rLoop, the team of Hyperloop engineers and enthusiasts, who gathered together on Reddit, have created the ‘Break-a-Pod’ 8-bit video game. The instructions of the game are quite simple. All you have to do is ‘go as fast as you can without crashing or running out of power’. The player controls the speed and altitude of the pod as it zooms through the tube, but if you lose stability, it crashes. The game is quite hard to play as crashes happen frequently and it is tough to manoeuvre the pod when it accelerates from 0 to 1500 mph at the gentle tap of your finger on the keyboard.
They have released a beta version of this game as a hook in a crowd funding campaign, for them to help build a pod for SpaceX’s hyperloop competition. Back in 2013, Elon Musk unveiled his vision of the ‘fifth mode of transport’, the Hyperloop. Hyperloop is a high-speed ground transportation system where the commuters will be able to travel via a pod through an airless tube at breakneck speeds.
rLoop’s goal is to reach at least $66,000 to finish their prototype and bring it to Hawthorne, California later this year for SpaceX’s hyperloop demonstration. Currently, they have reached over half their goal on IndieGoGo and with a fortnight left for their campaign to end, they also expect to garner enough money to release the game for iOS and Android. You can help support rLoop’s campaign here at IndieGoGo.
Break-a-Pod is not the first video game inspired by Elon Musk’s ventures. In 2015, MIT created a game called ‘SpaceX Falcon 9 Lander’ based on successful landing of the SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket.
Watch this video where rLoop’s engineers talk about their pod design and journey so far: