Can climate games boost environmental awareness?

DW (English)

Developers are creating more and more games that center on the challenges of climate change and sustainability. Can they help build greater environmental awareness to inspire real-world activism?

Transcript

00:01Battling natural disasters and cutting emissions to help save a planet under pressure.

00:06Climate games help raise awareness about the consequences of climate change.

00:11The crisis has become a major theme in the gaming industry.

00:16There are already several hundred titles addressing climate change, from quizzes to complex strategy

00:23games.

00:24One of them is Imagine Earth, a survival game where players build a sustainable civilization

00:29while managing environmental risks.

00:34Climate change should be everywhere.

00:37So it should also be in games and it's the most pressing matter of our times.

00:43What we wanted to create for players is this authentic experience.

00:48So everything that happens in the game, also the emissions, the simulation, how you can

00:54compensate CO2 with forests etc.

00:58Studies show that climate games can be powerful tools for learning.

01:02They help players understand complex systems, strengthen their sense of responsibility and

01:07even inspire action.

01:09One in eight gamers takes real-world action based on what they have learned in games.

01:16How accurate is the science behind these games really?

01:21We all created this in a way that it feels like this makes sense.

01:25It is not so much about data or precise calculations, it is more about the experience.

01:34Other games address young people's so-called eco-anxiety.

01:37In Canada, for example, 80% of 16 to 25-year-olds say that anxiety about climate change affects

01:46their mental health.

01:49This inspired psychology professor Stefania Maggi to develop an adventure game that helps

01:54players become more eco-conscious.

01:56It also helps them to better cope with their emotions.

01:59We hope that the people who are playing this game will also go through this journey, this

02:09hero's journey and end the process feeling more equipped and with greater quality and motivated

02:17to do something I start with a climate crisis.

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