Global warming game

A global warming game, also known as a climate game or a climate change game, is a type of serious game. As a serious game, it attempts to simulate and explore real life issues to educate players through an interactive experience. The issues particular to a global warming video game are usually energy efficiency and the implementation of green technology as ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus counteract global warming. Global warming games include traditional board games, video games, and other varieties such as role-playing and simulation-assisted multiplayer games.[1]

An in-game screenshot from Fate of the World, a global warming game

Objectives

The primary objectives of global warming games are threefold:

  1. To develop the player's familiarity and knowledge of the issue of global warming and related issues
  2. To make the player aware of the challenges and obstacles that are faced when addressing global warming
  3. Occasionally, the games encourage players to develop ideas and solutions to global warming

The first objective is universal to global warming games. The issues surrounding global warming commonly included are CO2 emissions and the emission of other greenhouse gases, the melting of the polar ice caps, sea-level rise, natural disasters and massive changes to lifestyles caused by global warming. Games that do not go beyond the objective of knowledge and familiarity tend to be designed for younger audiences. Games designed for young children often only have the goal to engage the children enough to excite their attention to focus on these basic concepts.

The second objective is integrated into games in a variety of ways. Sometimes demonstrating the challenges of confronting global warming are put directly into the style of gameplay, e.g. to demonstrate the difficulty of international cooperation, players are made to represent different countries and are required to negotiate to fulfill game objectives. Other times, the game includes the challenges as a part of the mechanics, e.g. building 'green factories' is more expensive than building 'black factories.'

The final objective is shared by the most interactive and engaging global warming games. Developing solutions to global warming includes two major types of response: mitigation of emissions and global warming's effects, and adaptation to live sustainably in a new climate. Typically players are given a variety of different options so that they may come up with a number of different creative solutions. Sometimes players are even allowed freedom to create their own unique options to integrate into their strategy.

Notable examples

LogiCity

LogiCity was an interactive Flash-based virtual-reality based computer game, produced by Logicom and the National Energy Foundation, an English charity. The game is set in a 3D virtual city with five main activities where players are set the task of reducing the carbon footprint of an average resident. At the end of the game they are taken forward to 2066 to see if they have done enough to save England from the worst problems associated with global climate change.[2] The game's conclusion and focus on 2066 is designed to bring home to players the reality of the changes they may face in their lifetime.[3]

The game was created as part of Defra's (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Climate Challenge programme[4] to increase public awareness of Climate Change across the country. The National Energy Foundation, Logicom and British Gas also provided support to the game's development. LogiCity is designed to be used both by individuals and in an educational context. It is stated to be suitable for most children from the ages of 10 or 11 upward (English KS3+), although the main target group is young adults aged 16–26.[5]

Stabilization wedge game
Main article: Stabilization Wedge Game

The Stabilization Wedge Game, or what is commonly referred to as simply the "wedge game", is a serious game produced by Princeton University's Carbon Mitigation Initiative. The goal of the game creators, Stephen W. Pacala and Robert H. Socolow, is to demonstrate that global warming is a problem which can be solved by implementing today's technologies to reduce CO2 emissions.[6] The object of the game is to keep the next fifty years of CO2 emissions flat, using seven wedges from a variety of different strategies which fit into the stabilization triangle.

Climate Challenge
Main article: Climate Challenge

Climate Challenge is a Flash-based simulation game produced by the BBC and developed by Red Redemption Ltd. Players manage the economy and resources of the 'European Nations' as its president, while reducing emissions of CO2 to combat climate change and managing crises. Climate Challenge is an environmental serious game, designed to give players an understanding of the science behind climate change, as well as the options available to policy makers and the difficulties in their implementation.[7]

V GAS
Main article: V GAS

V GAS is a 3D serious game in which players explore and live in a house that is built to mirror their own. Players begin the game by building a profile including variables such as water use and transportation behaviors, heating and cooling practices, food purchases, and electrical appliance usage. Once the profile has been built, the player can begin the simulation which introduces different scenarios ranging from heat waves to mad cow disease. The player adjusts their lifestyle according to how they would react to these events in real life. All the while, the players' decisions are being measured and recorded, and their overall contribution to N2O, CO2, and CH4 to the atmosphere is measured.

Keep Cool
Main article: Keep Cool (board game)

Keep Cool is a board game created by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and published by the German company Spieltrieb in November 2004. Up to six players representing the world's countries compete to balance their own economic interests and the world's climate in a game of negotiation. The goal of the game as stated by the authors is to "promote the general knowledge on climate change and the understanding of difficulties and obstacles, and "to make it available for a board game and still retain the major elements and processes."[8] A quantitative-empirical study with more than 200 students shows that Keep Cool facilitates experimental learning about climate change and helps "to develop individual beliefs about sustainable development by experiencing complex system dynamics that are not tangible in everyday life."[9]

Fate of the World
Main article: Fate of the World

Fate of the World is a 2011 Microsoft Windows and Mac OS game developed and published by Red Redemption, the developers of Climate Challenge. It focuses on global governance, with goals ranging from improving living conditions in Africa, to preventing catastrophic climate change, to exacerbating it. It is based around an intricate model of populations, economic production and greenhouse emissions based on real-world data.[10][11]

The Climate Trail

The Climate Trail is a 2019 post climate apocalypse game based on The Oregon Trail. Created by William Volk in Ren'Py and Python it is a free game for Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS and Android. It combines visual novel elements with a journey from Atlanta to Canada along an abandoned highway. Players obtain and ration supplies, deal with hazards, and lead a group of survivors.[12]

Carbon City Zero

Carbon City Zero[13] is a global warming game published by the climate action charity Possible in January 2021.The game is a collaborative deck-building card game for 1-4 people in which players take on the role of city mayors working to develop sustainable cities by greening transport, transforming industries, and getting their citizens on board.[14] Since its release on Kickstarter, the game has been made available as a free print-and-play download via PnP Arcade[15] and as an online game on Tabletopia.[16]

Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge

The Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge is a collaborative effort between Microsoft and Games for Change (G4C), a subgroup of the Serious Games Initiative. The challenge is a worldwide competition to develop a global warming game with Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express software. Winners will be awarded scholarships from Games for Change and Microsoft, and the winning games will have the possibility of being available for download on the Xbox Live Arcade service. The Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge has been cast by Microsoft as a "socially-minded" initiative, joining the larger serious games movement.[17] Suzanne Seggerman, a co-founder of Games for Change, shared these comments in a radio interview:

Think about how this next generation of kids could be inspired to be environmentalists and humanitarians. You know I'd like to see also, a thousand little game seeds planted. Not all the games are going to get prizes and not even that many are going to get recognized. But think of this new generation of game-makers and game innovators we're reaching. All these kids who've perhaps never even considered the impact of the environment are going to be getting knee deep in environmental issues. That's really exciting. You know kids really respond to this medium of video games in a way they don't to a newspaper or a heavy documentary. And I think that's the key. It's that we're reaching them on their own turf.

— Suzanne Seggerman[18]

See also

References
  1. Fernández Galeote, Daniel; Rajanen, Mikko; Rajanen, Dorina; Legaki, Nikoletta-Zampeta; Langley, David J; Hamari, Juho (2021-06-01). "Gamification for climate change engagement: review of corpus and future agenda". Environmental Research Letters. 16 (6): 063004. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abec05. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 233820212.
  2. See interview with Dr Majid Al-Kader, New Scientist video on YouTube"Climate Change in a Virtual World". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  3. "LogiCity: Will You Survive?". National Energy Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  4. "Climate Challenge Project". DEFRA. Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
  5. Simonite, Tom (2007-11-15). "Climate change in a virtual world". New Scientist. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
  6. Pacala and Socolow, Stephen and Robert (2004-08-13). "Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies". Science. 305 (5686): 968–972. Bibcode:2004Sci...305..968P. doi:10.1126/science.1100103. PMID 15310891. S2CID 2203046.
  7. "Climate Challenge". BBC. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  8. Eisenack, Klaus; Petschel-Held, Gerhard. "The Authors: Science and Games". Retrieved 2007-07-25.
  9. Meya, Jasper N.; Eisenack, Klaus (August 2018). "Effectiveness of gaming for communicating and teaching climate change". Climatic Change. 149 (3–4): 319–333. Bibcode:2018ClCh..149..319M. doi:10.1007/s10584-018-2254-7. ISSN 0165-0009. S2CID 51991940.
  10. Red Redemption (28 February 2011). "Fate of the World: Real Science. Real Consequences". Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  11. Jack Arnott (31 October 2010). "Fate of the World - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  12. Taylor, Ivy (2019-10-30). GameIndustry.biz "The Climate Trail: A bleak look at what awaits us if we fail to address climate change". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2023-04-03. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  13. "Carbon City Zero". Possible. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  14. Styles, Christopher (2021-02-15). "Carbon Countdown - Using games to recontextualise "wicked problems"". SciCulture. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  15. "Carbon City Zero". PNPArcade. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  16. "Carbon City Zero: World Edition". Tabletopia. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  17. "Xbox 360 Games for Change Challenge". Microsoft. 2007-06-11. Archived from the original on 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  18. Gellerman, Bruce (2007-06-22). "Global Warming Games". Living on Earth. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.