Visit Enschede Lights Up 2025

The beginning of Time Bots

Time Bots started as a graduation project. Students could choose between several assignments. Maria is working together with Ruben and they immediately responded to this brief: develop a game with motion detection and create something that fits within Enschede Lights Up 2025. The theme City in Motion added an extra creative challenge. Maria delved into the history of Enschede and built the idea of robots travelling through time zones. From the Middle Ages to the textile industry, the Great Fire and the Enschede of today. Each level shows a piece of history, but playful and accessible.

Your body as the controller

Anyone standing in front of the Saxion building will not control the game with buttons but with their entire body. You jump by throwing your arms into the air, and you duck by actually moving down. Your robot avatar mirrors your movements, projected life-size onto the building. Time Bots is a two-player game: two lanes, two robots, one race through 700 years of history with an audience cheering along.

New challenges and choices

Working with projection was completely new for Maria and brought several challenges. “On a computer everything looks clean, but once you project it you suddenly lose detail or the colours shift. We really had to learn how to deal with that,” she explains.

Determining the five time zones may have been the hardest part. “So much has happened in Enschede. You have to make choices: what is visually strong, what really tells a story, what works for a game?”

Collaborating with ArtEZ

For the sound design the team collaborated with students from ArtEZ. That collaboration went surprisingly smoothly. “We created a playlist with music we thought matched the atmosphere of our game. They came back with complete tracks,” says Maria. “It’s amazing how their music and our visuals form one whole. For the ‘Enschede today’ time zone they even composed a festive track especially for the 700-year anniversary.”

Big screen, big impact

Time Bots will be projected on a large scale onto the Saxion building and that feels special. “The idea that maybe twenty thousand people will see this… yes, that’s exciting,” Maria says. “But mostly it’s just very cool. It feels like you’re working on something that really has impact beyond school.” The project also brought unexpected tasks, such as PR, designing stickers and contacting external partners. “That’s not necessarily part of my study programme, but that’s exactly why I’m learning so much from it.”

A city with a story

For Maria, the theme City in Motion gained real meaning through her research into the city’s history. “You keep seeing Enschede go through something like the fire and then come back stronger. That feeling is in the game: something goes wrong, then things rebuild and you end in the city as it is today.”

Learning by testing

What Maria has learned most is the importance of testing. “We tested a lot during the open day. That immediately gave us feedback: what was clear, what was fun and what we needed to adjust.” Her hope? “That people enjoy it. That they feel like they’re running through different time zones and that they learn something along the way without even noticing.”

One last tip

Maria has a clear message for future project teams: start testing early. “That way you still have room to improve. And enjoy it, you’re creating something that people will actually get to experience.”