Playing with Videogame Culture: Case Studies

Despite the large number of games across all genres that broadly locate their action in the dystopian or even post-apocalyptic futures of popular science fiction film and literature, it has been the strategy/simulation genre that has seen developers of mainstream commercial videogames most explicitly reference climate change.

Often drawing on the aesthetics and game mechanics of their tabletop/board game counterparts, strategy videogames are based around the management and development of resources and typically position the player in a ‘God-like’ perspective of oversight and control.

They present as complex simulations, building economic, technological, political, and environmental factors into their models.

Typically, climate change is presented as the undesirable, even unavoidable, consequence of industrialisation.

Researching and developing fossil fuels or developing technologies that lead to the invention of the automobile, for instance, might have the in-game effect of increasing pollution which might, in turn, impact upon the happiness and productivity of virtual citizens or impact upon the utility of land.

Gameplay often allows negative environmental impacts to be mitigated through clean-up activities and the development of new technological solutions such as cleaner energy production, for instance. In many strategy games, players are provided with options to reduce the frequency of potentially game-ending natural disasters or even deactivate them altogether.

The term ‘independent’ (or more typically ‘indie’) is a somewhat slippery term in the context of videogame development.

It might describe a situation in which there is no financial or technical support from a mainstream publisher through versions of self-funding and crowdfunding, to contexts in which development and distribution are financially backed by a traditional videogame publisher but in which some greater degree of creative freedom exists than in the ‘mainstream’ development/publishing relationship context.

For our purposes here, we focus less on the minutiae of financial independence and more on other qualities of indie gaming, namely that development teams tend to be significantly smaller (perhaps even individuals) and that it is putatively possible to experiment, innovate and take risks.

While it is not inevitable, it is often the case that independently-developed videogames are more tightly focused in scope, perhaps being based around a single core mechanic or theme.

In contrast with the mainstream development sector, climate change has provided the inspiration and central theme for a comparatively large number of independently-developed videogames in recent years.

Indeed, even the most cursory search of indie-focused digital distribution platforms such as itch.io reveals a plethora of environmentally-themed games developed by small teams in the past few years. 

While, in principle, all games, whether digital or analogue, can be utilised in formal and informal educational contexts, it is important to distinguish those games that specifically set out to support learning through developing knowledge or the acquisition and application of skills. While there may seem to be a comparatively fine line between educational games and the kinds of formal collaborations between videogame developers and climate scientists (such as we saw in the case of James Lovelock’s advice and input to SimEarth), we make the distinction primarily to highlight the specific educational claims made by certain games along with the contexts in which they might be developed and used. In this way, while other games might have educational value, ‘educational games’ are designed and marketed with this as their primary purpose.

As such, these explicitly educational games very oſten bring together different stakeholders in their commissioning, development and funding. NASA’s Climate Kids project is a case in point and we will see in our case studies examples of BBC funding in the UK context, for instance. Importantly, educational games based around developing knowledge and understanding of climate change typically place considerable emphasis on the credentials of their creators and the validity of the data and climate science upon which their models and gameplay are based which oſten sees the manifest foregrounding of stakeholders such as university research labs as (co-)creators. Interestingly, as we will see in our case studies, projects take markedly different approaches to complexity, data visualisation and different responses to the presence of political negotiation and even climate denial discourses.

Fate of the World makes great play of the complexity of its scientific model with its ‘detailed real-world data’, 1000 ‘impacts’ (including storms, floods, heatwaves, flash fires, desertification, glacial melt, sea level rise, resource wars, dissidence and political backlash and 100+ policies (including geoengineering, diplomacy, species protection, energy choices, population, politics, and clandestine operation). The game remains available via the Steam platform with the tagline, ‘Will you help the whole planet or will you be an agent of destruction?’

As the game moves through pre-industrial past to a more polluted future, it becomes more difficult to navigate the beam on its journey. However, unlocking tools like the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and make the game easier to play. The game is accompanied by a downloadable teachers guide setting out the game’s objectives and learning goals.

Although the primary focus of this report is videogames, it would be remiss not to draw attention to non-digital games.

This is, in part at least, due to the recent resurgence in popularity in what are now known collectively, and clumsily, as ‘analogue games’.

While recognising this increased popularity and visibility, it is, of course, notable that the cultural and economic dominance of digital games has seen to it that, even though they might precede them, board games, tabletop games and card games need now be differentiated in this manner.

Indeed, so prevalent is digital play in popular parlance that while board games are re-demarcated as ‘analogue’, the words ‘game’ and ‘videogame’ have become practically synonymous.

This notwithstanding, the analogue game space has (re)emerged as a particularly vibrant and important one with an independent development scene fuelled by crowdfunding, 3D printing for the fabrication of pieces and (perhaps ironically) digital gameplay prototyping, testing and sharing tools.

As is the case in the independent videogame development context, a number of analogue game makers have similarly sought to tackle questions of climate change through their designs.

While the nature of the form means that the simulation model that underpins an analogue game is unlikely to be able to achieve the complexity of the most sophisticated computer simulation, the analogue game has one potential benefit in that its rules are made manifest rather than being potentially hidden within the ‘black box’ of the computer or games console running inaccessible code and invisibly processing data.

It follows that, not only are the rulesets and systems more potentially accessible and knowable to the player of the analogue game, they are also potentially more readily adapted and modified in order to explore different contexts or conditions.

CO2 second chance builds on earlier boardgames by adding a cooperative gameplay mode and a solo game based around the achievement of specific goals. Two simultaneous crowdfunding campaigns ran on the Giochistarter and Kickstarter platforms and the game is now available through retail outlets.

With the aim of creating a sustainable city, each player starts with an identical deck, buying additional cards from a shared marketplace and collaborating and negotiating with other cities around the world. Gameplay involves balancing income generation with carbon reduction, and co-operation between governments, industries, and the public. Carbon City Zero is designed so that there are multiple paths to the victory state of collective survival, though collaboration is placed at the heart of the game. The focus on collaboration in the World Edition of the game is notable as the first release Carbon City Zero was a wholly competitive multiplayer game which, as Alice Bell co-director of Possible, notes, ‘the message which came out of our player focus groups was really clear – the crisis isn’t experienced or tackled in isolation, so the gameplay has to be cooperative to reflect that, as well as being international.’

One consequence of this coverage in outlets including Wired and the New York Times is the discussion of boardgames and the role of play in the public understanding of climate change. We also include it here as the designers are actively soliciting input into the game through a call on their website. ‘We’re looking for folks who have experience in climate advocacy, policy, science, engineering, art, or games to help us make Daybreak the best it can be. We’re especially interested in support from people based or rooted in the Global South.’

Drawing on the musical concept of the ‘jam session’ in which a group of musicians compose through improvisation and evolving collaboration with little or no preparation, a game jam describes a context in which individuals or teams attempt to create an original videogame from scratch.

Game Jams vary considerably in format but a key characteristic is that they are intensive and take place over a comparatively short period of time ranging from 24 to 72 hours.

Originating in 2002 (when what is now known as the 0th Indie Game Jam was founded by Chris Hecker and Sean Barret), game jams have become a staple of development conferences, higher and further education, partly because they foster creativity and innovation but also because they are based around dominant industry principles and approaches such as rapid prototyping, fast failure and literature design.

Organisations such as Global Game Jam coordinate international game jams – taking place across a record-breaking 934 locations in 118 countries in 2020 (before moving to an online only format during the pandemic).  It is supported by game development companies, publishers and platforms holders, including Unity, Unreal Engine, Microsoft, Sony Interactive Entertainment. Throughout the year there are also many local and hyperlocal game jams organised within universities, schools and museums.

For our purposes in this report, game jams offer a number of important qualities. Because they are based around individuals and small teams working over a short period of time, there is the potential for a large number of games – or sketches and game ideas – to be produced, shared and evaluated. Moreover, game jams are very often, though not always, organised around a theme with climate change providing the focus for events such as:

• Climate Jam 2018 (supported by The Welsh Crucible, Bangor University, Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Sêr Cymru II programme and Swansea University).
• Games For Change Student Challenge (supported by the US Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
• IndieCade Climate Jam 2020 (supported by Niantic, Riot Forge)
• The Green Mobile Game Jam (Playing for the Planet Alliance)

It is an unavoidable fact that the production and distribution of videogames brings with it a number of environmental challenges.

The carbon footprint of the industry is significant with game development, physical and digital distribution channels all contributing to energy use.

While organisations are making their own pledges and commitments including Microsoft’s plan to be carbon negative by 2030[1], Sony working towards a zero environmental footprint by 2050[2], and studios such as UsTwo Games pledging to reduce carbon emissions and introduce green nudges into game design[3], for instance, there is recognition that coordination and better information sharing is required and a number of industry-led initiatives exist that seek to address these issues.

By way of example, the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has established a ‘Climate’ Special Interest Group which focuses on building a Climate Guide 101 for game developers, game design patterns, industry benchmarking, and climate council advocacy.

Similarly, facilitated by the UN Environment Programme with the support of GRID-Arendal and Playmob, and launched during the Climate Summit at UN Headquarters in New York, Playing for the Planet is an industry-led initiative focusing on commitments from its Alliance of partners that include Twitch, Ubisoft, Rovio, SportsInteractive.

As the project website notes, ‘members have made commitments ranging from integrating green activations in games, reducing their emissions and supporting the global environmental agenda through initiatives ranging from planting millions of trees to reducing plastic in their products.’

In August 2021 UKIE (a trade body for videogames in the UK) also announced a collaboration with Playing for the Planet, alongside ISFE (the Interactive Software Federation of Europe). Ahead of COP26, their ‘Green Games Summit[4]’ aims to ‘bring the international games sector together to share knowledge, discuss and shape the industry’s approach to the climate crisis and sustainability’.

[1] https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030/

[2] https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/csr/eco/RoadToZero/gm_en.html

[3] https://playing4theplanet.org/ustwo-games/

[4] www.askaboutgames.com/news/green-games-summit-ukie-isfe-and-playing-for-the-planet-team-up-to-launch-new-event-tackling-climate-change-in-games