Uploaded June 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
There’s a game for just about everything, from plumbers playing golf to LEGOs recreating sci-fi movies. But when it comes to climate change — arguably the greatest crisis to humanity — the playing field is pretty sparse.
Luckily, one scientist trying to change that. Dargan Frierson runs Earth Games, a University of Washington lab designing games about climate change and environmental science. He believes a climate game might just be the solution we’ve been waiting for. But what does it take to make a game about climate change that’s also fun?
Links:
Earth Games:
earthgames.org
Sim Earth on Archive.org:
archive.org/details/msdos_SimEarth_-_The_Living_Planet_1990
Sources:
Statista — Number of active video gamers worldwide from 2014 to 2021:
bit.ly/2HE4m9Y
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey — Average hours per day playing games; civilian population; weekdays, weekends, and holidays (weighted):
bit.ly/2LG52Oh
There’s a game for just about everything, from plumbers playing golf to LEGOs recreating sci-fi movies. But when it comes to climate change — arguably the greatest crisis to humanity — the playing field is pretty sparse.
Luckily, one scientist trying to change that. Dargan Frierson runs Earth Games, a University of Washington lab designing games about climate change and environmental science. He believes a climate game might just be the solution we’ve been waiting for. But what does it take to make a game about climate change that’s also fun?
Links:
Earth Games:
earthgames.org
Sim Earth on Archive.org:
archive.org/details/msdos_SimEarth_-_The_Living_Planet_1990
Sources:
Statista — Number of active video gamers worldwide from 2014 to 2021:
bit.ly/2HE4m9Y
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey — Average hours per day playing games; civilian population; weekdays, weekends, and holidays (weighted):
bit.ly/2LG52Oh
