A Charlotte programmer is building a video game about Exit 3A
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A truck carries Crab Volleyball arcade cabinets in a preview of Exit 3A: The Game. Crab Volleyball is a game at Super Abari Game Bar. Courtesy of Mike Ramirez
A software engineer is teasing a new video game that will let players endure the epitome of Charlotte's chaotic driving — without the real-life stress of getting behind the wheel.
- It's called Exit 3A: The Game.
Why it matters: Video game creator Mike Ramirez is capturing a universal, anxiety-inducing experience for our city's drivers in a playful video game we can all laugh at.
Catch up quick: Exit 3A has long been compared to games like Frogger. Drivers coming off I-277 must cross three lanes in just 200 feet to turn right onto North Davidson Street — all while incoming cars try to switch lanes to merge onto I-277.
- Designed in the late 1960s, Exit 3A is outdated for today's traffic. NCDOT originally predicted that 2,100 cars per day would use the exit by 1995. By 2022, 12,000 cars took it daily, Charlotte magazine wrote.
- NCDOT has drawn up redesigns of 277, which include lengthening and consolidating ramps. But the funding for that project isn't expected for at least another decade.
Flashback: Ramirez, who makes games as a hobby, says the video game started as a joke between him and fellow creators. He initially wanted to make a game about all of Independence Boulevard but thought Exit 3A would be more doable.
- "Every time I show it to people, they go crazy about it," he tells Axios. "I think in the past five months or so, I've been taking it more seriously."
How it works: The player's goal is to navigate I-277 and Exit 3A while carrying Charlotte-related cargo, like blue and black soccer balls. Each type of cargo offers different gameplay challenges.
- In a snippet Ramirez posted to Instagram, a truck carrying beer cans gets bumped and flipped by other cars as it struggles to reach its destination. The song in the video is "Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews Band.
- "Are you sure this isn't just live footage?" one person commented. The video has racked up 20,000 likes in 15 hours.
- Ramirez tells me he doesn't know what cargo he'll have permission to reference but for now, the orange cans with white leaves are modeled after his favorite Charlotte beer.
What's next: Ramirez says he'd like to complete the experience by the end of the year and keep adding to it once it's out with bonus levels. He's considering turning it into an arcade game for people to play at places like Super Abari.
- "It'd be easy to just throw something out there that's like a few minutes of fun," he says. "But I'd really like to make something that is enjoyable, repeatedly."