Inspired by a study into different ethnic enclaves in New York, Urban Enclaves is a game that allows players to explore identity and the origins of architectural style. It is a collaborative multiplayer world in which players construct their own ‘embassy’ comprised of different architectural styles, promoting exchange with other players to unlock new ways of building and special behaviours.

Players are able to choose a base architectural style and manipulate a set of components through a building system that allows them to place, resize, reposition and edit the objects to design space. As players construct their embassies, they gain ‘culture coins’ which can be traded for new architectural features, or exchanged with other players for their building pieces. Certain special pieces also confer effects on the architecture of the embassy, such as rescaling objects or switching their identity, allowing for players to experiment with creative ways to blur the boundaries between different cultural styles of architecture within the city.

By encouraging cultural exchange between players, the game suggests a future city where the previously rigidly designed enclaves start to blend into and across the city, creating new hybridised architectural styles that reflect the complexity and diversity of contemporary urban centres.