Minecraft recreates Black Cat roundabout near Bedford as part of video game

National Highways has teamed up with best-selling platform Minecraft to launch a new video game.

Students across the country will be able to jump in and explore the proposed A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements scheme.

Through in-game activities, students will be able to learn about everything road designers have to take into account when they’re planning the scheme.

Students will get a sense of the range of skills used by National Highways to build some of the biggest road projects in a generation, including: archaeology, biology, ecology, civil engineering, communications technology and coding.

The A428 Creative game includes lesson plans for teachers - but pupils can also use it during lunchtime or after-school clubs.

The game will ask a set of questions, and students can spend as much time as they want building and designing things in relation to the questions.

National Highways will be releasing another A428 Minecraft game soon, focusing on natural habitats.

Read This: Video shows how new Black Cat roundabout will look

National Highways is also offering four workshops throughout the autumn term (September to December 2021) and is looking for schools who would be interested in in-class workshops with our developers.

The educational package is aligned to the National Curriculum - if you are interested, contact [email protected].

Lee Galloway, A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet project director, said: “We want to inspire the next generation of talented engineers and scientists, on whom the country’s infrastructure and national economy will one day depend. Our ambition is to seek out the next James Dyson or Dame Sarah Gilbert and help put them on the path to a fascinating life and career.

“With the help of Minecraft and the in-game activities, students will get first-hand experience of what would go into building a huge bridge or digging a giant tunnel.”