Green Media Mediography – Utrecht University

Post Growth Toolkit: The Game

Developed by the art and research collective Disnovation.org, Post Growth Toolkit: The Game is a tactical intervention into how we conceptualize the climate crisis. Most commercial environmental simulation games like SimCity or more recent ‘green-tech’ city builders operate within a neoliberal framework, challenging players to optimize resources, deploy eco-friendly upgrades, and manage carbon metrics, all

Plastic Island

Plastic Island, developed by the Indonesia-based “Ecogames” collective, is an educational board game that thematizes combating plastic pollution. Participants clean and upcycle trash, enhancing the ocean’s health; the game (like every title designed by the Ecogames collective) is created by local artisans in Bali, at least partly from upcycled materials like recycled wood, canvas, and

Circular City – the board game

Conceived and developed through a cross-border partnership between the municipality of Prato (Italy), the municipality of Taichung (Taiwan), and ARCO (Action Research for Co-Development) at the University of Florence, “Circular City – the board game” is an educational, non-profit serious game designed to model the real-world complexities of transitioning toward a sustainable future. Rather than

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

“My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future”. The British filmmaker and naturalist, David Attenborough, has devoted his career to educating people about nature and, more recently, the climate crisis. The 2020 documentary David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet weights in on the climate crisis by aiming to subvert the traditional nature documentary

Ecology: The Game of Man and Nature

From the Science History Institute website: “Ecology: The Game of Man and Nature was published in 1970 by Urban Systems, a consulting and research firm, whose president, Richard H. Rosen, was an ecologist and environmental engineer. While teaching undergraduate air pollution classes at Harvard, Rosen produced a number of anti-pollution board games for educational purposes.

Get Water!

Get Water! is a mobile story-driven, gesture controlled, endless runner-game developed for World Water Day 2013. It focuses on its protagonist Maya, an Indian teenage girl who gets pulled out of school to fetch clean water for her family. The purpose of Get Water! is to raise awareness of water scarcity and how it directly

Sustainability City (Minecraft Education)

The lesson pack “Sustainability City” for Minecraft Education frames sustainability as a process integrating elements like urban planning, consumer behavior, and responsible resource management. It does not fucs only on environmental protection, but on enhancing economic modes of production and quality of life by reducing waste and using renewable energy.The mod breaks down sustainability into

FutureGuessr

FutureGuessr is a compelling example of an ecogame that operates primarily as a tool for visual climate communication. Launched in June 2025, it takes inspiration from the popular GeoGuessr format but shifts the focus from geographical curiosity to climate awareness. FutureGuessr uses AI to generate images of familiar, localized landscapes (like Germany or Chamonix) as they might appear in 2100 (e.g., drought, dry riverbeds).

Diving into an Acidifying Ocean

"Diving into an Acidifying Ocean" brings along the users on an interactive journey that will educate them more about the dangers of ocean acidification while going back in time or travelling into the future.

Daybreak

Daybreak is a cooperativeCooperation This is a dummy entry about cooperation. board game that models technological, political and social responses to climate change. It was designed by Pandemic creator Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace. Throughout the game, the Earth’s temperature begins to rise. Simultaneously, players must contend with crisis events, such as droughts, wildfires, rising

Beecarbonize

The free-to-play strategy game Beecarbonize challenges players do plan and choreograph climate policies and sustainable sociotechnical developments. Players can prioritize between industrial reforms, nature conservation or people initiatives. From the Steam page: “There are many ways to solve climate change and reduce pollution. But saving the planet is not an easy task. The more carbon

Wijk & Water Battle

The objective of Wijk & Water Battle is to provide participants with insights into their water and energy consumption, ultimately encouraging them to change their habits. The pilot launched in the autumn of 2015, involving children from two primary schools in different neighborhoods of Leeuwarden. Over three months, the children teamed up with local residents in a

SpaceBuzz

The non-profit SpaceBuzz educational foundation is inspired by the ‘Overview Effect’ (see below), that—until recently—only astronauts in space were able to experience. SpaceBuzz wants to enable 10-12 year old children to follow in the footsteps of astronauts and experience seeing Earth from space for themselves and inspire them to become ambassadors of planet Earth. Its

Captain Fantastic

Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Matt Ross. It tells the story of a family, Ben Cash, his wife Leslie, and their six children aged seven to 18, who has decided to live in the wilderness, using survivalist skills, and opting for self-reliance and self-sufficiency, without dependence on modern technology. In line with

Evolution: CLIMATE

Evolution: CLIMATE is a stand-alone game for 2 – 6 players in the Evolution product line of board games, sharing the core systems with the original title. From the website: “In Evolution: CLIMATE, players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce, predators lurk, and the climate can swing between scorching hot

WWF Free Rivers

The WWF Free Rivers app is an educational tool that teaches its audience about the effects of a river ecosystem on the environment. By including components such as animal life, river maintenance, rehabilitation, and restoration, the app shows the right and wrongs ways a river can be treated.

Elysium

Elysium tells the story of a future where the Earth has been driven to the brink of ruin, where the very wealthy have retreated to living on a man-made luxurious space station. The film touches upon multiple important issues such as health care, immigration, economic inequality, and environmental decay.

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction franchise, that actively uses their storylines to explore contemporary political and social issues. They often focus on diplomacy across cultures and promoting collaborative approaches to problem-solving.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox videogame where the player can build, create, and survive in order to explore the environment.

Citizen Science

Citizen Science is an adventure pizzle game where the player is tasked to help stop the pollution of the local lake through time travel. The player has to gather data and evidence in order to create arguments that are key to change the future.

World Rescue

World Rescue is a narrative, research-based video-game inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Through fast-paced gameplay set in Kenya, Norway, Brazil, India, and China, players meet and help five young heroes and help them solve global problems—such as displacement, disease, deforestation, drought, and pollution—at the community level.

WWF Panda Junior

WWF Panda Junior lets the player play as either Alex or Emma as they discover the African continent. The game is dedicated to a young audience from 6 to 9 years old. During their journey the players will meet lots of different animals, unfortunately tourists and hunters will try to stop the players from progressing.