99% Invisible – "Hidden Levels #5: Press B to Touch Grass"
Host: Roman Mars
Date: October 21, 2025
Overview
This episode of 99% Invisible, hosted by Roman Mars with Ben Brock Johnson and Dean Russell, explores the evolving relationship between video game design and representations of nature. Through personal stories, expert interviews, and industry insights, the episode examines how the creation of lush digital worlds both reflects and shapes real-world engagement with the environment. The discussion weaves from the nostalgia of childhood forests to the photorealistic, algorithm-driven landscapes of modern open-world games, even questioning the ecological impact of gaming itself.
Key Themes & Discussion Points
The Allure of Virtual Nature
[01:54]–[04:11]
- Personal Example: Ben Brock Johnson introduces his video game–loving eight-year-old son, Brock, who delights as much in digital forests as in their real-life counterparts.
- Kids today, like Brock, are captivated by the term "biome," relishing game environments more than mere "smashing things." ("He’s just really like ensorceled by the outside world inside of his indoor kids game." – Roman Mars [03:16])
- Memorable Moment: Brock: “I play a lot of the tundra biome and sometimes the forest biome.” [02:42]
- Insight: For kids (and adults), immersive game environments often become surrogates for real nature, enabling a sense of discovery and belonging.
Nature Lost and Found Through Games
[04:15]–[10:53]
- Cassie Ann’s Story: Once an "outdoorsy" child in rural Vermont, Cassie's allergies forced them indoors, cutting them off from nature.
- Turning Point: Cassie found solace and inspiration in Minecraft, using the game’s endless, customizable landscapes to reconnect with a sense of wildness and exploration.
- Quote: “It kind of never mattered to me that like the Minecraft environments were like 16 by 16 pixels… it just translated into my experiences in game.” – Cassie/“Snifferish” [09:16]
- Influence: Cassie becomes a Minecraft influencer, blending real-life ecology and digital architecture, designing landscapes for millions online.
Evolution of Nature in Video Games
[12:47]–[19:29]
- Expert Perspective: Alenda Chang, a UC Santa Barbara professor and author on video game ecology, explains the push for greater realism and immersion in game environments.
- Three Eras of Digital Nature:
- Background (8-bit, 2D, e.g., Zelda 1986): Nature as static scenery.
- “If it’s a forest, all the trees are the same...sort of replicated in a grid.” – Chang [14:33]
- Playable Environment (3D, e.g., Ocarina of Time 1998): Interactive, but not always lifelike.
- Open World (e.g., Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2017): Expansive, dynamic ecosystems, with emergent behaviors and interactivity.
- “You can put the controller down and things will continue to happen...you’re part of that environment in a way that didn’t happen with earlier games.” – Chang [18:47]
- Background (8-bit, 2D, e.g., Zelda 1986): Nature as static scenery.
Realism, Scale, and Procedural Generation
[19:29]–[26:32]
- Open World Impact: Games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Skyrim, and Minecraft offer not just endless territory, but a dynamic sense of place.
- Procedural Generation: Instead of hand-placing every element, developers set environmental rules; computers algorithmically generate diverse terrains and biomes.
- “It’s not possible to design each part of an endless world by hand. Procedural generation is the reason why we can create this world with different biomes...” – Agnes Larson, Mojang [21:53]
- Scan Technology & Photorealism: Artists now digitize real plants and rocks, recreating them for games for unbelievable realism.
- “You can literally just create realism now because you can go out and scan nature.” – Jeremy Huxley [25:25]
When Virtual Designs Shape the Real World
[29:20]–[33:20]
- Digital Twins: Cities like Zurich and New York leverage game technologies (procedural generation, game engines) for urban planning, climate response, and environmental conservation.
- “The more immersive you can experience your world digitally, the better you’ll be able to make decisions, right?” – Tysha Fabritius, Esri [30:25]
- Climate Modeling: These tools simulate sea level rise, heat islands, and recovery from disasters, changing how we address real-world environmental challenges.
The Environmental Cost & Potential of Gaming
[33:20]–[38:40]
- Carbon Footprint: The gaming industry produces massive emissions—comparable to medium-sized European countries—largely due to the push for realism.
- “The best number ... is around about 50 million tons of CO2 per annum. It's bigger than Hollywood.” – Ben Abraham, Sustainable Games Alliance [34:47]
- Behavioral Impact: Despite ecological costs, games foster environmental awareness, especially among young players.
- Including endangered species like axolotls in Minecraft sparked real-world conservation awareness and action: “Nearly every kid who visited [the sanctuary] came because of Minecraft.” – Chang [37:59]
Returning to Actual Nature
[38:40]–[40:45]
- Cassie’s Reflection: Gaming never fully replaces nature for Cassie; the desire to translate real landscapes into Minecraft persists, not the other way around.
- “I feel like I'm more focused on translating our world into Minecraft than Minecraft into our world.” – Cassie [39:14]
- Poignant Moment: The trio’s hike encapsulates humanity’s hybrid relationship with the world: both sculpted (trails, paths) and untameable.
Memorable Quotes & Insights
- "He is designing a very ridiculous treehouse that I do not have the ability or the resources to construct. He's riding his bike as fast as possible and he is starting to play, just starting to play, video games..." – Roman Mars [01:54]
- “I know for a fact that video games make people interested in nature because they're seeing nature that they've never experienced before, and it's making them almost want to go experience it.” – Cassie/“Snifferish” [10:53]
- “Games are, you know, these really incredible storytelling machines...that might be enough to propel somebody to think differently or to care about something that isn't just them.” – Alenda Chang [38:15]
- “Should we go to the end?” “Yay. So we can get in our cars.” “Go play video games.” – Ben, Cassie [40:17–40:22]
Notable Timestamps
- [01:54] – Brock’s fascination with "biomes" in video games.
- [04:15] – Cassie's shift from outdoors to virtual nature.
- [07:39] – Cassie’s love of Minecraft as a lifeline to the outdoors.
- [13:45] – Three eras of virtual nature, starting with The Legend of Zelda.
- [18:07] – Breath of the Wild: ecological interactivity and immersion.
- [21:53] – Procedural generation in Minecraft explained by Agnes Larson.
- [25:25] – Photorealism and scanned assets in games, per Jeremy Huxley.
- [30:25] – Digital twins and virtual city modeling for climate change.
- [34:47] – Ben Abraham on gaming’s climate impact.
- [37:59] – Minecraft's axolotl effect and impact on real-world conservation.
- [39:14] – Cassie’s perspective on translating the real world into Minecraft.
Episode Tone and Style
Casual, reflective, and inquisitive, the episode mixes technical explanations with human stories, balancing nostalgia, wonder, and a critical eye about the unintended impacts of design—both virtual and real. The hosts and guests joke, reminisce, and contemplate the blurry lines between digital and natural worlds, inviting the listener to do the same.
This rich episode of 99% Invisible demonstrates that game design is more than entertainment—it’s a driver of how we perceive, value, and even manage real nature. It raises urgent questions: Can virtual worlds inspire environmental action? What do we lose (or cost the planet) in the quest for ever-more dazzling simulated landscapes? And what happens when, after exploring infinite digital vistas, we still long to just "touch grass"?