Play, don't memorise
Every topic is something to do: interview customers, set a price, balance the books, pitch to the bank. The theory is the tool students need to win.
Play nowOpen to play now. Classes join with a code from their lecturer.
Build a business from nothing. Learn business on the way.
District is a 3D city game. Every student starts with £2,000 and an empty kiosk and grows it into a real business. Each course they study, from marketing to accounting to finance, becomes a chapter of that business. And the whole class is on the same leaderboard.
- Buildone business from scratch
- Learna new course in every chapter
- Competewith your classmates
The idea
Business is one subject. Learn it like one.
Students usually meet marketing, accounting and finance in separate modules. In District they all happen to the same business, so students see how one decision affects everything else.
Their business, their story
Choices made in one course carry into the next. Overspend on promotion and the cash-flow forecast in accounting gets harder.
A reason to come back
Stars, ranks, achievements and a class leaderboard give students a reason to replay a level, and replaying means going back over the theory.
How it works
From an empty kiosk to a growing company.
Each course unlocks a new part of the business and a new part of the city. Lecturers open each level when they teach that topic.
- 1Start with nothing
£2,000, a kiosk in the park and no customers yet.
- 2Win customers
Marketing: research, segments, price, place and promotion.
- 3Count the money
Accounting: costs, break-even, profit and loss, cash flow.
- 4Fund the growth
Finance: budgets, investment choices and a pitch to the bank.
- 5Run the company
Operations, people and ethics as the business opens new sites.
Every level follows the same five steps
- Unlockby the lecturer
- Learnthe idea
- Investigatethe city
- Decideand see the result
- Prove itin a short quiz
Courses
One city. Every business subject.
Each course is a set of levels inside District. Institutions choose the courses that match their programme, and the content can follow their own modules.
Playable now
Marketing
Ten levels, from the first street survey to answering a viral one-star review.
In development
Accounting
Track every sale and cost, find the break-even point and keep the kiosk from running out of cash.
In development
Finance
Budget for a second site, compare a loan with an investor and pitch to the bank manager.
In development
Operations
Suppliers, stock, queues and quality as the business gets busier.
In development
People and leadership
Hire the first staff, plan rotas and lead a team that disagrees.
In development
Ethics and law
Contracts, consumer rights and the choices you have to be able to defend.
Inside the Marketing course
- Level 01What is marketing?Interview passers-by about why they buy coffee.
- Level 02Market researchSpend a £150 research budget wisely.
- Level 03SegmentationChoose students, commuters or creatives.
- Level 04Targeting and positioningClaim your place against Brew & Co.
- Level 05ProductAdd the extra that wins regulars.
- Level 06PriceRespond when a rival cuts prices.
- Level 07PlaceOpen a second sales point.
- Level 08PromotionDecide where £600 of promotion goes.
- Level 09Ethics and CSRPick a coffee supplier you can defend.
- Level 10Services and reputationAnswer a one-star review with 4,000 views.
Inside the city
A real game, not a quiz with pictures.
Walk, run and jump through a London-style city with buses, black cabs, traffic lights and a crowd where no two people look alike.
Explore
Walk into the businesses
Cafés, offices, a wholesaler, a newsroom, the station. Each one is furnished and staffed, and each one holds something students need to know.
Investigate
Talk to the people who work there
Rivals, suppliers, customers and advisers all have something to say. Students save what they learn as field notes and use them as evidence.
Cash£1,650
Reputation56/100
Footfall52/day
Level 6 · PriceBrew & Co just cut its flat white to £2.20. What do you do?Match them at £2.20Hold £3.10 and serve in 60 secondsGo upmarket at £3.60
Strong decisionHold £3.10 and add speed. Served in 60 seconds.
Cash −£200Rep +6Footfall +12
Decide
Every choice changes the business
Cash, reputation and daily customers move after every decision, with clear feedback on why it was strong or weak. Students can replay a level to try again, but the business remembers their first call.
Compete
Who's running the best business in your class?
Everyone plays the same city with their own business. XP comes from stars, correct answers and strong decisions, and the class leaderboard updates as people play.
- StarsUp to three per level. Replay to earn more.
- RanksSix to climb, from Newcomer to Tycoon.
- AchievementsTwelve to unlock, from Open for Business to Crisis Handled.
- Your classStudents compete with their own classmates, not the whole college.
Class leaderboardFoundation Business · Group A
- 1Daniel O.Entrepreneur3,140 XP
- 2Sofia M.Entrepreneur2,860 XP
- 3YouManager2,710 XP
- 4Kai T.Manager2,330 XP
- 5Hana R.Manager2,080 XP
150 XP behind second place. A third star on Level 6 would do it.
For institutions and lecturers
Your courses. Your pace. Your students' results.
District is set up for each institution. You pick the courses, we match them to your modules, and lecturers stay in control of every class.
Choose your courses
Marketing, accounting, finance and more, in the order your programme teaches them.
Match your modules
Lessons, missions and quizzes follow your module outline, learning outcomes and assessment brief. The final mission prepares students for the real assignment.
Invite your classes
Each class gets its own invite code, its own leaderboard and its own lecturer dashboard.
Unlock levels as you teach
Students only play the levels you have opened, so the game keeps pace with the class.
See who needs a check-in
Students who have stalled, never started or are struggling with quizzes are flagged.
Find what the class missed
The percentage correct for every quiz question, so you know what to go over next session.
Open any student's record
Every decision, score and achievement, ready for tutorials and progress reviews.
See it from the lecturer's side
The demo has a sample class of 12 students already playing. Unlock levels, open student records and check the quiz analysis.
Run a pilot
Start with one class and one course.
The simplest way to see whether District works for your students is to try it with one group for one term.
- 1Tell us about your programme
The course you want to start with, your module outline and class size.
- 2We set it up
We match the levels to your topics and learning outcomes, and create your class.
- 3Your class plays
Students join with your invite code. You unlock each level as you teach it.
- 4Review it together
At the end of term we go through engagement, decisions and quiz results with you.
A class leaderboard only includes students who joined with that class's code.
Nothing to buy and nothing advertised inside the game.
Works on ordinary laptops and phones, with nothing to install.
[Data protection statement: what is collected, where it is stored and who can see it.]
Your kiosk is waiting.
- 1Create a profile with your name and a 4-digit PIN.
- 2Have a class code from your lecturer? Add it to join your class leaderboard.
- 3Open your kiosk and start your first level.
On a laptop: WASD to walk, Shift to run, Space to jump, E to talk or enter, N for field notes. On a phone: a thumbstick plus Run and Jump buttons.
Sign in to District
I'm a studentPlay now with your name and a PIN, or join your class with its code.I'm a lecturerManage classes, unlock levels and see every student's results.Demo accounts are ready: Amina Rahman with PIN 1234, or lecturer@district.demo.
Questions
- Is District only for marketing?
- No. District is a business-building game, and each business subject is a course inside it. Marketing is playable now. Accounting, finance, operations, people and ethics are in development.
- Can it follow our modules?
- Yes. District is set up for each institution. Lessons, missions and quizzes can follow your module outline, learning outcomes and assessment brief.
- Who can see the leaderboard?
- Students see the leaderboard for their own class only. Lecturers see full results for every class they teach.
- Why can students only play some levels?
- Lecturers unlock levels as the course goes on, so the game follows what is being taught in class.
- Is District ready to use?
- District is in pilot. This site runs a working demo with sample data, so you can try both the student game and the lecturer dashboard first.
- Do students need a gaming computer?
- No. District runs in a web browser on ordinary laptops and phones.
- How much does it cost?
- Pilots are free for one class for one term. After that: [pricing details].