Junker is a near-Earth space simulation game that utilises NASA data from the WorldWindLabs SpaceBirds project to map tracked objects onto a 2 dimensional representation of their positions around the Earth. The objective of the game is to gather as much space debris in orbit around your ship as you can, and move it close enough to the Earth that the orbit becomes destabilised and the debris burns up in the atmosphere.

Junker aims to provide a semi-accurate simulation of orbital physics in a 2 dimensional plane with some concessions given to play-ability so as to increase engagement. Player interaction is a major driving force in educational and informative games, and with an increasingly tech-oriented populace, the benefits of information transmission through interactive experiences cannot be understated [1].

The player pilots a Magnetic spacecraft (Magship) powered by a small nuclear reactor. The ship provides a small magnetic force that can be used to influence the orbits of the space debris; contact with the debris is however inadvisable as the ship would be shredded to pieces by the forces involved no matter how small the debris (see also: The ISS being damaged by debris that was "possibly a paint flake or small metal fragment no bigger than a few thousandths of a millimetre across." [2]).

The project is built with open source data [3] and the code is also open source [4]. The game was created for browsers in JavaScript, and was built with Phaser [5], using Matter-js [6] for the physics simulations. All graphics were created over the weekend by various members of the team. No audio was included because in space, no one can hear you collect debris!

[1] http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15272/1/187769_5405%20Griffiths%20Publisher.pdf

[2] https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/12/11664668/iss-window-chip-space-debris-tim-peake

[3] https://github.com/WorldWindLabs/SpaceBirds

[4] https://github.com/lysfibe/spaceapps2019

[5] https://phaser.io/

[6] https://brm.io/matter-js/