Climate change games are a fun way to explore the climate crisis and climate solutions. Most people don’t want to focus on gloom and doom or political organizing all day. They want down time for relaxation and social activities like playing games with friends and family. Climate change games help us unwind while exploring climate themes.
What Are Climate Change Games?
Catan: New Energies
Games on itch.io
Video Games
Tabletop Games
What Are Climate Change Games?
Climate change games are games that contain significant climate themes or references. Some climate change games focus entirely on addressing the climate crisis. Others address climate indirectly by including climate references or game mechanics related to greenhouse gas emissions and climate disruptions.
If you know of any climate change games that you don’t see on this list, please contact me. I want to include them all!
Catan: New Energies
Do you like playing Settlers of Catan? Are you looking for a tabletop game with environmental and climate themes? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be excited to discover that there’s a Catan game called Catan: New Energies.
Catan: New Energies is a standalone game that offers a modern twist on classic Catan gameplay.
The core concept and mechanics of the game are the same as the original Catan. Each player controls an expanding group of settlements that harvests natural resources, trades with neighboring settlements, and builds new settlements and other infrastructure.
What’s new in Catan: New Energies is the addition of modern energy infrastructure and many of its associated benefits and costs. This includes fossil fuel plants, renewable energy plants, the energy generated by these plants, and the pollution generated by these plants. There’s also a global footprint tracker to track the island nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
If you’re interested in playing this game, be sure to check out my full review of Catan: New Energies.
Climate Change Games on itch.io
itch.io is a fun and easy way to find and share indie games online. And a growing number of these games feature references to climate change and the climate crisis. My Climate Change Games on itch.io page features a comprehensive list of all games on itch.io with significant climate themes. It also includes links to my reviews of these games.
Climate Change Video Games
Indie video game developers are publishing a growing number of climate change games. This includes apps, web-based games, and desktop computer games. If the game is available in multiple places, I’ve listed it where it seems to make the most sense.
So far, I haven’t found any console games about climate change. So let me know if you do find any climate change games on consoles!
Climate Change Game Apps
- Cranky Uncle. The Cranky Uncle game uses cartoons and critical thinking to fight misinformation. The game was developed by George Mason University scientist John Cook in collaboration with creative agency Autonomy. It’s now available for free on iPhone and Android. The smooth gameplay and colorful cartoons make this fun enough to appeal to a broad audience beyond the usual die-hard climate communicator crowd.
- Deal: A Green New Election by EarthGames. This is a fun and somewhat addicting game. You’re a local politician trying to drum up support for a Green New Deal ballot initiative. It’s almost Election Day and your ballot initiative is clinging to a narrow lead in the polls. Voters are concerned about effects on jobs and cost of living. And the press is waiting for answers about difficult policy questions. An angry fossil fuel CEO has contacted you with a proposal that sounds an awful lot like a threat. And do I smell smoke? Deal: A Green New Election is available for free for iPhone/iPad and Android. You can play it on your phone or play in your browser. Though the developers recommend the app.
Web-Based Climate Change Games
- A Greener Worldle. Guess A GREENER WORLDLE in 6 tries. This is inspired by WORDLE, the guessing game created by Josh Wardle. It was produced by the International Institute for the Environment and Development (IIED). They work with partners to build a fairer and more sustainable world. Each guess must be a valid 5 letter word. And the GREENER WORLDLE will be a word that is related to climate change and the environment. Hit the enter button to submit. After each guess, the color of the tiles will change to show how close your guess was to the word. You want the tiles to turn green, just like the planet.
- EarthGames. EarthGames is a growing community of researchers, game developers and students who share a passion for games and the environment. They’re hard at work adapting the latest scientific research to develop amazing video and board games. Their goal is to teach and inspire players about the natural world and our role within it.
Desktop Climate Change Games
- 2020 Games for Our Future (GFOF) Game Jam. The 2020 Games for Our Future (GFOF) Game Jam had it all. Games about bats facing habitat destruction, climate revolutions, wildfire management, and finicky fornicating pandas on the mission to ensure the survival of their species. This event in collaboration with IndieCade allowed game jammers from across the country (and planet!) to create games focused on the theme of ‘Community, Nature, and Resilience in the Face of Global Crises’. This theme was chosen in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The event from April 17th – 23rd drew over 150 game jammers who submitted a total of 49 diverse games in just 5 short days. All of these games centered around pressing environmental issues. The EarthGames article about the 2020 GFOF Game Jam tells the full story. It includes a list of the contest winners and a link to check out and play all of the games.
- Survive The Century. Survive the Century is a branching narrative game about the political, environmental and social choices humans will face between 2021 and 2100 as we adapt to the ravages of climate change. It’s basically a web-based “Choose Your Own Adventure” story about the climate crisis. Although the game is a work of fiction, it’s informed by real science. The designers hope that this game helps you to feel less hopeless and nihilistic about the future. Our choices matter. It’s not over. There are still a lot of decisions we can make that will lead to better futures.
- Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is the second expansion pack released for Civilization VI. It adds environmental features such as volcanoes, storms (blizzards, dust storms, tornadoes, hurricanes), climate change, floods, and droughts to the game.
Climate Change Tabletop Games
- Energetic by City Atlas. Energetic is a four-player cooperative challenge in which you work to decarbonize New York City. This involves building 16 GW of carbon-neutral energy by 2035 (in the Green New Deal version or 2050 in the standard version. You can build entirely with renewables (wind, water and solar) or by doing research before construction. Research options include advanced nuclear power or natural gas with carbon capture (CCS). Energetic is available through City Atlas’ partner, Artist As Citizen, a 501(c)3 arts organization. It costs $79 with an option to donate more. You may need to talk to a few of your gamer/climate friends to chip in on a group or community set.
- Catan Scenarios: Oil Springs. Catan Scenarios: Oil Springs is an expansion to the popular Catan tabletop game. All of the existing rules of Catan apply. The expansion adds oil as a resource to be extracted, traded, and consumed. It’s the most powerful resource in the game. But watch out! If you burn too much oil, disaster strikes. Portions of the game board become unusable. And the sea levels start to rise, damaging or eliminating coastal settlements.