Digital Game – Green Media Mediography

Pokémon Pokopia

Pokémon Pokopia is perhaps the most explicit ‘environmental’ game in the franchise’s history, which makes it an interesting case study. Developed by Game Freak and Omega Force it pivots from the series’ traditional gameplay loop based on catching and battling Pokémon to a gameplay paradigm and corresponding story focused on restoration and rewilding. It has

Fe

In Fe, your objective is to save the environment from disbalance - teaching an important lesson in interconnectedness and new nature-relationships.

Whisper of the House

Whisper of the House is one of those cozy games that immediately pulls players into its gentle rhythm. Similar to the popular title Unpacking, the core gameplay revolves around unpacking, tidying and decorating the interiors of various houses. However, Whisper of the House expands on this gameplay by adding a range of charming townspeople, each

FathomVerse

FathomVerse is a free mobile game that invites players to contribute to science. By playing mini-games and interacting with ocean imagery, gamers contribute to identifying ocean animals and training AI models design to help discover and understand life in the ocean. Players tackle minigames to view imagery collected by researchers and discover ocean animals. The

Eternagram

In order to measure individual propensity to climate communication, a team led by the City University of Hong Kong created a text-adventure game that allows players to explore a non-Earth world guided by a ChatGPT-based in-game character. The researchers collected in-game dialogues of players conversing freely with the character, and player choices from designed game

Hollow Knight: Silksong

After almost eight years since the original Hollow Knight, the long-awaited sequel has arrived: Hollow Knight: Silksong. Blending Action, Adventure, and Indie elements, it presents a world shaped by detailed, hand-made 2D artwork that gives the game its unmistakable look. You play as Hornet, a former boss and reluctant ally from the first Hollow Knight.

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).

Warframe – Vallis Undermind Expansion

This entry is still work-in-progress. With the Vallis Undermind expansion, Digital Extremes added a content update to its live-service ‘looter shooter’ game that, while not having an overtly educational or environmental focus, clearly taps into a heightened sensitivity and receptiveness towards human/nature themes in popular culture. Pertinent design choices include:

The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature Expansion Pack

The Sims 4 expansion pack "Enchanted by Nature" presents an idealized and heavily romanticized representation of rural life and living with nature inspired by the 'cottagecore' aesthetic and the British countryside.

Herdling

The game invites players to "head out on a grand alpine expedition with a herd of loveable beasts, as you ascend a mountain path, encounter eerie dangers and surprising obstacles, and forge your way to the mystery at the summit".

The Planet Crafter

The Planet Crafter drops you on a dead planet. No oxygen, no water, no food. Just rocks, sand, and a blinking oxygen meter. You are not fighting enemies here. The enemy is the environment. What makes it stand out is how much of the game is about building a livable world from scratch. You start

The Walking Dead

Telltale’s The Walking Dead is a narrative point-and-click game set during a zombie apocalypse, but honestly, calling it a zombie game does not do it justice. It is way more about the people, the choices, and the emotional mess you get thrown into. The story is super well written, the characters are complex and believable,

Ōkami

Ōkami is one of those games that stays with you long after you have played it. You take on the role of Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf, and alongside your tiny, loudmouthed companion Issun (who, by the way, gets far too excited whenever he sees a woman), you

Ark: Survival Ascended

ARK: Survival Ascended is an open-world survival game developed by Studio Wildcard. It takes place on mysterious, artificially created worlds known as ARKs, massive, space-borne habitats designed to preserve life after a catastrophic event on Earth. These ARKs are home to a vast array of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, many of which have been

Spilled!

Spilled! takes players to a captivating but polluted world that they need to clean up to watch it come back to life. It taps into the pleasure of frictionless ‘cleaning’ that a small but growing number of game are catering to, both with and without an explicit environmental subtext (like e.g. Powerwash Simulator). Spilled! is

Balance of the Planet

Balance of the Planet sees player balance global economic and ecological forces through taxation and expenditure, with each policy change having a runoff effect to other areas. For instance, clearing forests changes the level of CO2 in the air, which affects global warming.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a 2023 action-adventure game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The game is part of the Avatar franchise, and was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on December 7, 2023.

Terra Nil

Terra Nil is a reverse city builder about ecosystem reconstruction. Turn a barren wasteland into an ecological paradise complete with different flora and fauna.

Never Alone

Never Alone, or Kisima Inŋitchuŋa, is a game developed in collaboration with native people of Alaska, called the Iñupiat. The game is about a young Iñupiat girl and a fox trying to find the source of a devastating blizzard that is threatening their world.

Energy Czar

Energy Czar is an early educational simulation game where the president of the United States gives the player full power to guide the country through a 1980s energy crisis. The player has full control over eight energy resources: coal, oil, natural gas, uranium, hydroelectric power, solar power, wind power and biomass. It is possible to promote

Out and About

In Out and About, the player character visits their grandmother and learns about the real world plants that surround a mountainside town. A natural disaster strikes while they are visiting the grandmother. In the aftermath, players find a lot of fallen trees and hard-to-follow paths and are encouraged to explore and talk to the people

The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle

The Sims 4 is the fourth entry in a series of games known as The Sims. In these games, the player is able to simulate daily life by creating individuals, known as sims, and making decisions for these sims. This way, each player can completely customize their sims and the lives they live. The Eco

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a role-playing video game developed by Northway Games and published by Finji. The player starts the game as a ten year old, going through events that affect their colony on an alien planet until the game ends when they turn twenty. The game lets players spend their teenage years

ARMA 3

Arma 3 is an open world tactical shooter developed and published by Bohemia Interactive exclusively through Steam. It is the third main entry in the Arma series, and the eighth installment in the series overall. Over a decade since its release, Arma 3 maintains a substantial player base and an active modding community. Arma 3