Brad's EDU 5863 / CMCT 6537 Production #4
For the purpose of this production, I will continue with my MRP research subject, Roblox. However, deviating from the previous production wherein I looked at the game "Tower Defense Simulator," this production will look at a seemingly simpler game titled "Racer Vs Police AI" which made its debut in Q1 2025. Being a game, its primary purposes are to entertain and to engage. At first glance, the goal in this game is to play as a racer and evade police capture, using virtual currency gained from victories to "unlock new vehicles and customize your ride for style and performance." (R_obotz, 2025). Alternatively, in multiplayer mode which will not be explored in this production due to ethical limitations (interacting with real players), players can play as police and attempt to trap the racer either by damaging the racer's vehicle to the point of mechanical failure, or by boxing them in for a set duration of time. The game's description also alludes to difficulty scaling mechanics wherein "the more damage you cause in the city, the more relentless the cops become" (R_obotz, 2025). As previously alluded to in the preceding paragraph, part of the appeal of this game is to virtually realize a fantasy situation wherein one is an outlaw causing chaos and destruction while evading a police chase in a high performance vehicle. Upon entering the game, the user is met with a starting screen similar to that of old PC or console games, with options to start, play solo (which opens an instruction graphic), and view credits (in which everything is credited to the solo developer).
Moving beyond this screen, the user is met with many graphical buttons that are vital to gameplay (including vehicle menu, playtime and daily login rewards - an important engagement and re-engagement mechanic, personal settings, and various microtransactions including the chance to be the racer in the following round). Playtime rewards are scaled such that the first virtual currency reward is within five minutes of gameplay, with another significant virtual currency reward within ten minutes of gameplay. Another two virtual currency playtime rewards are positioned at approximately thirty minutes and two hours of gameplay, with the latter being of the most significant value, particularly towards earlier stage players. An additional reward car at approximately 1.5 hours supplements the engagement mechanic for early game players. Daily login rewards are also featured, and virtual currency rewards are scaled more closely together, from a scale of 100 to 2,500, with a free car at 7 days, encouraging early game players to log in every day for an entire week.
Virtual currency is the backbone of many games, and encourages players to "grind" to unlock expensive top tier items and upgrades such as high tier cars and multi-use abilities in this game. Virtual currency can be won through game victories, golden orb coin popups all over the map, racer mission completion, or through singular purchases with Robux (a virtual currency used throughout the Roblox platform). As with most games, beginners start with basic cars and abilities that somewhat make a victory difficult without external help (i.e. NPC police cars assisting in the chase, other players with higher tiered vehicles). Playtime and daily rewards help significantly in this regard as many vehicle-specific performance upgrades are priced in hundreds up to two-thousand, with the 1.5 hour playtime or 7 day login reward car being a significant upgrade to the most basic cars. Further attempts at re-engagement and player retention comes from the significantly higher scaling of price for higher tier cars and abilities, but this also plays on the angle of "being a pro player" with top tier items and being able to almost always win as alluded to in some of the game page pictures.
