19 Climate Games that Could Change the

Future
July 13, 2023 by Ellie Johnston

The prevalence of games in our culture provides an opportunity to

increase the understanding of our global challenges. The Pew Research
Center estimates that nearly half of American adults play video games.
The vast majority of these games serve purely to entertain. However,
there are a growing number of games that aim to make a di!erence.

Looking at the climate change challenge there are a number of games

and interactive tools to broaden our understanding of the dynamics
involved. Climate Interactive, for one, has led the development of the
role-playing games Climate Action Simulation and World Climate,
which are being adopted from middle school all the way up to executive
management-level classrooms. Many are recognizing the power of
games and everyone from government agencies to NGOs to a group of
teenagers is trying to launch a game to help address climate change.
Below are some of the climate and sustainability-related games we’ve
found. Let us know if you’ve found others.

Group-based Games:

1. Climate Action Simulation: A highly interactive, role-playing game for

groups to play di!erent stakeholders and explore the solutions needed
to take action on climate change.

2. World Climate: A role-playing game for groups that simulates the UN

climate change negotiations by dividing into regional and national
negotiating teams to create a treaty to limit global warming to 2 degrees
C or less.

3. “Stabilization Wedge” Game: A game to show participants the

di!erent ways to cut carbon emissions, through the concept of wedges.

4. Climate Fresk: A science-based collaborative workshop that aims to

help people understand the causes and consequences of climate change.

Computer Games:

5. Survive the Century: A fictional game informed by real science to

educate players on the political, environmental, and social choices
humans face between 2021 and 2100.

6. Ixion: Set in futuristic space, this city-builder game has players

manage resource extraction, infrastructure, and their crews to keep
humanity alive as Earth su!ers from ecosystem collapse.
7. Floodland: An online city-building strategy game set in a world
submerged by global warming. Players must balance conflicting cultures
and limited resources to guide their population into a new age.

8. MacKay Carbon Calculator: Players learn how their choices impact

UK greenhouse gas emissions and create pathways to understand how
the UK might reduce emissions to net zero by 2050 and beyond.

9. Crunch Time 2.0: Crunch Time is an interactive science and

sustainability quiz game designed for kids of all ages. The game can be
played individually or in classroom mode.

10. Mission 1.5: An online game developed by UNDP and Playmob that
educates players about climate solutions through voting on key climate
actions they want to see adopted. The responses are used by UNDP to
help governments develop and implement climate plans and policies
around the world.Our Get
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11. Eco: Eco is an online community-based game where players
collaborate to develop laws and an economy to stop a meteor on a
collision course with the planet, without polluting the world.

12. The Climate Game: An online game developed by the Financial

Times that challenges players to reduce the negative e!ects of climate
change with a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

13. Terra Nil: An environmental strategy game centered around

ecosystem reconstruction. Players transform a barren wasteland into a
thriving ecosystem, reintroduce wildlife, and then depart without leaving
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a trace.

Board Games:

14. Climate Catan: Building on the widely popular board game Settlers
of Catan, this version introduces oil as a resource that promotes
development but can also trigger climate-related disasters if overused,
potentially ruining progress.

15. Keep Cool - Gambling with the Climate (in German): Players take
on the roles of national political leaders trying to address climate change
and must make decisions about the type of growth and balance the
desires of lobby groups and challenges of natural disasters.

16. Polar Eclipse Game: A game where players navigate di!erent

decisions in order to chart a path to a future that avoids the worst
temperature rise.

17. Energetic: A board game about the future of New York City. Players
can observe the extent of change and cooperation required to transform
the city’s energy demand and supply in time to meet the goals outlined in
the Paris Agreement.

18. Daybreak: From the creators of Pandemic, this cooperative board

game o!ers an optimistic vision of the near future, where players have
the opportunity to construct groundbreaking technologies and resilient
 societies needed to decarbonize the world.

Apps:

19. Change Game: This app allows players to test the resilience of their
cities by constructing, managing resources, and controlling emissions.
The higher the level of emissions generated by players, the greater the
challenges they must confront.

To join a network of game developers and people interested in climate

change games check out the International Game Developers
Association Climate Special Interest Group.

Photo credit: Terra Nil and Polar Eclipse

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