Interesting new game launched in beta version by Red Redemption yesterday - Fate of the World. It puts the gamer in charge of an environmental organisation with the potential to save mankind from the excesses of climate change through emissions reduction or even (according to Edie) by introducing a virus to control the world's population. This is not as crass as the 10:10 video of climate criminals' executions but could still prove to be controversial. Having said that, this game has the potential to capture new audiences for the climate cause - and young audiences at that - just the people who will benefit most from early mitigation and adaptation action.
Apparently the underlying prediction model was provided by Myles Allen who is head of the climate dynamics group at Oxford - so there should be some realism about the whole thing. This is important for breaking from any "fantasy" element into an appreciation of real-world issues. What is also important is that it should be a good gaming experience. This is why it will be bought in the first place and if it fails that test then no amount of worthiness will substitute.
What is quite exciting is the possibility that there will be more understanding of the complexity of the issues, of their inter-relatedness, and of the difficult decisions that have to be made by legislators.
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