Building a pipeline never easy these days, even in a board game

A new board game called Pipe Dream turns players into pipeline builders with some of the same environmental challenges and political hurdles we're seeing in real life.

Bill Timbers, an Edmonton-based consultant who works in the pipeline industry, came up with the concept long before the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion became an inter-provincial battle.

Timbers recruited Kent Noble, a family friend and aspiring game developer, to handle the game's design. Noble had taken a gap year after his first year of engineering at the University of Alberta to pursue his passion for gaming.

Both men thought the pipeline industry's challenges would lend themselves well to a Settlers of Catan-style board game.

"It really makes sense, because of the inherent risk and reward," Noble said Monday on CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

Laying pipe one game tile at a time

6 years ago

Duration 0:53

A made-in-Edmonton board game illustrates the profits and pitfalls of building a pipeline

The goal of the game is to build a pipeline, from point A to point B, as inexpensively as possible.

Four or more players start with a budget of $1.5 billion and encounter risks and rewardsalong the way, such as spills, equipment damage, protests, stock salesand government regulations.

Players can overcome challenges by building with thicker pipe, rerouting around a community, installing valves or using different products but those safeguards will cost them millions.

At the end of the game, the player with the most money left wins.

Real-life applications

Timbers, who advises companies on pipeline risk assessments, wanted the game to be as realistic as possible.

Noble, on the other hand, argued some simplifications were needed forentertainment's sake. Instead ofbuilding two or three valve stations that allow a pipeline to close across a river, players can use just one valve for that task in the game.

Pipe Dream has already been tested by industry experts, including a chemical engineering professor and a pipeline engineer.

"They enjoyed it and had a lot of fun," said Timbers, who plans to use the game as atraining exercise with his clients.

Timbers also said hehopes the game helps more Canadians understand the complex array of benefits, costs and risks associated with pipeline construction. He said the industry has missed opportunities to educate the publicin the past.

"We have to get our materials out of the country to foreign buyers," he said.

"I would hope, in the end, that people would appreciate that these are very challenging projects."

The pair will make smallchanges to the game over the next few months and test it with board game enthusiasts at Kelly's Pub, 10156 104th St.,in early June.

Timbers plans to post game updates to his LinkedIn page.

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