Climate Dynamics Group
 at the University of California, Santa Cruz

Serious Games for Climate Change is a research cluster at the nexus of game design, climate science, and learning science. In collaboration with Elizabeth Swensen (Department of Performance, Play & Design), we create games that foster scientific thinking and promote the learning of complex topics through experimentation and narrative. Games additionally hold promise as tools for social empowerment, inspiring agency to advance climate solutions.

Warmer
game
  • Elizabeth Swensen
  • Nicole Feldl
project image

Warmer is a web-based game that simulates global climate change. It takes place on a world like our own but with a few elements of narrative and visual fantasy to distinguish it from Earth. Each action a player takes pushes the calendar forward, advancing the climate model and displaying the impact of player actions as the world warms. Four interactive regions each have their own mini-game experiences and connections to the underlying model:

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