About half the global population spends some amount of their leisure time playing games, whether it’s a board game after dinner with friends or online role-playing experience through an alternate world. While many video and board games have long incorporated elements we can imagine in a climate-altered future — such as resource scarcity, conflict, and survival — some in the industry are working to shift players’ mindsets towards protecting nature and reducing their own climate impacts in the process.

Daybreak is a cooperative board game about stopping climate change. Cities: Skylines lets players do urban planning with climate-friendly policies such as offering free public transportation or implementing congestion pricing. And the UN’s Environment Programme is backing the Playing for Planet Alliance, which awards games that spark engagement while delivering an environmental message. How can games encourage people to explore climate realities and possible futures in a way that allows greater engagement, rather than anxiety and despair?

Guests:

Jacob Geller, Author; Video Essayist

Laura Carter, CEO and Founder, TreesPlease Games

Sam Barratt, Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy, UN Environment Programme

For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/podcasts

Highlights:

00:00 – Intro

00:30 – Kousha and Ariana play a video game

05:00 – Jacob Geller on video games and climate themes

11:00 – World-building games that employ climate solutions and strategies

21:30 – Laura Carter on her early love of games and environmental issues

26:00 – LongLeaf Valley and storytelling in games

33:30 – Why build tree-planting into the gameplay

40:00 – Sam Barratt on why video games medium is so critical for engagement

46:30 – Playing for the Planet Alliance and Green Games Jam

52:00 – Why it’s important for games industry to decarbonize

58:00 – Climate One More Thing

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Press Start: Video Games and the Climate Crisis