Playing Games with Climate Change
Gaming, especially online gaming, is part of modern culture. Whether you’re playing scrabulous on facebook, or tennis on that new Wii you got for Christmas, you should take a minute and check out this game called Climate Challenge from the BBC.
In this game, you get to be the president of the European Nations (that’s President Fox, thanks). As president, you tackle climate change by buying policy “cards”, bartering with other world leaders, and making sure that you’re still popular in the press. It kind of reminds me of Monopoly. However, the only way I ever won at Monopoly was when I was the banker (Ok, I admit, I cheated at Monopoly when I was seven).
Would the planet survive if you were in power? Innovate, trade and persuade other nations to help you save the environment.
I like the premise of this game. The science and research behind the game is solid. The BBC developers have done a nice job demonstrating the complexities of climate change policy making. You’ve really got to spend a lot of time thinking about the choices you’re making. There’s lots of choices, all with consequences. In other words, it’s pretty hard to cheat to win.
