A THOUGHT-provoking vision of 2065, where human beings having been enslaved by robots in Burnley, has been created by young people from across the north.

Cyborgs are also rife across the town in a post-apocalyptic world where modern technology regularly fails and only insider knowledge of robotics or bio-engineering offer any sort of escape

This is the future as imagined by teams of 13 to 25-year-olds from Burnley, Wigan and Hull which forms the central premise of a new online text adventure game.

Northern Powerhouse: Last Towns Standing, the game, portrays a darker future for Wigan, after a 2035 nuclear catastrophe. Only Hull offers some solace, for those deeply involved in robotics.

Before the game even reached the programming stage, its young designers were tasked with creating a coherent storyline and visual imagery to accompany the adventure, working at The Crib in Burnley Central Library and libraries and arts centres in Wigan and Hull.

In Burnley this saw young people venturing out with Pro-Shot cameras carried underneath helium balloons, to give a different perspective on the town centre.

The three locations had been brought together by the Arts Council for Networked Narrative, working with Liverpool-based arts venture FACT, with each team visiting counterparts as part of the production process.

Debbie Chan, creative producer, said: "Networked Narrative aimed to empower young people with art and technology, allowing them to participate and influence this programme, ensuring their voices were heard and they were able to make decisions and shape outcomes."

Peter Compston, who works with Blaze, the Lancashire-wide arts development initiative, accepts that involving youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds in the arts is a challenge but this was achieved through the work.

He said: "There is definitely a lower engagement level in the arts but out of that, and out of deprivation, is where the real arts comes from, I think, and we have got some really good stuff."

The finished game and an exhibition has been touring the three locations. It can be played online at http://textadventuretime.co.uk.