reduce the details of the city by showing the entire game area and city plan from top view. Therefore, the players can get an overview of building components of the city. And since the story of the EV City game is fun and based on real-life situations, it becomes a new game that is interesting to follow and new generation who are interested in electric vehicle would be impressed.
Get ready to have fun with the board game 'EV City' soon. Those who are interested can look up on more details, and follow news and activities from the project on Facebook BANPU B-Sports Thailand at: https://www.facebook.com/BanpuBSportsThailand
About Energy on Board by Banpu B-Sports Thailand
Banpu Public Company Limited has organized BANPU B-Sports Thailand for the fourth consecutive year, with the aim of supporting board games, a creative learning tool, to be more widely known, especially among young generations because board games help develop soft skills that are essential in current life and work.
About Banpu
Banpu Public Company Limited is an international versatile energy provider with 3 core groups of businesses: energy resources, energy generation and energy technology in 10 countries - Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Singapore, Japan, the United States of America and Vietnam.