This year's Games for Change festival highlighted three projects that are rethinking how games can send a message about sustainability.
This story is part of Tech for Change: an ongoing series in which we shine a spotlight on positive uses of technology, and showcase how they're helping to make the world a better place. If you’ve ever written off video games as mindless entertainment that rots brains, there’s a good chance you don’t follow them closely enough. Even since the earliest days of the medium, developers have used games as a tool for education. Think back to games like Math Blaster or The Oregon Trail.
Recommended Videos While Games for Change’s awards honor a wide range of games, its Best In Environmental Impact category is especially worth paying attention to each year. This year’s show honored three games in that category from small studios, all of which I sat down with at the show proper. Each of the three titles tackles the topic of sustainability and environmentalism in very different ways, showing exactly how creators are rethinking how games can both educate and entertain players.
The Plastic Pipeline is a bit of a two-for-one lesson. It doesn’t just tell players how they can reduce waste usage in their own lives, but shows the complexities of building sensible laws and environmental programs. Each time I come up with a potential proposal, I get some pros and cons I have to consider. An education campaign might be a low lift task, but awareness raising will only get the town so far.
It’s a relaxing gameplay loop that has the same appeal as something like House Flipper 2; it’s just satisfying to clean up messes. Through that strong gameplay loop, Loddlenaut is able to stress the importance of preserving our planet entirely through play. That can be a strong enough motivator on its own, showing players that cleaning can be fun. Loddlenaut puts its money where its mouth is too.
Games For Change Loddlenaut Tech For Change The Plastic Pipeline Wake: Tales From The Aqualab
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