Designed as an RPG (role-playing game), To the City takes players through a series of decisions over five levels, from their in-game character’s home to a cultural venue in the city where they are going to see a show with family. Initial decisions include whether to take their umbrella or a comforter with them and whether to watch television prior to leaving home to catch the bus. 

Each of these decisions has consequences. As their implications and ripple effects play out, in-game anxiety levels – indicated by lights on the machine itself – begin to increase. So too, perhaps, will those of the person playing the game!  

In this sense, To the City demonstrates what an ostensibly simple event such as catching public transport can mean for a person living with neurodiversity. Because of this, the game also functions as an expression of life in the Scottish Borders, placing our region at the centre of conversations around human rights, the social model of disability and public infrastructure.