Climate Crisis and Video Games
summary
Survey of games from Anno 2070 to Fate of the World and Civilization VI: Gathering Storm shows concrete mechanics: a scientific climate model underpins Fate, Civilization triggers sea‑level and desert events, Mini Metro illustrates systemic pressures, and carbon trading appears as a playable mechanic in planet builders. Examples built and shipped include Frostpunk’s harsh city‑survival economy, Flotsam’s floating trash islands, and This War of Mine’s scarcity choices. The central claim is that games best contribute by modeling systems and political tradeoffs, not by relying on deus‑ex technological fixes.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Climate crisis in video games
- 0:50Commercial games examples
- 3:01Climate simulation game concept
- 5:10History of climate themes
- 7:15Commercial games handling climate
- 9:51Teaching systems with games
- 11:21Dystopian climate storytelling
- 12:51Science fiction’s role in imagining solutions
- 14:23Futures without tech fixes
- 16:05Scarcity punk and cozy apocalypse
- 18:39Political solutions in games
- 19:24Military games and climate
- 20:05Conclusion and Q&A
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