Experiencing Ecosystems – Green Media Mediography

The Educational Value of Virtual Ecologies in Red Dead Redemption 2

This paper is of importance because, it shows that education doesn’t have to be limited to specifically designed ‘serious’ games only. The “big budget” games as the authors call them can also offer opportunities to teach players about subjects like ecology and conservation.

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.

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

Dungeon Meshi

The Netflix anime series Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon) is unusual in that it constructs the dungeon, a common worldbuilding trope from role-playing games, as an ecosystem and as a metaphor for ecosystemic interactions.

ABZÛ

In the game ABZÛ, the player takes on the role of a diver in a part of the ocean. Without any knowledge on himself, the environment, or the purpose of being there, it is up to the player to discover the secrets of the deep sea. During this adventure, the player will swim alongside all

Rain World

Rain World might look a bit different than more prominent ‘ecogame’ examples but exhibits a few design decisions that stand out among other digital games and raise pertinent issues: Destabilizing anthropomorphism. The game exclusively features non-human protagonists and antagonists; moreover, while the in-game creatures are inspired by real-world counterparts (e.g. spiders and birds), they are

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

Earth (board game)

From the website: “Earth is an open-world engine builder for 1 to 5 players with simple rules and countless strategic possibilities. With its encyclopedic nature and a near-infinite number of tableau combinations, every single game will allow you to discover new synergies and connections, just as our vast and fascinating world allows us to do!

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

Pokémon Go: Sustainability Week

Pokémon Go is an AR game for mobile devices, where players catch Pokémon by travelling through the real world. The developer Niantic organises an annual Sustainability Week to promote local non-profits and sustainability efforts.

After Earth

After Earth depicts a future where it is no longer safe for humans to live on planet Earth. The movie shows a theme of animal retribution, and that the antropocene -the age of humans- has passed.

Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil Village is a survival horror game, where the 'T-Virus' has resulted in a zombie plague. The game follows an eco-hero, while warning for viruses and bio-organic weapons.

Red Dead Redemption Online: Naturalist

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Western themed action game. Its online mode features various different roles you can take on in the wild west. One of these roles is the naturalist role, where the player plays a conservationist storyline.

The Blue Paradox

The Blue Paradox is an immersive pop-up experience that was open for 13 days in September 2021. The goal of this exhibition is to educate and help people take the first step to act upon the ocean plastic crisis.

Petrichor

Petrichor is a strategy board game for 1-4 players. Named after the constructed Greek word describing the earthy smell after rainfall, Petrichor focuses on action selection and area influence mechanics. In Petrichor each player becomes a cloud and aims to let as many crops grow as possible. A player can use for different actions, which

Sleepless / Repeat Until Death

A Mongolian miner takes his sick daughter away from the heavily polluted city to see the shaman. Upon finding a new home with the reindeer herders in the forest, he learns that this world too, is changing. To convey the message of global warming, the music video incorporates the image and tale of the native

FernGully: The Last Rainforest

FernGully is the story of the magical fairy inhabitants of a rainforest, who attempt to protect the forest from logging and polution. It portrays the intersection of transnational activism, corporate environmentalism, and technologies that accelerated and globalized the production process.

Avatar

Avatar is a science-fiction film set on the distant moon Pandora, where a team of humans has come establish a mining colony. The film uses the image of the Na'vi and their relationship with nature to put forward a message of environmentalism.

The Elder Scrolls

The Elder Scrolls is primarily a fantasy video game series. The franchise has an active modding community, which is a site for discourse and debate over environmental and ecological issues.

Only Yesterday

Only Yesterday revolves around Taeko, who takes a holiday from her busy office work in Tokyo. The film synthesizes the ecological objective for sustainable, organic farming with the individual's mental well-being.

Minecraft

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

“Ecosistemas Mater” Menu

The restaurant and the menu in particular are linked to the Peruvian food research project Mater, and aims to make the different ecosystems of Peru experienceable in a multisensory manner by incorporating numerous hyperlocal, sometimes otherwise unknown or forgotten ingredients. From the website: “An exploration of its country’s biodiversity, Central takes diners on a journey