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

National Highways has partnered with the successful Minecraft platform to launch a new video game.

Students across the country will be able to jump in and explore the A428 Black Cat Improvements Project at Caxton Gibbet.

Through in-game activities, students will be able to learn everything road designers need to consider when planning the project.

Students will get a feel for the range of skills used by national roads to build some of the greatest road projects of a generation, including: archeology, biology, ecology, civil engineering, communications technology and coding.

The A428 Creative Set includes lesson plans for teachers – but students can also use it during lunchtime or after school clubs.

The game will ask a series of questions, and students can spend as much time as they like building and designing things related to the questions.

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

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

The educational kit is aligned with the national curriculum – if you are interested, contact [email protected]

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

“With the help of Minecraft and in-game activities, students will get first-hand experience of what it would take to build a huge bridge or dig a giant tunnel.”